Thread: MultiTimer - a clock, timer and stopwatch.
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bgrigor is offline bgrigor
2009-12-10 , 09:03
Posts: 138 | Thanked: 43 times | Joined on Dec 2009 @ Vancouver Island, Canada
#21
Originally Posted by jolouis View Post
So here's my question to both you guys as devels, and to the Maemo community in general... are these two apps separate enough and serving separate enough purposes to be left alone, or should we be pooling our efforts so that users only need to worry about "one really good general purpose" time application rather than "a clock for alarms, a clock for count downs, a clock of X", etc? Whatever makes the most sense I'll get on board with, but it does seem a bit silly to have us developing two different apps that are visually similiar and using two different code bases to do similiar time-related functionality.
[...snip...]
I love open source, but the biggest problem with most distros is that there are too many overlapping applications without any justification, and for Maemo this seems like something that we should at least do our best to minimize so that developers can focus on new and unexplored user needs... my thoughts anyways :-)
What I've noticed about the Maemo apps so far (I've only had my N900 for 2 full days), including the set that Nokia pre-installed, is a lack of consistency (e.g. most apps scroll when you swiped, except for some that require you drag a scroll bar) and a lack of certain globally integrated functions (such as search, sort and categorize across contacts, appointments, tasks, notes, etc.). So what you say above about open source development is very true. I.e. there is no overall product management.

Regarding the timer and clock functions, I suppose I would prefer one app instead of two, so the features interwork intelligently, provided the one app can still be elegantly designed. Part of that elegance would be measured by how quickly I can get a timer started.

I use a countdown timer almost daily in my studio. The simple one on my Sony cell phone (which is now sitting on the shelf) is great because:
a) I can get to with 3 key strokes after I open the phone.
b) Setting the duration is just a case of clicking the number keys to set HH, MM and SS. No colons need to be entered.
c) Click "Start". When you close the phone, the time remaining is shown on the front screen.

There are no other options, e.g. no choice of alarm sounds. And only one timer at a time. Simple.

I would like something similarly quick and simple on the N900. I'm not opposed to extra options or features as long as the defaults will get me a simple timer running with minimal fuss.

Cheers!

Brad