Calendar event notifications

[jak86]

Hey everyone, this is my first post. I've tried to search for an answer to my problem but cant seem to find one...in case i missed it i do apologize if im asking a question thats already been answered.

Ive had my droid for a couple of days now and for the most part im happy with it. Heres my situation...

On all of my old phones...none of which were smartphones...I used my calendar to keep track of events. The way i would set up events is if for example I had an appointment at 2 pm so I would set it for say 12 pm with whatever info I needed to remind myself ahead of time what it was for. In some cases my calendar would be used as an alarm to wake me up in the morning as well.

My problem, which I have read a lot of people complained about, is that the notifications on the droid calendar are short and not very good at getting your attention. What i'm used to is when an event comes up my phone will either have a ringtone or vibration go off until I dismiss it, which made it a great alternative to the alarm clock when needed. Ive tried to use some of the different apps that ive read about but most are designed for other uses than what I need (sorry i didnt keep track of all of the ones i tried to be specific). A widget of some sort would be cool but mainly I just want a calendar that will get my attention like my old phones did. Since ive had my droid ive missed out on events because I didnt hear or feel my phone since the notifications are so short.

Any suggestions would be great. Tried to be specific enough so I hope that helps lol.

Thanks!!

 

[Matth3w]

Go into the calendar, hit menu > more > settings and play with some of those options. You can turn on vibrate, have it show up in the status bar, choose your ringtone, etc.

 

[jak86]

I've tried all of the settings. I can change my ringtone and make it vibrate but it only goes off once. I want it to continue to go off until i dismiss it like my run-of-the-mill phones did.

 

[Matth3w]

It stays in your notification bar and blinks until you dismiss. You can also set as many reminders as you want.

I use Pure Calendar widget, it is always about to tell me what the next event is (so I rarely even need the reminder because every time I look at my phone I see what the upcoming events are):

 

[jak86]

Right but like I said I also use it as an alternative to alarm. The thing is, as much as I like having a smartphone but my life doesnt revolve around it as far as its in my hand constantly. Since the notifications are so short even if I set a couple reminders its not enough to wake me up or sometimes get my attention if my phone is a few feet away.

 

[Matth3w]

Then set the actual alarm.

I'm not trying to be mean, but the calendar is not meant for an alarm, it's meant to remind you that you have something coming up. Just set the alarm for what time you need to wake up. If it's that important, then use the calendar to see what you have the next day and set your actual alarm for the time you need to be reminded. It's really no additional steps to set them up separately anyhow.

Bottom line: calendar is not meant to be an alarm, it's meant to be a calendar. The alarm is to be used for an alarm.

I for one don't WANT my calendar acting as an alarm. If I am in a meeting and have something else going on that day I don't want my phone in my pocket freaking out to the point where I have to interrupt the meeting.

 

[jak86]

Anyone else have suggestions? Theres more than one point to my problem. I appericiate what suggestions you've made Matth3w but you use your calendar different then I do. As I stated thats what Im used to since my phone revolves around my life, not my life revolves around my phone. A short quick notification isnt going to get my attention whether I use it as an alarm or a calendar for events which is the point im trying to make. Any other phone out there can be set up to use whatever ringtone or vibration you want and continues to go off, therefore thats what im looking for.

Again thanks for your help but im looking for alternative apps that could help me because the droid calendar doesnt suit my needs as it sits out of the box. Ive read about different apps that can add longer notifications which would work but from what ive found none work for the calendar...just text messages and other features. I will try using a widget to be able to see upcoming events which i do understand can help, but what about longer notifications or being able to have them continue to go off until dismissed?

Thanks!!

 

[jak86]

EDIT: Did a little more research outside of the droidforums and found that the only alternative that anyone else can come up with is to use a full song as the notification. From what I can tell it only works for ringtones and not vibrate but I could be wrong. Im using Tears dont Fall by BFMV which is a longer and louder song...of course pick one that suites your needs for how you use your calendar. I know this isnt the solution that I wanted but now that ive seen im not the only one out there that uses their calendar like I do, this along with maybe a widget showing upcoming events would be as close as it gets until someone could save the day with an app to solve this problem.

Just to clarify I didnt come up with this idea and being a new droid member im not trying to take the credit...just passing it on hoping it helps someone else out there with a similar situation.

 

[Matth3w]

I found something on the Market as an event reminder. It doesn't seem to interface with Google Calendar though...but it does let you set appointments etc...and the reminder is "vibrate once" or "annoying". I have no idea what that entails but you could download it, pay the 99 cents, and if it isn't enough just return it for a full refund within 24 hours.

 

[jak86]

I'll check that out. Is there any special way to get a refund if its not what I'm looking for? I haven't purchased any yet so I'm not familier with that.

Thanks!!

 

[Matth3w]

Yeah, if you buy something from the Market you have 24 hours to return it. You buy it, then if you don't like it, go back into the Market, Menu>Downloads, find the program, click it, and choose uninstall & refund.

 

[arnoldl]

Try my 'calendar snooze' app from the market.

It gives you multiple snooze options AND repeating calendar alerts

 

[edms]

You can use Nudnik make your calendar event reminders vibrate repeatedly.
Nudnik Repeating reminder v3.2.0 - Snoozes are Application for Android | Productivity

It took me a while to get the settings right. Here's what I use:

Popup screen: Unchecked
Turn-on screen: Unchecked
Play sound: Checked
Vibrate: Checked
Vibration Pattern: Long
Choose LED color: Blue
Alarm Settings: Repeating Alarm
'Nudnik' Default Alarm: Checked
Increasing Alarm Sound: Checked
Override Phone modes: Checked
Shake Settings: Unchecked (for all)
Repeating Alarm Preferences - Repeating Alarm Interval: 30 Secs
Repeating Alarm Preferences - Alarm Recurrency Limit: 5 Mins