Comment by ButlerianJihad
1 day ago
But a smartphone's time is set how? Via the mobile network (NITZ) or NTP (SNTP)! And what protocol is going across the Bluetooth connection but SNTP? In NTP terms, your alarm clock is now in a stratum below the smartphone, and with only one source of truth, not a good situation.
I meant the clock itself doesn’t need an internet or local network connection, with which it could do things other than syncing the time.
Then I think this is a trap to get some kind of proprietary app onto your phone.
The clock could set itself from radio signals: standards-compliant.
The clock could have WiFi or Ethernet and use [S]NTP: standards-compliant.
The clock could have a SIM and use NITZ: standards-compliant.
But BT it is. So now rather than having a dependency on standard or generic resources, it requires a BT pairing with the right kind of phone Ridiculous.
> Then I think this is a trap to get some kind of proprietary app onto your phone.
This was my thinking as well, and why I rejected the idea. I'm not installing some rando company's information-harvesting data-selling garbage app on my phone to do something that the clock should do itself.
Given that most alarm clocks only show hours and minutes, I'm not sure micro or nano second accuracy really matters. Provided my alarm clock is within a few minutes of the correct time I don't really care.