Version 1.7.0 - Release Notes

• Bell automatically reverts to the last bell volume.
• Ability to set the day start time for the widget.
• Backup profiles.
• Added link to instructions.

Version 1.6.0 - Release Notes

Version 1.6.0 includes the following changes:

• Can now specify how many times to ring every bell. If you don't want a start bell, just set the number of times to zero.
• The option to ring multiple end bells has been removed from the settings. You now specify this for each individual profile. If you are upgrading from an old version and you were using the setting to ring multiple bells, the new version will detect this and automatically set all your profiles to ring the end bell the correct number of times.
• New setting to disable the screen lock. If you enable this it means that the phone won't lock while you are meditating, making it easier to switch it on and view the remaining time.
• New setting to shorten the gap between bells. For example, if you have set the timer to ring 3 bells at the end of a meditation session, then currently the second bell won't start until the first bell has finished. In the new version, you can set "Enable Faster Bells" and then use the "Gap Between Bells" setting to specify how many seconds to delay before ringing each subsequent bell. I use this to ring 3 bells quickly at the end of the session (with a 0.5 second gap).

Version 1.6.0 does NOT contain move to SD card. Having looked into this, it will greatly complicate things if I enable this feature. Therefore I have taken the decision not to enable this functionality.

Version 1.5.1 - Release Notes

A very minor release with a bug fix and a couple of changes that different users have requested:

• Supports landscape mode (finally).
• Adds setting to keep screen on while meditating.
• Fixes refresh bug on timer screen.

Version 1.5.0 - Release Notes

• Can now set the sitting time to 'unlimited'. Instead of running for a specific time, the timer will keep running until you hit 'Stop'.
• Fixed bug which caused OutOfMemoryError when adding repeating interval.

Version 1.4.0 - Release Notes

• Support periodic intervals i.e. instead of specifying each interval individually can specify either "at" or "every" along with time.
• Enable scrolling on the profile entry to allow entering multiple intervals.
• Option to ring bell more than once at end of meditation.
• Option to remain in silent / airplane mode until returned to home screen.
• Fix for reminder to make sure it plays alert (broken in last release).

Version 1.3.1 - bug fix

• Fixes a race condition which sometimes prevented the final bell from ringing.
• Removes the notification sound when starting meditation. It now will ring the bell and not play the default system notification.

Version 1.3.0 - Release Notes

• Complete re-write of core timer functionality.
• BellPlayer re-written to use SoundPool instead of MediaPlayer.
• Fixes wake lock bug when application is closed.
• Fixes pause / resume functionality.
• Makes import sittings functionality more fault tolerant.
• Adds option to enable / disable logging (disabled by default).
• Takes up less space on the phone.

Version 1.2.0 - Release Notes

This is a bit of a tidy up release, making the timer a bit more robust, and adding a few new features.

• Import / export of data done asynchronously to stop the GUI from freezing up.
• New implementation of the timer which now runs as a service.
• Ongoing notification in the status bar when a meditation is in progress

• Can now pause a meditation

• Option to vibrate as well as / instead of the bell
• Option to receive a notification in the status bar when each bell rings

Version 1.1.0 - Release Notes

This release adds some options to make the application more useful. You can now:

• Set an option to automatically go to silent mode during meditation
• Set an option to automatically go to airplane mode during meditation
• Set an option to be reminded to meditate. The reminder will go off at the specified time if you have not met your daily target.

New Settings

Version 1.0.0 Release Notes

Version 1.0.0 doesn't add any major new functionality. The major focus of the release is to improve the user interface. The key changes include:

• New widget implementation
• Fixed volume control

The rest of the changes are to the user interface. Here are some screenshots.

New Timer 

• Tap the profile name to quickly load a new profile.
• Tap the time to go to the profile editor (also accessible via menu).

New Profile Editor

• Long press the Profile name to access the load, create new, delete functionality.
• Tap the Profile name to edit it.
• Tap the other profile elements to edit.

New Logs

Version 0.5.0 - The Ugly Baby Release

Meditation Helper is an Android application to help you meditate.

This first public version allows you to:

• Configure multiple meditation profiles
• Set overall meditation time
• Set preparation time i.e. time before first bell rings
• Set interval bells
• View log of all meditation sessions (sittings)
• Set target daily meditation time e.g. I want to meditate for 1 hour each day

Widget
The app includes a widget for the home screen which displays:

• The current number of consecutive days you have hit your daily target.
• The record number of consecutive days you have hit your target.
• The percentage of your daily target you have hit today (in graphical pie chart form).

I have found that this works well as a motivational device to encourage me to meditate. For example, I have a target set to meditate for 1 hour per day. I aim to meditate for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening. In the past there would be some evenings where I felt to tired to meditate, and so skipped it. Now, with this app, I have extra motivation.

At the time of writing this the widget on my home screen is telling me that my current sequence is 56 consecutive days where I have meditated for 1 hour. If I break the sequence now it's going to take me a month and a half to beat my record. I really don't want to do that. I want to push on to make 100 consecutive days.

Clicking the widget launches the main application.

Ugly Baby

All parents love their babies, even if they are ugly. This is my baby, and I love it. But I recognize the fact that it's not very pretty. As it grows and matures, however, I feel confident that it will grow more beautiful.

And unlike other babies, this one does more than just make noise. It's actually useful.

Here are some screenshots.

Timer Screen

• The red number shows the preparation time i.e. the time from clicking 'Start' until the first bell rings. 
• The green number is the meditation time.
• The '30 Minutes' is the name of the current meditation profile (this is the default profile).
• To load a new profile either tap the profile label, or hit the menu button (see next screenshot).

Profile Editor

• Yeah, that's an ugly baby.
• The Interval Bells button shows a red dot for each interval bell, proportionate to when the bell rings. In the above example you can see that I have one interval bell which rings half way through the sitting.

Sitting Log

• Shows times for all sittings, most recent first.

Widget

• Yeah, like I said, not pretty.
• The top number shows the current consecutive number of days I've hit my target.
• The bottom number shows my best ever sequence.
• The green section illustrates how much of my daily target I've hit today (50%).

Inspiration

Credit where credit is due:

• The idea of keeping track of consecutive days comes from: http://www.kk.org/quantifiedself/2010/02/robin-barooahs-equanimity---me.php - I used this app when I had an iPhone and wanted something similar for Android.