App request - sleep timer

Staying somewhere where I don't have a clock radio. I usually listen to AM talk radio when in bed falling asleep, so I pulled out my trusty PlayBook, tuned into a local AM radio station that streams online, set it up on the bedside table and it woked fine.

30 minutes later I realized that it won't shut itself off like my clock radio does so I began hunting for a sleep timer app - nothing.

How about a sleep timer app that closes an application after a set amount of time? ie, after 59 minutes the web browser exits?

+1 Good request.


I would have thought that by now, RIM would have added more options beyond the maximum 5 minute standby :rolleyes:

5 minute standby?

Originally Posted by ssbtech

5 minute standby?

Yes, in the Playbook's settings, you can adjust the time to which the Playbook will automatically enter its standby mode. The maximum time setting available is 5 minutes. Some apps, games, and media streamed through the browser can ignore this setting though.

Ah, I get it.

Yeh, I was glad that the streamign radio played through the standby mode, but still annoying there was no way to shut it off automatically.

yea the time out doesnt stop streaming media anymore that was fixed several updates ago... unfortunately there isnt an app for closing yet..

Currently one app can't close another app like that.

However, I imagine it wouldn't take much work to do a very basic app that fills the:
Set a timer for X minutes, load a web page within the app, start the timer. After X the app closes.

Okay, so I cranked out an app quick that will do this for you. I'll throw it in App World next week, but feel free to beta test. However, I highly recommend White Noise.

Now, I can't make the browser work while the device is in standby, so I have to use Keep Awake, which means the screen stays on (which is one of the major power sucks, check out Battery Guru also in App World). I did however make a button that will hide the browser window and let the screen be black, might help with battery drain but likely still be a fairly big suck on it.

By default it loads the 24hour NPR stream. Works over Bridge. Swipe down, type in a new URL, and go. Navigate to your stream, set the timer, toggle black, start timer.

Might be some bugs, but I've tested the timer feature and without fail it has killed the app properly. For lack of a better name, "Browser Sleep" and use something like BBHTool to install it.