Microsoft introduces Mimicker alarm app for Android

Microsoft has now launched the  Mimicker Alarm app for Android, and as the name suggests, the app wants users to mimic it when the alarm starts ringing. The main idea of the app is to get the snooze button out of user’s reach so that they are compelled to wake up. According to the Microsoft blog, Allison Light, Program Manager on a team that develops apps for Project Oxford says, “We’re a lot nicer than other alarms. You start with dismiss or snooze. If you snooze, the default is five minutes to delay the game. If you dismiss, we mute the alarm – but then you have 30 seconds to complete this challenge.”  However, if the game hasn’t been completed in time, the app assumes that the user has fallen back asleep and then the alarm will start ringing again. Users need to complete one game to shut off the alarm and then can choose the sounds and games that they want to play. Microsoft built the app as an example of what developers can create with its Project Oxford machine learning services. Allison Light further adds, “With Mimicker, we are showcasing several different Project Oxford APIs. We wanted to build a simple app that used Project Oxford to make it unique and interesting. Since we’re open sourcing all of the code, we thought an alarm app would be easy for other developers to read the code and see how we used the APIs.”