Level 1

89 points

iOS 10 - Alarm stopped working

I've upgraded my iPhone 6 to iOS 10.0.1 and ever since the update, my alarm clock no longer works. I can set an alarm, the alarm clock icon shows up in the upper RH of the screen, but when it's time to alert, nothing happens. The phone does not turn on, it does not create any sound. I've tried everything I could think of and the suggestions online, but no luck.

Another odd behavior is that even after an alarm has past (with no reaction in the phone) the icon in the upper RH remains. I can delete all alarms, the alarm icon still is present on the screen.

I've tried the new Bedtime feature thinking it my by part of the problem, but it also does not work. However, it does have some impact; if I turn on the bedtime feature, the alarm clock icon on the upper RH of the screen will go away and any alarm (on the alarm screen) that was armed gets turned off. It's as if the two are mutually exclusive meaning you can either use Bedtime or traditional alarms, but not both. Does anyone know if this is the case?

I really doubt I'll use the Bedtime feature, it's a little odd and not terribly useful for a hectic life that isn't too predictable for going to bed each night. However, losing total functionality of the traditional alarm clock is a huge disappointment.

I've tried restarting the phone; the only thing that does is make the alarm clock icon disappear (if it was stuck on from a prior alarm). It does not restore the actual vibrate / audible function of an alarm that is set.

I also deleted my iHome clock app thinking the alarms from that app might somehow be competing with the native iOS alarm function, even though they both worked fine in iOS 9.

iPhone 6, iOS 10, Alarm Clock

Posted on Sep 22, 2016 1:11 PM

155 replies

Mar 20, 2017 4:58 PM in response to Emdolisha

It took me two weeks. I went through 2 new phones. There is nothing wrong with your phone. The problem is in your backup in cloud or iTunes. I'm sorry to have to tell you to restore the phone as a new iPhone. It will take lots of time but that fixes the problem

Mar 22, 2017 2:04 PM in response to jrich4945

I'm on iOS 10.2.1 and my alarms will randomly work one day then not the next. I've tried everything but some days I'll wake up hours late because they didn't go off.

I've had to resort to settin multiple alarms five minutes together, some of which will work and some which won't.

Apr 19, 2017 7:30 PM in response to jrich4945

I have the same problem. I have managed to keep the same alarm sound that I liked on my first mobile (Nokia) 12 years ago, by downloading a similar sound to iTunes when I got my first iPhone. Ive used it successfully on iPad and iPhone ever since. Yesterday I noticed 'Bedtime' so blindly set it, only to find:

1. It didn't allow me to use the frog sound

2. It seems to have disabled all sound in my normal alarm.

Apple, this is pathetic and needs your immediate fix! Otherwise we face economic collapse due to no one getting to work on time anymore.

Apr 19, 2017 8:25 PM in response to Brindieye

Brindieye wrote:

I have the same problem. I have managed to keep the same alarm sound that I liked on my first mobile (Nokia) 12 years ago, by downloading a similar sound to iTunes when I got my first iPhone. Ive used it successfully on iPad and iPhone ever since. Yesterday I noticed 'Bedtime' so blindly set it, only to find:

1. It didn't allow me to use the frog sound

2. It seems to have disabled all sound in my normal alarm.

Apple, this is pathetic and needs your immediate fix! Otherwise we face economic collapse due to no one getting to work on time anymore.

If you don't like Bedtime, turn it off. You should still be able to use your preferred custom tone with the standard alarm function in the Clock app.

May 8, 2017 2:59 PM in response to Jon B 74

I'm stuck in the exact same situation! I've tried everything including a reset (lost all of my precious photos)... Im not too sure what to do, and at this point, I'm almost considering switching to android and leaving the whole problem behind... Any suggestions I can take on what to do next???

May 8, 2017 3:26 PM in response to CookiefromChina

CookiefromChina wrote:

I'm stuck in the exact same situation! I've tried everything including a reset (lost all of my precious photos)... Im not too sure what to do, and at this point, I'm almost considering switching to android and leaving the whole problem behind... Any suggestions I can take on what to do next???

