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Ambient & sound

Small touches that make a Portal feel like part of the room rather than a screen on a shelf: gentle audio cues through the day, and a gradual wake-light in the morning. Both are off by default and configured from the Settings screen.

Sounds — chimes & spoken time

ChimeConfig / ChimeScheduler — the Sounds settings screen (ChimeSettingsActivity). Every cue is off by default; switch on only the ones you want.

  • Hourly chime — a soft tone on the hour. Volume is adjustable (default 60%).
  • Spoken time — the Portal says the time aloud on the hour ("It's three o'clock"), through Android's text-to-speech, with a voice picker.
  • Golden-hour tone — a tone at sunrise and sunset, with a choice of morning or rooster sound.
  • Ping the other room — a doorbell used by the Wi-Fi Intercom; its volume is a touch louder by default (85%).
  • Quiet hours — a nightly window that mutes every cue. This one is on by default (22:00–08:00), so nothing chimes overnight until you say otherwise.

Sunrise wake-light

SunriseConfig / SunriseScheduler — the Wake-up light settings screen (SunriseSettingsActivity). At the set time, the screen brightens gradually from a deep ember to full daylight over a ramp, optionally finishing with a soft chime — turning a bedroom Portal into a sunrise alarm.

  • Time and days of the week (default 07:00, Mon–Fri; leave the days empty for a one-shot next-occurrence alarm).
  • Ramp — how long the brighten takes (default 20 minutes).
  • Chime at the end — a gentle tone when the ramp completes (default on).

It re-arms itself across reboots, so it keeps working after a power blip.

See also