If you rely on your iPhone as an alarm clock, you are hardly alone ― but you should be aware of a potential issue that could lead to oversleeping, missed appointments or tardiness.
Over the past month, several iPhone users on TikTok have shared their experience with an apparent bug that impacts the device’s alarm function, with a few of the videos going viral on the platform. Basically, some are claiming that their alarms are either failing to activate or are going off with no sound.
“I’ve been using the iPhone alarm for 10 years ― never had an issue. Well, two days ago I woke up an hour and a half late for work to a phone call from my boss saying, ‘Hey, you coming in today?’” TikTok user @brunson_state shared on the app.
“If your alarms have not been going off and you have an iPhone and you think you have been sleeping through them, you are not in the wrong,” said Alexie Armour, another user, who added that the alarm problem caused her to miss her airport transportation and subsequently have to pay $500 to park her car at the airport.
The comments section for both videos is filled with responses from people who’ve had similar experiences and thought their brains were malfunctioning; “I THOUGHT I WAS CRAZY” is a common comment.
Both TikTok users believe they’ve identified the source of the issue: a feature called “Attention Aware,” which was first introduced in 2023 with the release of iOS 17.
The feature utilizes the iPhone’s TrueDepth camera to determine whether or not a user is actively paying attention to their device and then automatically adjusts certain settings and behaviors accordingly. So if you’re looking at your phone, the display brightness won’t dim, and the volume of the sound for your alerts lowers.
But, as some have pointed out, the feature may mistakenly register someone as awake and looking at their phone when they are actually asleep ― thus leading to the silent alarms.
“It’s basically like AI, and it naturally detects if it should put the alarm off or not, or it will dim the sound of it,” Armour said in her TikTok video. “Why would you put a feature that turns off alarms on its own?”
The alarm problem first surfaced in April 2024 when users started sharing their experiences on social media.
At the time, NBC News correspondent Emilie Ikeda and Wall Street Journal columnist Joanna Stern both confirmed that Apple was aware of the issue and working on a solution.
Still, it seems the problem has persisted for some people in subsequent iOS versions; it’s unclear if it’s the same issue from last year or a different one leading to the same problem. (Apple did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for an update.)
Fortunately, users have shared helpful workarounds. The main one is to disable the “Attention Aware Features” function on your iPhone.
To turn it off on your device:
1. Open “Settings”
2. Go to “Accessibility”
3. Tap “Face ID & Attention”
4. Toggle off “Attention Aware Features”
You can also find this feature under “Voice Control” in “Accessibility.”
Additionally, you’ll want to check on your alarm volume and potentially adjust the slider for “Ringtone and Alerts” under “Sound & Haptics” in your settings. Toggle off the “Change with Buttons” option below that if you don’t want to accidentally lower alarm volume over the course of your regular iPhone use.
Setting multiple alarms on different devices or apps can lower your odds of oversleeping if your regular iPhone alarm fails. This is particularly helpful for important wake-ups like early morning flights or can’t-miss meetings.
And of course, if you want to really safeguard yourself against technical shenanigans, consider investing in a real, old-fashioned physical alarm clock.