Dominus Plus Review – Domino dots tell the time in this work of minimalist art

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By: Albert Salamon

Version #: 1.1

Date Released: 2011-08-02

Developer: Albert Salamon

Price: 0.99

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Available both as a standard iPhone/iPod touch and an HD iPad app, Dominus Plus takes the everyday and mundane task of looking at the time and turns it into something of a work of minimalist art. As suggested by its name, the app employs the resemblance of a piece of domino. The app uses primary- and secondary-colored domino dots against a pitch black background in telling the time in a not so straightforward but rather interesting way.

The main clock display comprises two halves of dots, as are customary to a domino, that are bright green when in AM and bright orange when in PM. The number of dots in the upper half indicates the hour and the number of dots in the lower half indicates the minute. In lieu of the colon found in most digital clocks, a blinking line between the two groups of dots is used to indicate the passage of a second. The dots in each group are arranged in varying patterns depending on their number, so that they aren’t merely lined up in a perfunctory manner. You may also double-tap on the screen to switch between day and night mode.

It’s hardly noticeable at first, but there is actually a small dot tucked in each corner of the screen. Each of these corner dots leads to a different function, as described in the app’s hidden help menu, which is accessible only by shaking your device. The upper left corner dot is for the aforementioned main clock display. The lower left one goes to the alarm setting screen, also occupied by two groups of dots, red this time around, some dim while some already lit up: the left group is for the hour setting, the right for the minute. Tapping on a certain dot on either group will light up a certain number of dots, which is the same number as the hour or minute that goes into your alarm setting. When you’re ready, tap the triangle at the bottom to turn the alarm on.

The lower right corner dot brings up a screen similar to the alarm setting screen, but this time it’s for the timer setting and it’s now filled with a 6 by 10 array of blue dots, equal of course to 60 minutes. As when setting the alarm, tap a dot to light up the number of dots equal to the number of minutes you’d like the timer to count down, then tap the triangle to commence the timer. Lastly, tapping the upper right corner dot leads to the app settings menu. Here you can enable different chimes for every minute, every quarter, and/or every hour. You can also choose among three non-ordinary alarm tones and toggle the sound effects.

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler,” said the great Albert Einstein. It’s one of the most popular aphorisms applied in the field of design, saying a lot about the merits of a minimalist approach towards creating a product in so few words. It is echoed years later by Dieter Rams, widely considered a master of industrial design, when he included among his famous ten design commandments the statement that “good design is as little design as possible.” Whichever saying you prefer, you’ll be glad to be reminded of it when you use Dominus Plus, a simple yet striking clock app for your iOS device.