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Giving friends custom text buzzes based on Morse code

57 points · 36 comments · evakhoury

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tjoff · 1790955800 · focus · HN ↗
Would be cool to buzz the message itself in morse code, though todays buzzers are so weak I don't think I'd be able to make it out (if I knew morse code, that is).
But would be cool with a separate buzzer of sorts where you get the normal buzzer notification and then hold a finger somewhere specific and get details that way.
taylor-tg · 1790956021 · focus · HN ↗
Pretty clever! Not a bad way to passively learn Morse code too.
iOS supports having notification sounds synchronized with the haptics; I wonder if generating the text tones as audio files and assigning those would have been an easier approach.
Just have to use the share sheet on an audio file and choose "Use as ringtone". Shortcuts/Automator might even be able to make this automagic.
1. gbacon · 1790957643 · focus · HN ↗
  Cassidy Williams has a brief YouTube video on using this method for passive learning.
  <a href="https://youtu.be/cnuLX8BWYo0" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/cnuLX8BWYo0
aorist · 1790956826 · focus · HN ↗
We’ve come full circle: the iconic Nokia default SMS ringtone is S-M-S in morse code, and the “Ascending” ringtone spells CONNECTING PEOPLE
1. dorianmariecom · 1790960000 · focus · HN ↗
  vodka
  connecting people
2. perilunar · 1790996012 · focus · HN ↗
  The first time I heard the Nokia 'SMS' ringtone was in a crowded railway station. Initially I thought someone was in trouble before I realised it was an 'M' not an 'O'.
  1. Rendello · 1791046601 · focus · HN ↗
    This reminded me of something semi-related.
    As a kid, I thought "SOS" officially stood for "save our souls", later learning that this was only a mnemonic. It was only in adulthood that I learned "SOS" itself was a mnemonic, since:
    "SOS" (literal) = ... / --- / ...
    S̅O̅S̅ (distress code) = ...---...
    Where "/" is a longer gap. S̅O̅S̅ is a "prosign", and thus a symbol in its own right. From Wikipedia [1]:
    > Although the well-known calling prosign for emergency messages SOS is always represented by the three letters "SOS", it could just as well be written VZE ( + + ), VGI ( + + ), or even 3B ( + ); all of these render the same single code .
    <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosigns_for_Morse_code#Notation_and_representations" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosigns_for_Morse_code#Notati...
    (Which is actually similar to how a lot of compression schemes work)
ragmondo · 1790956906 · focus · HN ↗
Many many many years ago, I wrote an android app that allowed you to set the ringtone of the device you were ringing for that call (yes they had to have the app installed etc etc, and had given you permission to do it). I did release it but the market problem I had was that iPhone's ringtones were not something a client app could change, let alone in the background and even less so without direct permission of the user.
So anyway, if you want to do something like that, it's back to android I'm afraid. Don't worry, there's no patent and there's prior art (i.e. my usage). FWIW - the closest patent to it was made by a TV manufacturer that would allow you to find the remote control by playing a noise etc directed by the TV !
gbacon · 1790957582 · focus · HN ↗
Fun project and an interesting way to passively learn Morse code.
<a href="https://youtu.be/cnuLX8BWYo0" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/cnuLX8BWYo0
PcChip · 1790959613 · focus · HN ↗
I love this feature - I have separate vibration patterns for my wife and my girlfriend, so I can easily tell if a text is from an important person without taking it out of my pocket (and I refuse to wear a watch)
Your idea sounds cool, but then I’d have to learn Morse code which doesn’t sound fun to me
1. noman-land · 1790959842 · focus · HN ↗
  Hope your lawyer has a special buzz as well.
  1. fennecbutt · 1790960482 · focus · HN ↗
    They're probably open and felt the need to mention it specifically. I know people like that as well.
    forgotmypw17 · 1790969559 · focus · HN ↗
    Would you feel the same thing about "the need to mention it specifically" if they had mentioned their boyfriend?
    Your phrasing reminded me of what casual mentions of a same-sex partners used to elicit, when heteronormativity was more prevalent.
    garbagewoman · 1790978595 · focus · HN ↗
    People choose to be in open relationships
    dvyjtcsctrvjj · 1790980126 · focus · HN ↗
    People also choose to be bigots.
