App Spotlight: Alarmed by Yoctoville

Jan. 25th, 2016

I've told a lot of people about the reminder and timer app Alarmed. I've been using it every single day for almost two years and I can't imagine life without it.


A handful of years ago I learned that ADHD individuals have terrible memories. The advice to counteract this was if you ever find yourself thinking "Oh I'll remember that..." don't, under any circumstances, trust it. Always, always, always, write it down.


I took this advice to heart and began using the proprietary Apple reminders app 'Reminders'. It worked well. I began doing things, such as chores, more consistently, and I had a reliable place to record any requests made of me. It even made planning my wedding smoother.


The only drawback of the app (for my needs) was the set time intervals. Daily, weekly, every two weeks, monthly, and yearly.* I needed more flexibility.


I went looking for an app that would better meet my needs. A few pages into the search results (there are a lot of reminder apps out there) I found Alarmed, now called Alarmed ~ Reminders + Timers by Yoctoville. I downloaded it for free and began a road test.


It was a game changer and I cannot honestly say whether I would have continued using a reminder app if not for this program. Not only did it provide the flexibility in time intervals I needed, but it has a slew of other features that have come in incredibly handy.


One such ingenious aspect is the NagMe! feature. You can set the reminder to sound off repeatedly, until you interact with the app. This has proved invaluable for medication, public transport, and many other things.


Alarmed has recently received a complete overhaul for iOS 9. My iPhone 4S can't handle the newest software so I am sadly ignorant of all the new features. I'm certain however that the app continues to deliver nothing but the best.


I have only ever had one very minor glitch on this app, and that was from a time when I had kept the app open continuously for months on end. I now close it once a week and have not had any more trouble. I store an enormous amount of data in the app, and yet it does not crash and the reminders are never corrupted or incorrect or fail to activate.


From my experience, the app is user friendly. I am, however, aware that 'user friendly' is a very subjective term. The app includes a comprehensive operations manual, along with a FAQ page. The DayMinder feature is a bit complex, but incredibly useful once you get to know it.


The app is free to download, and offers a few additional features and sounds for an in-app purchase. In my opinion, the features are completely worth it, especially to support an individual attempting to live their dream of self-sustaining through ingenuity.


Unfortunately, the app is not available for Android.


The one complaint I had about this app was the lack of lists, and it looks like in the iOS 9 update that has been fixed. Also, the app now has categories you can apply to your reminders.


So, all in all, a truly amazing app for this ADHD brain. If you suffer from a poor memory, like me, this app might be just what you need.



*Footnote: Apple has since updated the app in, iOS 9, to include custom repeat intervals.