3 Apps To Get You Out Of Bed & Get Your Morning Started [Mac]

Chances are if you are the typical Internet user, your nights will likely run into your mornings, give or take a few Red Bulls. But inevitably, there will be that situation in which you will actually have to go to bed early and wake up on time, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Thankfully, there are three Mac apps you can use to break away from your REMs and into the real world.

Red Alarm Clock

This app is a nice free widget that runs on the dashboard of your Mac. I wouldn’t say it has much going for it graphics-wise (and it actually advertises its creator’s other anime-related app), but if simplistic functionality is what you are wanting, then Red Alarm Clock has got it going on.

The widget is a little harder to understand at first than its other more feature-oriented counterparts (as mentioned in MakeUseOf’s past article, Best Alternative Alarm Clocks), but perhaps the beauty of it all is its minimalist approach to waking you up.

Rather than using one song or the traditional alarm clock noise that sounds like a duck having its feathers forcefully removed, it takes a note from the old days of radio alarms by playing one of your iTunes playlists.

Lastly, Red Alarm Clock operates on a twenty-four hour system, ridding itself from AM and PM restraints. The twenty-four hour clock took a little getting used to for me, but I am aware of many instances in which I have accidentally set my alarm for PM instead of AM.

It would have been nice to see that on the app, but functionality is the name of the game, and it certainly has that. Plus, since it’s free, what do you have to lose?

Swackett

As a guy, deciding what to wear for the day is a nigh impossible task. Usually, the best option for me is to pick up whatever smells clean (even if it’s on the floor), but Swackett is one weather app that can change such habits.

Deriving its name from three words (“sweater,” “jacket,” and “coat”), Swackett offers you suggestions on what to wear based on its weather information. For the summer weather, it might suggest a tank-top or even sun block, but in the cooler months, hoodies and sweatshirts take precedence.

Besides its basic clothing advice, Swackett gives you a nice description of the current conditions and the forecast for today’s, tonight’s, and even tomorrow’s weather. All of this information comes in a nicely packaged, easy-to-read window that also features air quality alerts and other weather warnings. To be honest, this may be one of the most usable weather apps out there.

In addition to the app’s practical clothing advice, it offers Easter eggs for various holidays and special themes that will give you very unique clothing options. Granted, the only free themes available are the Standard, Modern, and 1950s editions, but there are other themes that can be purchased for a small price (such as the British Invasion edition).

As of right now, Swackett is test-driving a new web app for their amazing weather prediction service. This app is virtually the same as the original Mac desktop version, but it runs in your web browser. Furthermore, the web app works on PC browsers too. This isn’t as nice as being able to pull Swackett up as a stand-alone executable, but it’s the next best thing.

As a final note, the makers of Swackett have announced that iDevice apps are coming soon.

Mirror HD

Keep it simple with Mirror HD, a basic little app that takes the video feed from your iSight camera and turns your Mac into a pseudo-reflective surface. I personally think that this is a nice solution to my desire to shave and tweet at the same time. Unfortunately, prior to making screenshots for this article, I had already shaved and tweeted.

The app is fairly raw with no extra features or secret cool items, but I do think it’s good for quick little appearance checks before you head out the door. This also might be nice right before an actual job interview or perhaps prior to coffee with that one girl you met on OKCupid.

The only qualm with Mirror HD might be the fact that it advertises itself as a “full-screen” app. In all truth, it just opens up a fairly large window with no options to resize.

What you might be thinking right now is, “I can do the same exact thing with Photo Booth” and guess what? You can. But at least Mirror HD provides a bigger screen. Also, you won’t have to worry about accidentally taking an embarrassing picture of yourself whilst performing nostril inspections.

There really isn’t much to say about Mirror HD except that it does exactly what it says it does. You don’t have to worry about any ads clogging up your screen real estate or any “special” paid options either.

Conclusion

Granted, they won’t be the apps you can’t live without, but they can definitely help. Hopefully they will provide you that extra morning convenience you need before meeting the boys at IHOP for a round of pancakes.

What apps do you use to get ready in the morning? What are your opinions on these three?

Image Credit: beanworks

3 Apps To Get You Out Of Bed & Get Your Morning Started [Mac] is a post from: MakeUseOf