Some iPhone Alarms Are Broken, But a Fix is Coming
Break out the backup alarm clock.
No one likes missing their alarm, especially when it’s the clock’s fault. If you have an iPhone and you’ve missed some alarms over the past few days, you’re not alone. In fact, Apple is aware of the issue and it’s currently working on a fix.
As reports of alarms firing up silently by iPhone users continue to surface, Apple has acknowledged the software bug in a response to The Today Show and is actively working on a solution. The bug has left many scrambling to avoid missed appointments and late wake-ups. The extent of the problem remains unclear, as it’s not happening to everyone and no one seems to know the variables that might cause this. Regardless, concerned iPhone owners can take immediate preventative steps. You can navigate to Settings > Sound & Haptics and ensure the ringtone and alert volume is sufficiently high. You might also want to turn off the “Change with Buttons” option to prevent accidental volume adjustments.
If you’re having this issue on your phone, some people have had success by turning off “Attention Aware Features” (found in Settings > Face ID & Passcode). This feature can inadvertently lower alarm volume if you look at your screen while it’s sounding, potentially causing the alarm to be missed. We should also note here that Attention Aware fix may not be universally effective, and even if you do this, you might still be suffering from this issue. Apple support currently recommends focusing on the Sound & Haptics settings for a more reliable workaround.
Ultimately, you might just want to keep an alternate alarm around just in case. Grab an old phone, smartwatch, or even a good-old tableside clock to wake you up if none of the fixes we’ve mentioned are doing anything for you. We don’t know when a potential fix for this issue will be landing for iPhone users, but if you’re having this happen, you should definitely report the issue to Apple to see if a fix can be sped up.
Source: Today Show via The Verge