If you are counting on your iPhone as alarm clock, you are hardly alone-but you must be aware of a potential problem that could lead to missed appointments or a delay.
During the last month, several iPhone users on Tiktok shared their experience with an apparent bug that has an impact on the alarm function of the device, with some of the viral videos on the platform. Basically, some claim that their alarms fail to activate or leave without sound.
“I have been using the iPhone alarm for 10 years – never had a problem. Well, two days ago, I woke up an hour and a half late for work to a phone call from my boss saying:” Hey, are you coming today? “” Tiktok user @brunson_state shared on the application.
“If your alarms are not triggered and you have an iPhone and you think you have slept through them, you are not in evil,” said Armor AlexiaAnother user, who added that the alarm problem made him miss his airport transport and must then pay $ 500 to park his car at the airport.
The comments section for the two videos is filled with responses from people who have had similar experiences and thought that their brain worked badly; “I thought I was crazy” is a common comment.
The two Tiktok users believe they have identified the source of the problem: a functionality called “attention Aware”, which was introduced for the first time in 2023 with the publication of iOS 17.
The functionality uses the iPhone TrueDepth Camel to determine if a user actively pays attention to their device, then automatically adjusts certain parameters and behaviors accordingly. So, if you look at your phone, the brightness of the screen will not decrease and the volume of sound for your alerts decreases.
But, as some have pointed out, the functionality can wrongly record someone as awake and watch his phone when he really slept – thus leading to silent alarms.
“It is essentially like AI, and he naturally detects whether he has to remove the alarm or not, or that will decrease the sound,” said Armor in his video Tiktok. “Why would you put a functionality that deactivates alarms alone?”
The alarm problem has surfaced for the first time in April 2024 when users began to share their experiences on social networks.
At the time, The correspondent of NBC News Emilie Ikeda And The columnist of the Wall Street Journal Joanna Stern The two confirmed that Apple was aware of the problem and worked on a solution.
However, it seems that the problem has persisted for some people in the following iOS versions; It is not clear if it is the same problem last year or another leading to the same problem. (Apple did not immediately respond to the HuffPost update request.)
Fortunately, users have shared useful bypass solutions. The main thing is to deactivate the function of “attention consciousness features” on your iPhone.
To turn it off on your device:
2. Go to “accessibility”
3. Press “Face Id & Attention”
4. Replace “attention consciousness features”
You can also find this feature under “Vocal Control” in “Accessibility”.
In addition, you will want to check your volume of alarm and potentially adjust the cursor for “ringing and alerts” under “Sound & Haptics” in your settings. Evolves from the “Change with the buttons” option below if you do not want to accidentally reduce the alarm volume during your regular use of the iPhone.
The definition of several alarms on different devices or applications can reduce your sleep chances too if your ordinary iPhone alarm fails. This is particularly useful for significant awakenings such as flights early in the morning or meetings cannot miss.
And of course, if you really want to protect yourself from technical shenanigans, plan to invest in a real old -fashioned physical alarm clock.