Giving friends custom text buzzes based on Morse code

49 points by evakhoury a day ago on hackernews | 23 comments

tjoff | 6 hours ago

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 | 6 hours ago

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.

gbacon | 5 hours ago

Cassidy Williams has a brief YouTube video on using this method for passive learning.

https://youtu.be/cnuLX8BWYo0

aorist | 5 hours ago

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

dorianmariecom | 5 hours ago

vodka

connecting people

ragmondo | 5 hours ago

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 !

PcChip | 5 hours ago

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

noman-land | 5 hours ago

Hope your lawyer has a special buzz as well.

fennecbutt | 4 hours ago

They're probably open and felt the need to mention it specifically. I know people like that as well.

forgotmypw17 | 2 hours ago

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.

cogogo | 5 hours ago

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.

oskciwnxkwndi | 3 hours ago

> 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 | 3 hours ago

It’s a joke. Parent mentioned wife and girlfriend.

PcChip | an hour ago

I don't get the joke

very happily married here too

ThePinion | 42 minutes ago

My open friend said the same thing before his wife left him for the boyfriend and took his house. Good times.

rustyminnow | 5 hours ago

Here's a fun game to learn morse code ... 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!

waltbosz | 4 hours ago

Great use of polyhaptic notifications.

klaff | 4 hours ago

Great idea! I DO know Morse code and it would be nice for it to be useful.

natch | 4 hours ago

I do this with syllable counts for my main contacts full names. Too lazy to learn morse code, and syllables work great except when there’s overlap (two people with same counts).

_whiteCaps_ | 4 hours ago

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 | 3 hours ago

pentamassiv | an hour ago

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.
you put some real effort into that, I respect it!