Have you ever missed an important event because you slept through an alarm?
Even though most smartphones make it incredibly easy to set alarms, many still find themselves sleeping through them—or feeling the need to set several alarms in order to make sure they’ll actually be roused.
However, some say that there’s a new problem with their phones. Specifically, they set an alarm, check to make sure the alarm is active, and then awake to a notification that the alarm went off, even though no sound could be heard. What gives?
Why Didn’t This Woman’s iPhone Alarm Go Off?
In a video with over 1.3 million views, TikTok user Brett Chody (@brettsbites) says she missed her flight to Chicago. The reason? Her iPhone alarm “went off—but silently.”
“I woke up at 6:30 on my own. My flight had taken off, and I picked up my phone and it said, ‘alarm going off’—but it was dead silent,” she says. “It had been going off for two and a half hours.”
While she was able to be rebooked on a later flight, sharing this story on Instagram revealed just how common this issue was.
“Literally I think 100 people swiped up, maybe more, and were like, ‘This happened to me. I missed an exam. I missed a shift; I missed my first day of work. It’s been happening to me so much on my iPhone,’” Chody states.
She closes by simply saying that, if you have an iPhone, you should “maybe don’t trust your Apple alarm.”
What Is Happening With Apple’s Alarms?
Chody isn’t the first to point this out. In April 2024, BroBible reported on numerous cases of people who said their iPhone alarm mysteriously stopped working. At the time, Apple said they were aware of the issue and would be implementing a fix.
However, over a year later, it seems that this problem persists. Thankfully, some of the issues that may be causing this problem are easily fixable.
For example, some people experiencing silent alarms may have simply forgotten to increase their alert volume. As noted by users on Reddit, one can navigate to the “Ringtone and Alerts” section of their Settings and turn the volume all the way up. They can also disable “Change with Buttons” so the volume doesn’t change accidentally.
Is There Another Issue With Apple’s Alarms?
Those who have already changed this setting may still notice silent or low-volume alarms. This may be due to a feature called “Attention Aware Features.”
According to Apple, this is a feature that automatically detects if you’re paying attention to your device and makes adjustments accordingly. For example, it will make it so your display will not dim while you’re looking at it.
The feature also lowers the volume of alerts. While this isn’t a problem if you have your phone charging nearby, some people like to fall asleep while looking at their phones. These people’s iPhones may believe that they are still engaging with their device and, thus, lower their alarm volume.
This feature can be turned off under the “Face ID & Passcode” section of the iPhone’s settings.
@brettsbites Also like 20 ppl said it also happened to them today SO SUS
Commenters Are Frustrated
No matter the reason, commenters said they were annoyed about how often they’ve had this happen to them. Some even claimed this inspired them to use alternative alarms.
“Apple literally risking everyones lives,” said a user.
“THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING TO ME SO MUCH,” offered another. “I had to buy an actual alarm clock.”
“It’s the sounds/haptics that’ll just randomly go down to no volume,” detailed a third. “It’s ridiculous.”
BroBible reached out to Apple and Chody via email.