One of the things that’s so useful about iPhones is that they serve many different purposes besides just making phone calls. Each one is like a miniature computer, so there are all sorts of tasks that you can assign to your device.
For instance, many people like to use theirs as an alarm clock to help them get up in the mornings. What if your iPhone’s alarm isn’t going off like it’s supposed to, though?
We researched this problem and came up with a few possible solutions for you to try. An iPhone alarm not going off might annoy you, but you should be able to find a solution with our help.
Check Your iPhone’s Sound and Volume Levels
With any iPhone problem, it’s best to eliminate the most obvious-seeming answers first. In this case, that means checking the device’s sound and volume levels.
Go to Settings, then Sound and Haptics. Scroll down to where you see Ringers and Alerts.
Turn the volume up as high as it will go by dragging it to the far right. That might be what it takes for you to hear the alarm loud and clear again.
The other thing you can do in this area is to make sure that you don’t have the alarm sound set to None. This is one of the options for the alarm.
If that’s what you have it set to, it’s essentially the equivalent of silencing the alarm even when it’s going off.
Tap Clock, then Alarm. Tap the plus icon that you see in the upper right-hand corner. Next, tap Sound and choose one of the ringtones that you’d like to use for your alarm.
Resetting the iPhone Might Fix the Alarm
If that doesn’t work, you can try resetting the iPhone. This option fixes many minor software glitches, and it’s easy to do.
Go to Settings, then General. Go to Reset, then Reset All Settings.
This should not cause any data loss, so you don’t have to worry about backing the phone up beforehand. Once the process is complete, test out the alarm again and see if it’s working.
Have You Installed Any Third-Party Alarm Apps?
You might have chosen to install and use a third-party alarm app rather than utilizing the function that comes built into the iPhone.
There are many different third-party apps for this purpose. The one you chose might be interfering with the functionality of your device’s alarm.
Usually, the only way to tell whether that’s happening is to uninstall the third-party app. Do this, then try the iPhone’s alarm again. If it works now, you’ll know that it was the third-party app that was causing the problem.
The Issue Might Have to Do with the Bedtime Feature
The last several versions of iOS have a feature called Bedtime. Its intention is to help people who have problems with their sleep cycles. By using it, they can go to bed and wake up according to a set pattern.
There was a minor bug with it in some cases, though, particularly in older versions of iOS. This bug allowed people to go to bed using Bedtime, but it didn’t work so well with waking them up the next morning.
You might still be running an earlier version of iOS. If so, the Bedtime setting could be impeding your alarm’s functionality.
To see if Bedtime is the problem, go to the Clock app, then disable Bedtime and create a standard alarm instead. Try it to see if it works. If it does, then that was likely the culprit.
You might also try installing the most recent version of iOS to see if this fixes the bug. The more recent iterations seem to have successfully fixed this problem.
To do it, head to Settings, then General. Hit Software Update. If there is an update available, you will see a notification for it.
Hit Install Update, and the iPhone will download the latest version of iOS for you.
Restoring Your iPhone with iCloud Might Fix the Alarm
The next thing you can try if none of our suggestions so far have worked is to back up and then restore your iPhone. You should first do a backup through iCloud.
- If you are restoring your device through iCloud, then you’ll need to go to Settings, then General, and Software Update. If there’s a newer version of iOS available, then install it.
- Next, go back to General, then go to Reset from there.
- Scroll down to where you see Erase All Content and Settings and tap it.
- On the Apps and Data screen, you will see the option to Restore from iCloud Backup. Sign in to iCloud.
- Go to Choose Backup. Select the most recent backup that you did for the device. Wait a couple of minutes as this process occurs.
When it’s finished, any minor bugs or glitches should hopefully be eliminated, including whatever was happening with the alarm.
You Can Also Try Downgrading the Version of iOS You’re Running
Generally speaking, it’s advisable to have the most recent version of iOS running on your iPhone. It’s going to have the latest features from Apple. It does sometimes happen that one particular version of iOS causes problems in certain areas, though.
If you just got the latest version of iOS, and you notice that you’re only then having problems with the alarm not going off, then it makes sense to think that the two could be related. You could go back to the earlier version of iOS that you were running, and that might fix the issue.
To do so, you can plug your iPhone into a laptop or PC running iTunes with a USB cable. Look on the upper left-hand side of the screen, where iTunes should recognize the device.
Click on Summary, where it will say what version of iOS you’re running. You should see the option that says Restore iPhone.
Make sure that it’s the right backup before clicking on it. You want the one that was running the older version of iOS.
Once you confirm that’s the case, go ahead and do it. Within a minute or two, you should get the older version back on your phone. Now, you can check to see if the alarm is functioning normally again.
It Might Be a Hardware Problem
If none of this has worked satisfactorily, then there’s likely a hardware issue happening and not a software one. Think about whether anything has happened to the phone recently.
Has it been out of the protective case, and you’ve dropped it? Has it gotten submerged in water, or has another liquid or food spilled on it? Have you been traveling, and did you bounce the device around during transit?
If there’s any external damage or you know that the phone has gone through some rough treatment, then it’s possible that’s why the alarm isn’t working.
If you suspect that’s the case, the best thing to do is take the iPhone to an Apple Store where the Geniuses can look at it. They can open it up to check for damage and replace any broken components that they find.
If you bought the device brand-new, then it came with a one-year warranty. That warranty should cover hardware issues.
You might also have bought an extended warranty, or maybe you got an AppleCare+ plan. Those should cover hardware issues as well.
If the Geniuses determine that a hardware issue is causing the alarm not to function correctly, and the device is no longer under warranty, then you’ll have to pay for the repair out of pocket. Hopefully, the fix will not turn out to be too expensive.
