Alarm selected tone / music not working

So I have been puzzling over this issue for MONTHS now. I have come back to search for an answer about every 2 weeks, finally found a response with a backdoor solution that worked for me, hope it works for you too:

If you go to:

settings >

then scroll up until you get a search bar, and enter “music downloads”, then go to the (music) settings page and turn off downloading automatically in Dolby Atmos, and also make your download Audio Quality setting “High” (but not lossless), and scroll down to the setting “Download in Dolby Atmos” and turn that off as well, it should play the song. Note that you’ll have to delete and re-download the track/album.

Sucks that Apple hasn’t offered a better solution, or come up with an official answer, or included this in a patch, and that this is an exclusion that affects audio quality. But honestly, I get it to an extent; sometimes audio codecs and whatever goes on code wise to make a song lossless, or Dolby Atmos quality, doesn’t play nice with other elements of a system, and it’s not a simple fix.

That said, I’m hoping Apple is still pursuing this issue and working to fix it for future iOS patches/releases.

Ljohnsrud Said:

”I have the same issue since purchasing my iPhone 14”

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Set Up a Genius Bar Appointment:

Set up a Genius Bar Appointment (GBA) at your local Apple Store.

1. Siart here: Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple
2. Scroll down to the Bottom of the page
3. Click the Get hardware help button
4. Proceed from there as necessary.

What to Bring:

Important: Bring some notes, your original proof of purchase, and create a backup prior to bringing it in. Though not required, bring the power adapter along, in case theirs does not work. Apple will inform you of how to prep your device for service.  See More here: Get your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch Ready for Service - Apple Support

mazas_MKE Said:

"Alarm selected tone / music not working: Hey there? I’m not able to get any sound different than the default one for my alarms of my iPhone 14 pro. Anyone with the same issue? I installed latest iOS: iOS16.4.1(a)"

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Report this to Apple:

Do your Part: Provide Apple with feedback on this, letting them know about this issue.  Apple may not get back to you directly, but the more feedback they receive on this, the more they will know what is occurring, and what bug fixes to include in updates to come.

1. Go Here: Feedback - iPhone - Apple
2. Select: "Bug Report" for the "Feedback Type"
3. Comment: that this all began after installing an update. Include the URL of this thread
4. Proceed from there as necessary

This started happening to me in the last month too! I have a iPhone 13 Pro and I’m running iOS 16.5.1.

has anyone figured out what’s going

on? In my situation it has nothing to do with a song not being downloaded song, song being on the cloud in lieu of iPhone.

I’ve turned off Dolby as recommended- no change.

please help

thanks!

t

Ljohnsrud Said:

“The closest Apple Store is 2 hours away. I purchased from Verizon and my phone was shipped to me…I’m not sure what can be done.”

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You need to go through Verizon on this. All another reason to purchase an Apple device from Apple, and none other.

@MmeMaledicta —

Thank you!!! I followed your directions, made a test alarm and Basketball Jones played! The alarm will now go off tonight to tell me that the Bucks-Lakers game is about to start! Merci most beaucoup!!! …and GO DAME LILLARD!!!!

— gillian :)

I have had the SAME ISSUE here in 2024, having bought a new iPhone 15 and restoring my data from my previous iPhone 7. On the iPhone 7 I have been playing my selected songs for years as the Alarm sounds - no problem at all.

On switching to iPhone 15 all I get is a stock digitally generated alarm tone (always the same one) even though I select to play a DOWNLOADED SONG.

I tried the supposed fixes in this thread but none of them work. I even deleted all my alarms, updated the iPhone 15 to the latest iteration of iOS 17 and then downloaded a brand new song to my Apple Music Library, then created the new Alarm and selected that song. Nothing changes.

I have had remote help (screen sharing withe an Apple Support rep) and despite him being a patient and nice guy who advised my to update the software as above, NOTHING has changed - it is not fixed and remains an issue.

I really don't undestand how Apple can not get this right on a new iPhone model. I have wasted two hours of my time on it this afternoon and feel very frustrated.

Thank you for the deep dive but I still can’t get it to change from default. Turned off Dolby Atmos settings as suggested. Deleted song and redownload with new music settings. iPhone 14 IOS 17.2.1.

I have the same issue since purchasing my iPhone 14

The closest Apple Store is 2 hours away. I purchased from Verizon and my phone was shipped to me…I’m not sure what can be done.

I had the same issue and it seems like it only happened when I downloaded songs in dolby atmos. When I turned it off and redownloaded the song without it, it played the song on alarm normally.