If you have found yourself late for school, work or other important appointments because your iPhone‘s alarm malfunctioned, you aren’t alone.
Apple has acknowledged issues with the alarm on its popular device, which have left users frustrated and (potentially) late. Users on multiple platforms have complained that they overslept and missed commitments thanks to problems with their iPhone.
‘We can create a support group’
TikTok user Katie, username @teachmiddleschoolinstyle, went viral with a video that drew more than 2.7 million views within six days, addressing the issue.
“My alarm did not go off on my iPhone today,” the middle school teacher in Denver, Colorado said in the video.
“The only reason that I woke up was because somebody texted me. I Googled it, and apparently, this is happening to a lot of people.
“So if this has happened to you, know that you are not alone. We can create a support group.”
Photo by Dian Ramadhan / Getty Images
Katie was far from alone—many users in her comments said they have experienced the same thing.
“Does it show on your screen, but just not make noise sometimes for anyone else?” user @owen_u asked. Several commenters responded that they could relate.
“Literally got fired from my job [because] my Apple alarm didn’t go off. it’s actually getting annoying,” user @cailink21 posted.
“Silent alarm nearly made me miss my flight out of London and I have such bad travel anxiety now,” user @beespaige exclaimed in block capital letters.
User @that_white_ram94 said their alarm goes off without sound “a lot”, so they now own a wall alarm clock, adding, “After 18 years, I had to buy a real alarm clock because my $2,500 phone apparently can’t.”
A Recurring Issue
In 2024, Apple told Today that its iPhone alarm has been experiencing issues.
Part of the problem might be a specific feature, entitled “Attention Aware.” The feature, which was introduced in iOS 17, is designed use the iPhone’s TrueDepth camera system to detect whether the user is actively looking at their device.
When enabled, this feature automatically adjusts various phone behaviors based on user attention. For example, the screen dims if you’re not looking at it, and both notifications and alarms may be quieter if you are looking at it.
While the feature has perks, the alarm system might be an issue. According to some users, the device mistakenly registers the user as awake or aware even if they are asleep.
What To Do
For now, Apple users might be well served to find a back-up alarm option if they need to be up early in the morning.
Turning off the Attention Aware feature could be one fix. Double-checking the alarm volumes and notification settings could prevent some issues.
Still, these fixes haven’t worked for everyone.
Newsweek reached out to Apple requesting further comment by email on Wednesday, Jan. 22.
