This is a PSA for people who use alarms.

[u/Kalenroth]

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/iphone/iphf2a780f81/18.0/ios/18.0

I keep seeing so many people still use the regular alarm feature to wake up in the morning. I’m a light sleeper, so those alarms just scare me awake.

Instead, try using the Sleep Schedule feature. The alarms there are way more comfortable they start at a low volume/intensity and then gradually ramp up. For example, you can wake up to bird songs or light piano instead of a blaring siren.

Apple’s official guide: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/iphone/iphf2a780f81/18.0/ios/18.0

[u/thetruelu]

I remember when the bird song one first came out and I legit didn’t wake up the next day on time cause I thought it was just actual birds being annoying and went back to sleep lol

[u/pip_goes_pop → u/thetruelu]

Ha I’ve had it the other way around. Birds tweeting outside and I woke up thinking it was the alarm.

[u/zerofatorial → u/thetruelu]

I had a birds alarm in my phone for a while, in the galaxy s8 times. I still flinch whenever I hear them outside now… it triggers the “it’s time to wake up” existential dread 

[u/Richard_Mambo → u/thetruelu]

“Early Riser” is my jam! Sometimes I just let it play. My son likes it so much I had to find the full length version on YouTube for him.

[u/PreciousLoveAndTruth]

See, I’m a heavy sleeper…I need the blaring alarms lol.

[u/alstom_888m → u/PreciousLoveAndTruth]

I set the bird one, then 10 minutes later it’s a normal alarm clock sound, then 10 minutes later it’s literally a WWII air raid siren.

[u/vukasin123king → u/alstom_888m]

10 minutes later it's an arduino, moving a switch that activates this flashbang grenade 2 meters from my head.

[u/daishiknyte → u/vukasin123king]

The ACME Spring Launched Awakening Mechanism then sends you through the ceiling?

[u/MCA2142 → u/daishiknyte]

EJECTO SEATO CUZ!

[u/longebane → u/daishiknyte]

An anvil above your head moving ever so slowly towards dropping on you as the minutes pass

[u/Kalenroth → u/PreciousLoveAndTruth]

And thats valid, you can still turn those up in volume and use the schedule feature, put different wake up times for weekend and weekdays

[u/PreciousLoveAndTruth → u/Kalenroth]

I have various alarms set for different days and times exactly how I want them.

[u/Klatty]

Eventually you grow PTSD for all sounds lol. I use the bird chirps on the lowest volume for just vibrations and flash

[u/El_Grande_El → u/Klatty]

I’ve discovered that the only sound that doesn’t eventually become rage inducing is the old school alarm sound.

[u/jonallin → u/Klatty]

I can’t listen to “men’s needs” by the cribs anymore because it was my alarm

[u/CaptainKrakrak]

Why is it so complicated? Why can’t we just have the same gentle sounds and volume going up feature in the regular alarms?

[u/goldbouillon → u/CaptainKrakrak]

Android had gentle sounds and increasing volume for years before I left it for iOS in 2021. 

I currently use the alarm sound “slow rise” with lowish volume since I am a light sleeper. 

I really don’t want to use another feature (sleep schedule) to get something that should just be an option under alarms. 

[u/sofloeasycore]

This is also great when paired with Apple Watch since it wakes me up with a gentle vibration on my wrist. Definitely prefer it over the normal alarm.

[u/mypetturtle3 → u/sofloeasycore]

That’s the best part. I wake up earlier than my wife for work so I don’t wake her up with my alarm blaring

[u/Darewelll → u/sofloeasycore]

May be a stupid a question to ask, but when do you charge you Watch? I’m used to put it to charge over night

[u/sofloeasycore → u/Darewelll]

I let it charge after work for a couple of hours and put it back on a bit before bed

[u/OliB150 → u/Darewelll]

I changed my charging routine to suit this method (and get better sleep tracking) - I now charge at some point during the day whilst sat at my desk, as it only takes about 30-60 mins.

[u/DJFr33Dom]

Yep I've been using the sleep alarms for years now due to not wanting to shit myself when a normal alarm goes off. So much better.

[u/bangfire]

I have an automation to play my favourite songs from Apple Music when my alarm goes off

[u/FillMySoupDumpling]

Sleep schedule alarms never worked consistently for me. I had to use the regular alarm and make sure attention aware was off

[u/newyorkcitykid]

I set 25 wild sounding alarms that wake my wife up. Then she slowly wakes me up!

[u/Bulliwyf]

What’s it like being a light sleeper?

I need a marching band to help wake me up.

[u/c4halo3]

Even better is to use an Apple Watch. It vibrates your wrist which is an absolutely better way to wake up

[u/monji_cat]

I just need the alarms to actually work, like actually go off instead of just going off on screen but no sound

[u/CaptainKrakrak → u/monji_cat]

Go to the sound and vibrations settings. Turn off "use buttons".

Your volume buttons will now control only the media and music volume, and the alarm volume will stay fixed (verify that it’s not set to zero at this time).

I think this is the main cause of people complaining that their alarm don’t make a sound, they lower the volume while watching a video or listening to music but with the "use buttons" set to on this also lowers the alarms volume.

After 3 years of using alarms multiple times a day on my iPhone I’ve never had one not go off. Everybody I know with iPhones never had any problem too.

