Aurora 4: A New Dawn

I have been an advocate of Aurora since I found it. It works brilliantly to wake you up to either music, or by turning on the TV, when used in combination with EyeTV. But it’s always been free. Today, Aurora 4 makes the leap from Freeware to shareware with the all new (and I really mean that) Aurora 4.

*Editor: if you make it to the end of this review you will find a nice discount just for MacApper readers.

First off, Aurora is sporting a brand new user interface which is all together more Leopardy. The two panel interface works much better than the old, smaller window, and allows you to set up the alarm on a single screen. This is a huge improvement, as it allows you to quickly double check all the details of the alarm before you go off to bed.

Next up, is a new window, entitled “Playback”, which shows an iPod-esque display of what’s playing in iTunes. It gives you the simple forward/back/play and volume buttons, but there is that all important sleep button there when you need that extra 5 minutes in bed. You can also use the Play/Pause button on your Apple Remote to snooze, so you don’t have to get out of your bed! The snooze duration can be easily changed in the preference window.

Aurora is the easiest Alarm clock you will ever set. Simply press the “+” button in the bottom left corner, then you set which days you want it to go off on, the time, then the volume (you can set it to fade in if you don’t want your awakening to be too rude), followed by the playlist/channel you want to wake up to. You can also set it to go off after a certain amount of time, if you so desire. No more pressing fiddly buttons on that alarm clock, then having to remember to reset it every night. With Aurora you should never be late again.

If you’re lucky enough to get a day off work, and you don’t need to get up, simply right-click on the alarm and press “Skip Next Occurrence”. Aurora won’t wake you the next day, but when you go back to work, no need to remember to reset the alarm, it will be done already.

You might be thinking by now that Aurora is a morning app – but it really handles both ends of the day. Are you the kind to fall asleep during a movie, and wake up to find your Mac still on in the morning? Well Aurora has another tool, just for that situation. You can specify for your Mac to fall asleep at the end of a DVD; a QT movie; after a certain number of iTunes tracks; after an amount of time, or a hour. This feature is great, and even better for those with Pre-Apple Remote macs, as you no longer have to get out of bed to put your Mac to bed.

Alright so you may still be asking; is it really worth my money? After all this used to be free. In short, Yes, it is. EyeTV integration sets it apart from the other alarm clock apps, and it’s sheer simplicity is hard to beat. The fact it’s not a one-trick-pony makes the deal that bit sweeter. Aurora is available now for €15 (~$22) and you can grab it right now from their website.

One More Thing! Jonas Witt, the developer, has been kind enough to offer our loyal MacApper readers a 20% Discount for a limited time! So now you can get it while it’s hot for just €12. Simply use the discount code MACAPPER to get your reduced wares.

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