For many of us, smartphones have become real Swiss Army knives, replacing our watches, cameras, calculators, alarm clocks and more. If you use a Windows 10 Mobile phone as your daily driver, there is a pretty good chance that you may rely on the native Alarms & Clock app to wake you up every morning. If you don’t, then we’ll explain you how to use this app to set up custom alarms and timers, use the stopwatch and keep track of select time zones.
As a reminder, the Alarms & Clock app is a universal app available on both Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile. For this tutorial, we used the PC version which has a nice adaptative layout, but be assured that you’ll find the exact same features on the mobile version.
World Clock
First of all, the World Clock tab lets you compare times in multiple locations, and you can add as many locations as you want by clicking the “+” button. The other “compare” button will display a slider to let you keep track of current, past, and future times around the world.
Alarms
On this tab, you can create personalized alarms that you can switch on or off with just one click. It’s very easy to create an alarm clock to wake you up every morning, and you can even set it up to only ring on your work days.
When you create an alarm, you will be able to configure more settings including repeats and snooze time, and you can even choose a custom sound from your own music files. On PC, be aware though that notifications will only show if your PC is awake. On Windows 10 Mobile, alarms will work even when your device is muted, and you’ll be able to snooze or dismiss them right from your lock screen.
Timer
If you can’t use Cortana reminders on your Windows 10 device (unfortunately, Cortana is only available in 13 markets as of today), then the timer feature may be a useful substitute for you. Compared to alarms, timers are quicker to set up and you can even run several timers simultaneously.
You can choose a custom name for your timers, though you won’t be able to customize their sounds. Lastly, unlike Cortana reminders, you can pin Timers right on your start screen which is really handy.
Stopwatch
If you need to time your activities including laps and splits, then you may use the built-in stopwatch to do it. Once you’re done, you can even use the share button to send a recap of lap times and split times to any of your contacts. And just like Timers, you can pin the Stopwatch on your start screen if you often use that feature.
Last but not least, if Cortana is available in your market, you can use voice commands to set up custom alarms and timers, and it’s actually muck quicker to proceed this way. Overall, the Windows 10 Alarms and Clock app is a pretty solid native app and we think it definitely deserves a spot on your Start screen. As of today, the universal app is only available on Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile but we hope that Microsoft will also release it on the Xbox One and HoloLens in the future.