Reseting your phone (now called a forced restart) doesn't remove any data. It sounds as if if what you did was Erase All Content and Settings. Why did you do that without making a back up? Hopefully, you now have a back up strategy in place.

So, did you restore as new and test without adding any 3rd party apps?

May 31, 2017 10:44 AM in response to reliusrr

reliusrr wrote:

Same here! Removed DND schedule and all is well

DND doesn't affect the alarm. The alarm will be audible even if DND is engaged. The two functions simply aren't connected. And, yes, I have personal experience with this. I have DND scheduled and no problems with my alarm.

reliusrr

Level 1

4 points

May 31, 2017 6:57 PM in response to IdrisSeabright

Update- turning off DND scheduling did not fix the problem.

After some digging, I noticed ALL my iPhone native ringtones sound exactly the same. And if I was to choose one of these ringtone sounds, such as Apex, Beacon, Bulletin, etc. as the alarm 'sound', the alarm doesn't work (technically, the alarm goes off, but you can't hear it, which for me, means it does not work).

However, if I choose a "song" as my alarm sound, the alarm works as advertised- go figure!

Not sure if this is related, but my home button on my 7plus isn't working properly either...

May 31, 2017 7:03 PM in response to reliusrr

reliusrr wrote:

Not sure if this is related, but my home button on my 7plus isn't working properly either...

It sounds as if there well could be something large wrong with your phone. Try restoring the phone from back up and testing. If that doesn't help, restore as new.

Toosto

Level 1

4 points

Jul 3, 2017 12:36 PM in response to Jon B 74

I was facing the exact problem.

Do this:

1) Go to Settings>Sounds.

2) Disable 'Vibrate on Ring.'

3) Make sure 'Ringer and Alerts' show enough volume.

After performing these steps, my alarms and ringtones are working normally.

I am using iOS 10.3.2 on iPhone 5s.

Aug 29, 2017 7:39 PM in response to greenfeather

Tried so many of the suggestions here with zero results. Like the original posting nothing seems to work. Tonight I downloaded the app Alarm Clock Free by I Handy and guess what, THAT alarm clock seems to work. Apple needs to fix their stuff but since this seems to have been going on for years now I am just going to work around the broken alarm. No need to buy a new phone.

Sep 22, 2016 2:32 PM in response to jrich4945

Have you deleted all of your alarms and re-added them?

jrich4945 Author

Level 1

89 points

Sep 22, 2016 4:15 PM in response to IdrisSeabright

Yes, that was one of the first thing I tried thinking "old" alarms from iOS 9 might be the hang up. No luck. Also, like I mentioned in f post, even after I delete all alarms, the alarm icon in upper RH stays on. It's absolutely maddening for something some mundane and was working fine before upgrading iOS...

jrich4945 Author

Level 1

89 points

Sep 22, 2016 4:23 PM in response to IdrisSeabright

After trying a few more things I found even more craziness. If I set a timer, it counts down to zero as expected, but no sound or vibrate at zero for that either. It just stops and resets. Then, I realized if I have an alarm set, and subsequently start a countdown timer, it cancels the alarm and removes the icon from the upper RH. Likewise if I start a timer and it's counting down and then I try to set an alarm while it's counting down, the timer is cancelled. It's as if everything exclusive and the clock can no longer do anything more than one of its functions, and all alerts for any of the clock functions (sound and vibrate) are disabled.

Sep 22, 2016 7:29 PM in response to jrich4945

Sorry, I missed that you'd already deleted the alarms.

Yes, you can use Bedtime and conventional alarms as long as you don't have a conventional alarm set for the same time. That seems to cause a problem.

If a forced restart (pressing and holding the Home and power buttons until the apple appears, then letting go) doesn't resolve your issue, the next steps would be to restore from back up, then restore as new.

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iOS 10 - Alarm stopped working