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iOS 17: Siri Substitutes a Timer for Alarm

I updated to iOS 17. Siri no longer sets and an Alarm with the following prompt:

"Hey Siri, set an alarm for 60 minutes"


Instead, she sets a timer for 60 minutes.


In prior iOS versions, she would set an alarm for the appropriate time. For instance, if you used the prompt above at 8:00, she would set an alarm for 9:00.


This allowed me to keep a log of my timers for the day, incase I needed to back track.


What prompt can I use to get Siri to set an Alarm using relative time (e.g. "set an alarm for 60 minutes"). I do not want to use a prompt that uses a specific time, as I don't know the current time when setting the alarm.


iPhone 13, iOS 17

Posted on Oct 6, 2023 8:50 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 7, 2023 1:15 AM

I am having this same issue and I am very frustrated with apple. If I wanted a timer I would have said timer. I want an alarm , so set the Alarm siri!

66 replies

Oct 14, 2023 11:58 AM in response to KiltedTim

I disagree. This worked perfectly fine prior to iOS17, and I use both timers and alarms A LOT.


When requested, Siri could differentiate between requests for setting a timer and an alarm, and you could request a length of time and Siri would set the alarm appropriately based on that.


Alarms and timers have different behaviors as well, and it is helpful to have Siri do what is asked for as it was in the past instead of Siri assuming we want a timer when asking for an "alarm" set x amount of time from now.


It makes Siri rather unhelpful, in that I need to look down at my phone to see what time it is and figure out the time I want an alarm, instead of just saying "Hey Siri, set an alarm for 45 minutes to check the dryer".


In this case I want an alarm with snooze for my default snooze time, not a timer that will offer to repeat 45 a minute timer.


Would be nice to restore this functionality and have Siri do what is requested. It obviously worked well before, just have Siri do what is requested like it did in the past.

Nov 4, 2023 7:55 AM in response to merryme

This is so strange! It worked for me yesterday after upgrading to 17.1, using the phrasing "Hey Siri, set an alarm for 45 minutes from now".


I just tried again after seeing your post and indeed, it has somehow reverted back to setting a timer instead of an alarm.


No idea how this could have happened, because I am still on iOS 17.1 and do not have automatic updates.

Nov 30, 2023 8:53 AM in response to djvan

I’m sorry, but here lately, Apple seems to have a knack for fixing what was never broken. I so regret doing this latest update. My alarm is something that I use every single day and I don’t want a timer set, I want exactly what I said, an alarm set. I am more likely to accidentally exit out of or stop timer that appears on my main screen than when I was controlling it from my Clock app. I implore you to please change it back the way it was! This is not just a nuisance but I use these alarms for work and there’s nothing like being late because your alarm accidentally got turned off.

Feb 12, 2024 2:12 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

That's not the issue. We used to be able to say "Siri set an alarm for 1 hour from now" and if it was 4:45 pm it would set the alarm for 5:45 pm. Now, we say "Siri set an alarm for 1 hour from now" and it sets a timer for 1 hour. Added to the fact that this eliminates the options for snoozes (helpful for anything from naps to laundry) since the timer only gives the options of "stop" or "repeat timer", if your hands are busy and aren't holding the phone (cooking for example) you might not have the current time available to you in order to do the correct math.

iOS 17: Siri Substitutes a Timer for Alarm

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