Google’s clock application may not be the most complex when it comes to the functionality, which is understandable since it’s just a clock app, but that doesn’t mean Google is going to stop giving it attention and leave it without any new features or changes. Google is a company who seems to always be striving for any possible way they can improve their app offerings, and the clock is one of the latest to receive that treatment with the latest update version, bringing the app forward to version 4.2. This brings in some visual changes which users may not notice immediately, although these are small visual changes so that is to be expected. There is also a new feature change as well.
First and foremost, Google has added in an option for volume control of the alarms. There is now an option to have the volume of alarms increase at a gradual pace, and since this seems like a pretty basic functionality there are surely some users who are happy to finally see it implemented. Even if this is a minor addition, it’s one that makes sense for the app to have as some users may respond better to an alarm which increases in volume gradually as opposed to a loud alarm volume immediately. This could also help if you sleep with a partner, as the lower volume setting in the beginning may be enough to wake you up but not the other person.
Google has also now made it possible to access the Clock’s overflow menu no matter what screen you’re on instead of just the main clock screen when you open up the app, so if you have to access some of the settings and features of the Clock you will no longer have to navigate back to the main screen to do so. This is also a minor change, but one that brings in a little bit of convenience and efficiency to users. Users may also notice the new transparent navigation bar at the bottom of the screen, and the ability to now give alarms and timers their own ringtone option, this way you can tell the difference if you frequently set both throughout the day. The app update should already be hitting some devices, but if you aren’t one to wait you can grab the apk file for the latest version here.