    garbagewoman · 1790997977 · focus · HN ↗
    If that was directed at me, you might want to think about it a bit longer
2. cogogo · 1790960238 · focus · HN ↗
  My wife’s vibration pattern for a call is SOS in morse. No side-piece for me though. Very happily married, just know if she calls it is important.
  1. oskciwnxkwndi · 1790965563 · focus · HN ↗
    > Very happily married,
    How relevant. Sounds oddly like a “gotcha” of sorts; still, I can’t help but wonder how happily married you really are considering you felt the need to bring it up entirely unprompted in an otherwise entirely unrelated note.
    cogogo · 1790965766 · focus · HN ↗
    It’s a joke. Parent mentioned wife and girlfriend.
    PcChip · 1790974673 · focus · HN ↗
    I don't get the joke
    very happily married here too
    ThePinion · 1790975809 · focus · HN ↗
    My open friend said the same thing before his wife left him for the boyfriend and took his house. Good times.
    garbagewoman · 1790978467 · focus · HN ↗
    Pretending that everyone automatically understands your relationship arrangement sure does get the intended reactions, doesn’t it?
    dvyjtcsctrvjj · 1790980077 · focus · HN ↗
    Yeah, that’s totally on him and not the rest of the HN jerks purposefully trying to feel insult him to feel better about themselves.
    [deleted] · 1791049992 · focus · HN ↗
    [deleted]
    PcChip · 1790984571 · focus · HN ↗
    The intended reaction was to discuss vibration patterns and morse code. I honestly didn’t even realize that would sound weird because we’re so used to it that we don’t realize when we say things like that, I apologize.
3. rustyminnow · 1790960360 · focus · HN ↗
  Here's a fun game to learn morse code ... <a href="https://alexvscoding.itch.io/morse" rel="nofollow">https://alexvscoding.itch.io/morse
  I'd highly recommend even if your goal is just to have fun, and not to "learn morse code".
  Great for your kids, and your other kids too!
4. waltbosz · 1790960512 · focus · HN ↗
  Great use of polyhaptic notifications.
  1. PcChip · 1791167607 · focus · HN ↗
    I see what you did there, and I love it
klaff · 1790961079 · focus · HN ↗
Great idea! I DO know Morse code and it would be nice for it to be useful.
natch · 1790962443 · focus · HN ↗
[delayed]
1. Rendello · 1791045629 · focus · HN ↗
  The reduction-and-pattern-matching reminds me of whistled Spanish:
  <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silbo_Gomero" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silbo_Gomero
  1. natch · 1791157804 · focus · HN ↗
    [delayed]
_whiteCaps_ · 1790962449 · focus · HN ↗
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@alexjh47/podcasts" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/@alexjh47/podcasts
I publish CBC and BBC News Feeds in Morse Code in various speeds if you're looking for another way to learn Morse Code.
dewey · 1790964249 · focus · HN ↗
Reminds me of Yo: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo_(app)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo_(app)
pentamassiv · 1790972130 · focus · HN ↗
LLMs are surprisingly good at reading Morse code. Some time ago I pranked my flatmate. I installed a wifi switch in the wall and then wrote a script to convert text to Morse code and send the code with a slight delay through his lamp. I also built a website to do some legend-building to make him believe a ghost is haunting our apartment. He sent a video of the flickering lamp to chatGPT and it correctly deciphered it. We had a good laugh when I revealed the prank to him.
1. PcChip · 1790975020 · focus · HN ↗
  you put some real effort into that, I respect it!
perilunar · 1790999143 · focus · HN ↗
Good idea. Just set up several myself.
splitbrain · 1791006525 · focus · HN ↗
I like the idea. Is this possible on Android too?
kukanani · 1791006928 · focus · HN ↗
Believe it or not, I already built this exact app over 10 years ago. It is much easier to do on Android, as another commenter has pointed out.
I still remember a specific subset of Morse code that includes my then-girlfriend's initials because of it.
No longer available on the store because of Google Play's endless developer demands, but here's the proof: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150811222142/http://norse.cryolite.co/" rel="nofollow">https://web.archive.org/web/20150811222142/http://norse.cryo...
ubicomp · 1791007219 · focus · HN ↗
I do this and love this! I keep an older iPhone because it allows you to make these kinds of taps. It's also fun to show people how to make their own haptics. Way less looking at my phone, and more living.

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