Symbian in Motion

TimeBar by the3sky

by Zach at 10:49 am | June 14th, 2007 | Category: Application Reviews, Freeware, Utilities

The relatively “underground” Chinese developer known as the3sky seems to be shifting gears lately and we are seeing some really smart freeware S60 3rd apps coming our way. The latest release from this rising star is the update of a very simple yet well made and useful app called TimeBar. TimeBar serves two main functions: First, it displays the current time as a digital clock that is visible on all screens (and in all apps) in the foreground. Secondly, it will automatically plays an alarm sound each hour (either a tone with adjustable length and frequency, or from a series of audio files in MP3 format) when the alarm function is enabled. MP3 files can be custom made or from one of the included sound packs that have been delivered with the app (English and Chinese).

Please note that this app is unsigned. You must sign it yourself before you can install it (please don’t post here asking me to sign it) using this guide or similar.

As simple as the functionality of this app is, it is also highly configurable! You can easily change the location of the displayed time, the color, the font, the size, and more. For example, in the images above you can see that I’ve centered the time display at the bottom of my screen. Here, I’ve moved it to the upper area of he screen just to the right of my operator display:

To start things off, the main configuration menu gives you access to all of the app settings and you can easily apply changes as you make them to instantly see your adjustments. The first set of options gives you the ability to enable/disable the time display and configure the hourly alarm. The default directory for the MP3 files is displayed in the app but you can change it to any directory you wish. Remember if you use your own MP3 files they should be named exactly the same as the included files.

As we continue through the settings, the Transparency entry toggles a white rectangular background behind the clock digits on and off. Next is the Font Type setting which allows you to easily apply a new font to the clock and Font High, which adjusts the font size.

At the bottom of the settings menu we find adjustable entries for the color of the clock digits (in RGB code) and the position of the clock on your screen. Your desired color can be achieved by tuning the Red, Green and Blue entries that combine to create the color you want. For some assistance there, it’s a good idea to use an RGB color code chart. For the X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) positions, you’ll have to play with these a bit to get the clock exactly where you want it.

Remember that each time you adjust a setting you’ll have to refresh the app before the changes will be applied. This is done by simply going to Options -> Refresh. From within the options menu you can also play the most recent hourly alarm and kill the console server, which will turn the clock display off.

In the past it has occurred to me that it would be nice to have a time display on my device that would be visible on all screens rather than just standby, and this app does a wonderful job of achieving that and more. I just love the customization options as well - giving you the ability to move, shape and color your clock to match whatever theme you’re using at the time. Great job on this one the3sky!

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UPDATE July 17: The download link above has been replaced with a link to the ‘latest version’ post.

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