Clock App Has Disappeared from Settings

I am trying to coordinate my devices, and online I am told that if I have signed into iCloud on all my devices (the SAME iCloud account) then my Reminders and Clock App alarms should be synced. This is not true. They are not synced. I set an alarm on my MacBook Pro (fully updated) and if it goes to sleep the alarm doesn't go off on my computer, nor does it go off on my iPhone (fully updated). I look at the support information I can find and it tells me to go to Settings and look at my Clock App. I have just discovered there is NO CLOCK APP in Settings anymore. I have no idea how this is ever supposed to work.


The problem here is that there is an expectation set up by the fact that iPhone Mirroring is an app on Apple now, and it came with my computer. If I can open my iPhone screen in a window on my MacBook Pro then one would think that setting an alarm on one device would transfer that alarm to the other devices, or that I could at least DECIDE to do that if I wanted to. I can't even find my Clock as an app in Settings anymore, so it is hopeless to even attempt to coordinate alarms. What this means is that about half the time I try to set an alarm it doesn't go off, which pretty much negates the point of having the ability to set alarms on any device really. If this $4,000 computer can't function as an alarm clock then I have to say I am not impressed with its abilities as a computer. I feel like some functionality that was previously there has been removed and I am truly baffled why. I can't see any reason why removing access to the Clock App would be an advantage.


I asked Siri to tell me how to coordinate my iPhone alarm settings and my MacBook Pro alarm settings, and Siri first told me I would have to have a third party service like Microsoft Outlook or Google Calendars do that for me. Then I asked again a slightly different way and Siri got ChatGBT to come up with an answer for me. I was told that I just had to be signed into iCloud on both devices and that it would be effortlessly synced. Well, it isn't and I can't even find the Clock App as an item anywhere in Settings. I can't even find it by searching. All I get is ways to decide if the clock in the upper right hand corner is going to display seconds or not (and yes, I like the option to display seconds now...thank you, Apple).


So I am lost. Both these devices are factory reset by Apple as of this month. These are not some weird settings I have, they are the most up-to-date settings that Apple has for 15.2 on my MacBook Pro and 18.2.1 on iPhone. Why can't I trust my devices to make sure I wake on time for events I need to be awake for? I know that I have previously set up the apps to wake me EVEN IF Focus or Do Not Disturb was on. I can't even change these settings though, since "Clock" is not even in Settings on my MacBook Pro to say I want to allow it to wake SOME device from sleep.


I have to ask, does anyone want their alarm not to go off when they set it? Why would I set an alarm and not expect it to go off? If my computer goes to sleep or is turned off, then that would be fine if my iPhone also was set to go off. If they don't transfer information when I set an alarm though, then they will never be able to wake me.


I am aware I am over explaining this, but it seems like it has to be clarified because all the answers I have received so far have felt much more like they were meant to evade solving the obvious issue. I want SOME alarm to go off when I have set an alarm to go off. That seems like something everyone on Earth would want as a feature. I am sitting with four expensive Apple devices within arm's length of me. Surely I should be able to count on at least one of them to wake me up from sleep.

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 15.2

Posted on Jan 14, 2025 4:01 AM

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3 replies

Jan 14, 2025 5:41 AM in response to Reimirier

Have you reviewed the information the Apple Support article I shared below? Have you adjusted the alarm volume and insured the volume is sufficiently loud enough to be heard?


How to set and change alarms on your iPhone - Apple Support


Alarms can be synced between iPhone and Apple Watch. Alarms do not sync between Mac OS and iOS, except iPhone and Watch.


Apple Support Community is a public discussion forum for fellow Apple users to assist each other and share tips and solutions. Apple hosts the community, but is not a participant and will never read your comment. If you would like to leave feedback for Apple please use the link below.


Product Feedback - Apple


Jan 14, 2025 11:49 PM in response to Jeff Donald

Well, I think we have hit the nail on the head. Why aren't alarms synced between macOS and iOS? Wouldn't that be a reasonable thing to expect to be able to do?


I have checked several of the support articles including the one above. It does not explain how the Clock App is no longer part of Settings and cannot be edited under Settings>General>Date and Time. It also isn't possible to find the Clock App in any place except the Applications folder, where it is given no special privileges or the capacity to alter it's function to sync with other devices.


I also read the support article on using Terminal to change the functioning of the MacBook Pro so that it wakes from being turned off or wakes from sleep for alarms, but that seems excessive when I am simply trying to have the ability to use an Apple App to sync alarms between my MacBook Pro and my iPhone.


Do you know a better way to get feedback from anyone at Apple on this? The thing that seems most confusing is that I can do what I am trying to do with a variety of third party apps, all of which I would rather not use if there were a way Apple could provide to just share my alarms between devices.

Jan 15, 2025 12:07 AM in response to Jeff Donald

Incidentally I have also put this suggestion in for MacBook Pro and for iPhone, but since Apple apparently isn't even allowing me to give feedback on their Clock App, I can't select it specifically as an item on the Support Screen to give feedback about it. Is time not important to people?! I mean, this is probably the most elementary thing I could expect from my computer, to be honest. I should not have to use Google Reminders or Google Calendar as my only means of transferring alarms and reminders from my MacBook Pro to my iPhone. This is kind of like if I said I wanted to see the same Contacts List in my Contacts App on my MacBook Pro and ALSO on my iPhone. Isn't this obvious? Is there something I don't know? Did the Time suddenly get much less important to people?!


I have been using Apple devices since 1984, and I am not really clear on why I feel like there is an attitude of evasion when I ask about relatively straightforward basic computer functions like Time. I remember setting the time on my father's Apple ][e using BASIC programming language. I don't think asking for a way to coordinate things like alarms is an extreme thing to want, when I can use the iPhone Mirroring App to do almost everything else imaginable with my iPhone right on my MacBook Pro.


I don't like seeing absolutely essential and necessary functions of my computer being removed as options. I can't think of why anyone would want their devices not to be able to all work together to make sure that you are alerted when you have to wake up or when you have an important event like a doctor's appointment. This is something I can do with dozens of other third party apps, but it seems like this was previously something I could easily do with other Apple MacIntosh Computers.

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Clock App Has Disappeared from Settings

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