Wake up with Awaken 4.0
One of the things I really love about my Mac is all of the really great software available for it. It’s kinda of ironic that before I moved to the Mac platform I had the impression that there wasn’t as much software for the Mac. In fact nothing could be further from the truth. There are many small and mid-sized Mac software development shops that really seem to get it – producing highly polished, usable software at an affordable price.
One of the ways that I have discovered many great Mac software applications has been by purchasing software bundles. Recently I purchased the MacHeist software bundle that included 14 great applications for $49 – what a deal. There were many great applications in the bundle, some in fact that I already owned (fortunately with MacHeist you can gift the license if you already own it – which is what I did). When I purchase software bundles I typically find that there are a couple applications that I really want and others that I know little or nothing about. In the case of the recent MacHeist bundle it was SnapZ Pro, AppZapper and ChaChing that really motivated me to buy the bundle. I already owned CSSEdit and Pixelmator, which are both fantastic. However sometimes it is the hidden gems that turn out to be really exciting.
Last week I was staying at a hotel while attending a training class. It seemed like a good opportunity to try out one of the other applications that came with the MacHeist bundle – Awaken 4.0. Awaken is basically an alarm clock for your Mac. I never really thought about wanting to turn my Mac into a fancy alarm clock, but suddenly it seemed like a good time to try it out. You know what? It is very useful and worked quite well. The program allows you to set multiple alarms and wake up to your choice of music or sounds. It also has a simple egg timer and sleep timer as well. The program will first wake your computer, then launch iTunes and then slowly start the music and wake you up. It is simple and works flawlessly. Anyway if you find you need to turn your Mac into an alarm clock check out Awaken 4.0.