Elegant Torch

The nightstand companion

Three little apps in one – book light, nightlight, and power nap timer

What is this?
Elegant Torch was built to live next to your bed. You’ll find a booklight, a nightlight, and a timer for taking short naps. Great for both everyday use and when sleeping in unfamiliar rooms.

Yah, but why?
I tend to read in bed. Shortly after buying my seemingly all-powerful iPhone, the batteries in my traditional book light ran out. I was left in the dark. I tried to use a free flashlight app on the iPhone as a substitute book light. It worked almost well enough, except that it kept going into “Sleep” mode, leaving me in the dark. I developed Elegant Torch to be my new bedtime reading buddy.

Book Light
The Book Light simply turns your device into a book light (aka: flashlight, torch, nightlight, reading light etc.) and there’s also a timer so can see how long you’ve been reading. This is pretty much a bright white screen. It is simple and stable. That’s it. Little else. It’s meant for people who read books with a book light. If I turn up the brightness all the way on the device, then the light is slightly brighter than a typical small book light, but not as bright as the larger book lights. I find it particularly useful as a back-up book light. Nice if batteries in your primary book light run down or if traveling without a book light. It also makes a great emergency flashlight (which is surprisingly useful).

Timed Nightlight
The Timed Nightlight dims after a preset number of minutes. You can change its brightness and color. It can be used, for example, when you are at a hotel, or if your light switches are far away from the bed. It can also be used as a little bedside reminder. I often lose track of time when I’m reading a good book in bed. I sometimes look up and see, to my horror, that 3 hours have just slipped by, destroying any chance of a full night’s rest. Starting the Timed Nightlight will give you a clear but quiet indication that it might be time to go to sleep.

Power Nap
The Power Nap is designed to wake you up from a short sleep. It’s the alarm clock for people too busy for alarm clocks. Say you have 30 minutes before your next class or before your next plane. You would love to catch a few winks, but you don’t want to go through the hassle and risk of setting up a traditional alarm clock. The Power Nap has just two controls. The first control sets the time from 1 to 60 minutes, so there is no risk of getting your AM & PMs mixed up. The second control lets you perform a sound check to ease your anxiety that your device might be muted. The timer visually counts down the time remaining for extra feedback and peace of mind.