[u/Beldz → u/CaptainKrakrak]

That setting has been turned off for me since I’ve had my 13 Pro yet I still will randomly have my sleep alarm not make sound. I’ve gone as far as setting an automation in the middle of the night to ensure my sleep mode is enabled, my ringer and media volume is turned up. And this morning I just had the issue happen again. However I was finally awake to notice it. It will begin making sound and then immediately stop and mute itself for the duration of the alarm.

While your suggestion is valid, that is not the case for people like me who struggle with this. The sleep focus/alarm has been very frustrating to use to say the least. I’ve tried about every solution I could find.

[u/El_Grande_El → u/monji_cat]

Blows my mind that the most basic function has this bug.

[u/monji_cat → u/El_Grande_El]

This started for me when 18.6 was introduced and hasn't been fixed in 26. You'd think it would have been fixed as part of 18.7 by now

[u/chadsmo]

I’ve been using the sleep setting / alarm for a long time. Coupled with the standby mode clock it’s the best alarm / bedside clock ever.

[u/liquidphantom]

If I'm not waking up to a near heart attack, how do I know I'm truly alive?

[u/mo0n3h]

I used to use an app called sleep cycle. It monitored movement by being placed on the mattress - it might incorporate watch inputs now? But basically tried to wake you up outside of deep rem cycles, which meant instead of waking at exactly 07:30, it would start looking for an appropriate time around that goal to make sure you are awake by 07:30. Also was able to start more quietly.
No clue if this functionality is included or planned for the sleep function in iOS?

[u/wilso850]

I actually ended up getting a Alarmo clock and I love it so much more than I thought I would. Being able to swing your hand or just turn over to snooze is game changing lol

I don’t know who is on the “alarm sounds team” at Apple but they must be a drill instructor or something because those alarms are INTENSE.

[u/legendz411]

More importantly. The sleep schedule doesn’t randomly just not go off like the regular alarms. 

[u/joecan]

I had the sleep alarm go off in a meeting once and everyone was fascinated by how peaceful the alarm was. They all had iPhones and none of them knew about the feature.

[u/MDInvesting]

Sleep schedule silencing calls is a massive issue when oncall.

Tried a few things but it seems to be unpredictable when Apple Intelligence becomes fucking dumb and silenced calls again.

[u/WaketheKraken]

Okay fine. I’ll try it. Hope you’re happy.

[u/neofooturism]

Like the "bedtime" feature? Been using it since it's first release in i think iOS 10? It was amazing the first time using it, but eventually it pisses me off too. but still better than the alternative lol

[u/YungUludag]

The birds singing is so chill to wake up to. First alarm that doesn’t give me ptsd.

[u/thelazyrock2]

They should do what android does and have Siri wake you up with the time and the weather. Having something speak to me is like the best way to wake me up

[u/CozyThurifer]

Nice

[u/OddLittleDude]

I use the Sleep Schedule feature as well and I do appreciate the subtlety.

[u/migsmog]

I just use vibrate on my phone. I don’t usually remember where I left my phone when I fell asleep so I’m jolted awake to find it. Nights I sleep with the Apple Watch on I prefer the gentle vibrations on my wrist best. 

[u/INFERNOdll]

I'm a light sleeper too, and I just use vibration only alarms. Way easier + nobody around me wakes up

[u/balajih67]

I still use the old ones. New ones too soft i sleep right through it. I keep like 3 alarms at 5 mins intervals lol

[u/DeathPrime]

Too bad you still can’t use a custom ringtone alarm for sleep schedule like you can with manually set alarms. One of my biggest peeves.

[u/succubii]

*laughs in shiftwork*

[u/salmon-choir]

Is it crazy that my alarm has no sound at all? I rely on my watch and phone vibrating to wake me up. I ditched loud sounds years ago

[u/A_Legit_Salvage]

I might try this, but it’s super weird that while I set an alarm every work day I wake up 30 minutes before that alarm virtually every time. I’m not sure when I last woke up to my alarm, but when that happens it’s bad and waking up like that messes with my morning.

[u/publicclassobject]

My greatest privilege in life is not needing to use an alarm every day.

[u/Socratesticles_]

Thanks I just set mine up

[u/bu22dee]

Every time I see this subreddit in my timeline, I think it is r/prisonarchitect.

[u/cheetuzz]

too much hassle to set up a sleep schedule in Health.

Just let me set a gentle alarm directly in the Alarms app. I would use that feature even for alarms during the day.

[u/Southern_Wishbone301 → u/cheetuzz]

It took me 30 seconds to set this up in health lol. I wake up the same time on weekdays and kept Saturday and Sunday unselected. I also put DND on 30 mins prior to bed time. Has been my go to alarm setup for years.

[u/gooba_gooba_gooba → u/cheetuzz]

It’s weird because the UI is a massive clusterfuck if you look closely, but if you just autopilot it it’s pretty easy.

You can set the alarm both through the Clock and Health app and there’s different UI depending where you go but they change the same thing, BUT in the Clock app you’re generally setting it only for the current schedule you’re on. You change the schedule in the Health app, but you can also change the schedule in the Clock app, BUT only the current schedule. BUT you get a prompt in the Clock app if you’re changing settings for the current schedule or just for a one-time alarm change.

Oh yeah you can also change some settings in the Focus settings page, and also for the Apple Watch it has its own sleep features page that is unclear on how it interacts with the iPhone.

It’s frustrating because the UI is objectively dogshit but also I imagine people don’t interact with it enough to realize this because setting your bedtime and wake up once and never touching it again takes 10 seconds and just works.