Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET
I started noticing something very annoying at the beginning of the year: I'd set my iPhone alarm for 7 a.m., only to sleep right through it. At first I assumed it was my mistake -- maybe I'd accidentally left the ringer volume all the way down. But after double-checking that, even switching off vibrate and cranking the volume all the way up overnight, the problem persisted. Somewhere between frustration and desperation, I installed a third-party alarm app to try and even asked my partner to set a backup alarm on his phone.
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I was at a loss as to what was happening, so I decided to Google the issue. I found that Apple acknowledged an alarm problem back in April 2024 and that a fix was in the works. But this was over a year ago. In January, several reports claimed the issue was still happening.
I consider myself an iPhone power user, so I kept thinking I could figure out what's wrong myself -- or at the very least, I hoped the fluke would resolve itself. But now, well into July, I'm turning to Reddit threads and Apple Support discussions for tech support. Every community seems to have its favorite solutions -- some simple, some nuclear. Here are all the ones I plan to try.
How to fix the 'silent iPhone alarm' glitch
Since the silent iPhone alarm bug appears to be intermittent, I've decided to try one solution at a time to see which actually does the trick. If you're in the same boat, here are all the troubleshooting tips I've found that will supposedly get our iPhone alarms working on schedule again. If Apple isn't going to do something about it, maybe we can -- and hopefully put an end to oversleeping.
1. Immediate iPhone settings to check first Before I get into some lesser-known fixes, let's cover the basics: double-check your volume settings and disable Bluetooth. It may seem obvious, but at this point it's worth the due diligence. Max out your volume: Open Settings > Sounds and Haptics. Drag the Ringtone and Alerts slider to maximum. Toggle Change with Buttons to On. Test your alarm sound by creating a test alarm for a minute from now. Also: Just installed iOS 18.5 on your iPhone? I would change these 6 settings first Turn off Bluetooth entirely: Open Control Center and disable Bluetooth. Alternatively, in Settings, go to Bluetooth and toggle it off. This forces your alarm to play through your iPhone's speakers rather than another source. Show more
Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET
2. Disable 'Attention Aware Features' Apple offers an "Attention Aware Features" setting on Face ID-equipped iPhones. It uses the front TrueDepth camera to detect whether you're looking at the screen. When enabled, your iPhone will dim the display if it thinks you're not looking at it and lower the volume of certain alerts -- like notifications and apparently even alarms. Also: Change these 10 iOS settings right now to instantly get better iPhone battery life The idea is to avoid blasting a loud alert in your face when you're actively engaged, but in practice, your alarm could either ring silently or at a much lower volume. Wonderful (not). Disable Attention Aware Features: Open Settings. Tap Accessibility > Face ID and Attention. Toggle Attention Aware Features to Off. Show more
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