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Show HN: Nebula – Alarm clock where you grow stars while you sleep

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Re: Show HN: Nebula – Alarm clock where you grow stars while you sleep

#71

Post by rene_bg »

rocketsloth wrote: post #2

Hi HN, I just wanted to add that I'm looking for any kind of feedback on the app. I've been working on it since graduating in may and released it a couple of days ago.

- The site is great, esp. the testimonials :-)

- In the app, cut down the introduction texts and steps. It takes like 30 taps to get the alarm started.

- Also, I found the pulse of the focused area (the circle) annoying and distracting when reading the text just next to it.

- Use briefer descriptions of the things in the guided tour(s). Every word you can remove is often an improvement. And, again, get rid of steps. I'd recommend 3-5 steps tops (and entirely!).

- Somewhere you write "Try to tap here to do something..." => Get rid of the "Try to". As a user, I know how to tap - just write "Tap here to ..."

- Make the sound selections (radio button lists) play the selected sound on tap: by default the top entry is selected. When I tap it—as I initially don't know how it sounds–it doesn't play the sound. I have to switch to the second entry and then back to the first one.

- 42 MB is quite large for "just an alarm clock." Most people won't bother, but keep in mind that even in 2017 software should be performant and, if not necessary, not bloated.

Besides these minor points, I have to say that the idea is great! I am really looking forward to use the app tonight :-)

Re: Show HN: Nebula – Alarm clock where you grow stars while you sleep

#72

Post by moonka »

plttn wrote: post #70

Random note: the fact that you're showing an iPhone device frame but using Android screenshots is one of those things that makes me unreasonably unhappy. I do like the idea of the app though.

It made me go to from "damn, I want to try, but I'm android" to "woot". Love the reviews too.

Re: Show HN: Nebula – Alarm clock where you grow stars while you sleep

#73

Post by rocketsloth »

SubiculumCode wrote: post #69

Not all gamification of life is a bad thing. The app seems very nice! My problem in life is not waking up. Its going to bed early enough to get enough sleep. Encouraging an early bedtime would be a great feature :) IMO.

Really appreciate the feedback, I'm exploring several options for this that will be added in the near future and think that you're right, snooze is only half the battle.

Re: Show HN: Nebula – Alarm clock where you grow stars while you sleep

#74

Post by rocketsloth »

rene_bg wrote: post #71
rocketsloth wrote: post #2

Hi HN, I just wanted to add that I'm looking for any kind of feedback on the app. I've been working on it since graduating in may and released it a couple of days ago.

- The site is great, esp. the testimonials :-) - In the app, cut down the introduction texts and steps. It takes like 30 taps to get the alarm started. - Also, I found the pulse of the focused area (the circle) annoying and distracting when reading the text just next to it. - Use briefer descriptions of the things in the guided tour(s). Every word you can remove is often an improvement. And, again, get rid of steps.…

Hi! Thanks so much for this very detailed feedback and glad you like the testimonials :).

intro/onboarding feedback: I agree with you and will look at ways to cut it down both in length and quality

- I just removed the "Try tapping" and changed it to tap cause I agree with you (it will be pushed out next update)

- you're 100% correct on the sound previews too, I implemented the listener as an onChanged rather than onClick, but will look into fixing that in the near future.

- the 42 MB is almost entirely due to mp3 sound files (the alarm ringtones + sleep engine sounds). I used compression to strike a balance between quality and space and also used seamless looping on the sleep engine to get rid of the need for giant audio files, but there is always room for dramatic improvement on that front and I'll keep working at it. If you have any suggestions please let me know. I think that once I get a back end going what I'd eventually like to do is have users download the tracks based on what they need (this might be a very naive approach though so correct me if that's a bad idea).

Re: Show HN: Nebula – Alarm clock where you grow stars while you sleep

#75

Post by k_bx »

Just wanted to mention (maybe someone finds this interesting) another "sleep gamification" app Ukrainians made – http://wakeapp.com.ua/index_en.html

Every time you snooze – you donate to the Army, thus money goes to the people who make sure you sleep in piece. I find it quite nice :)

Re: Show HN: Nebula – Alarm clock where you grow stars while you sleep

#76

Post by markoutso »

Nice idea but not executed to it's full potential.

I use an alarm for waking up. I expect a fast, usable ui to be able to set the time fast and options like recurring alarms,weekly scheduled alarms etc.

I wouldn't replace my vendor's slick, feature full without ads app for something that is not as least as good.

Re: Show HN: Nebula – Alarm clock where you grow stars while you sleep

#77

Post by [deleted] »

rocketsloth wrote: post #74
rene_bg wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- The site is great, esp. the testimonials :-) - In the app, cut down the introduction texts and steps. It takes like 30 taps to get the alarm started. - Also, I found the pulse of the focused area (the circle) annoying and distracting when reading the text just next to it. - Use briefer descriptions of the things in the guided tour(s). Every word you can remove is often an improvement. And, again, get rid of steps.…

Hi! Thanks so much for this very detailed feedback and glad you like the testimonials :). intro/onboarding feedback: I agree with you and will look at ways to cut it down both in length and quality - I just removed the "Try tapping" and changed it to tap cause I agree with you (it will be pushed out next update) - you're 100% correct on the sound previews too, I implemented the listener as an onChanged rather than on…

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: Nebula – Alarm clock where you grow stars while you sleep

#78

Post by baobrien »

rocketsloth wrote: post #74
rene_bg wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- The site is great, esp. the testimonials :-) - In the app, cut down the introduction texts and steps. It takes like 30 taps to get the alarm started. - Also, I found the pulse of the focused area (the circle) annoying and distracting when reading the text just next to it. - Use briefer descriptions of the things in the guided tour(s). Every word you can remove is often an improvement. And, again, get rid of steps.…

Hi! Thanks so much for this very detailed feedback and glad you like the testimonials :). intro/onboarding feedback: I agree with you and will look at ways to cut it down both in length and quality - I just removed the "Try tapping" and changed it to tap cause I agree with you (it will be pushed out next update) - you're 100% correct on the sound previews too, I implemented the listener as an onChanged rather than on…

For smaller audio files, take a look at the Opus codec. It does way better than mp3 at lower bitrates. Android 5.0 and up can decode it natively and there's a library with NDK that should work on older devices.

Re: Show HN: Nebula – Alarm clock where you grow stars while you sleep

#79

Post by rocketsloth »

jmiserez wrote: post #37
rocketsloth wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure a lot of people will feel the same way as you and I completely respect that. I made this app above all else to learn as much Android as I could after graduating. I tried to expand on a simple concept to make something I thought was cool and really had a lot of fun doing it, but I know this isn't everyone's thing.

I studied with these guys: https://www.theverge.com/2014/1/4/5273474/google-acquires-bi... They did exactly what you did after graduating and their company got acquired (acqui-hired) by Google. Timely was the number one alarm clock app at the time. It was buttery smooth and beautiful but beyond that didn’t even any special functionality. So, don’t take the parent comment too seriously!

I'm a huge timely fan and didn't realize they were so young when they made it, that's awesome. Thanks for the kind words too. I don't take it personally at all though, everyone is entitled to their opinion
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