Alarms

[GreyOS]

iOS is supposedly a mature OS on its 10th major iteration but you still can't set alarm volume independently from ringer volume. Is anyone else really amazed by this? Yes, I think it needs repeating every so often. Other basic features that are missing are fade-in and snooze length.

Usually deficiencies in Apple apps can be filled in by third party apps, but there's a problem here too. Poor support of third party apps means they are given no option to override DND. For comparison, Android alarm apps can register as alarms and Android's DND mode gives you an option to disable all notifications but alarms. Many of third party alarms' unique features (like fade ins, radio, etc.) only work if you leave the app open and your device awake all night.

Overall, iOS has very poor and neglected alarm functionality. You could argue that iOS devices are not the best devices to use as alarms, or that alarms aren't an important enough feature to deserve extra attention, but after 10 major iterations, isn't it really surprising and almost incredible that virtually nothing has changed regarding alarms in all this time?

To add insult to injury, what Apple have changed in the Clocks app is they've added a dark mode that you can't disable, removed the option to view analog clocks and added a Bedtime feature which I find incredibly puzzling and seems far more complicated to have developed than adding the basic features I've mentioned, which I know a lot of people have been asking for for years.

Ineffectual rant over!

 

[Hermes Monster]

There is actually a volume control in the bedtime section... but it doesn't seem to work in the beta, and scares the **** out of me each morning as it's really loud! FYI it's in the 'Options' menu on the Bedtime tab

Agree with the rest though, the iPhone is a lot of peoples morning alarm, it deserves a little more attention

 

[iphonedude2008]

Alarms should be given special privileges like VOIP apps are. Its sad to see them so crippled by limitations.

 

[Julien]

I can't stand loud buzzing alarms. I have a couple I use but mainly use Rise. It has nature sounds and they increase progressively until they are loud. This is such a better way to wake up than to be jolted by a scary buzz. I wish Apple would copy this and offer in the OEM alarm so I could use Siri.

 

[GreyOS]

FYI it's in the 'Options' menu on the Bedtime tab

Cheers for the tip. I hope the bug's fixed over the betas and it extends to other alarms too.

 

[iphonedude2008]

I can't stand loud buzzing alarms. I have a couple I use but mainly use Rise. It has nature sounds and they increase progressively until they are loud. This is such a better way to wake up than to be jolted by a scary buzz. I wish Apple would copy this and offer in the OEM alarm so I could use Siri.

I completely agree. Sleep Cycle has the same gradual volume increase and nature sounds, but in addition is tracks your sleep so it wakes you up when you are most alert.

 

[ScratchyMoose]

iOS is supposedly a mature OS on its 10th major iteration but you still can't set alarm volume independently from ringer volume.

I find this so intensely aggravating. It's 2016; the phones can process a gazillion polygons per second; it can FaceTime with someone else on the other side of the planet; it's the backbone of Apple's financial success ... and yet you can't set alarm volume independently from ringer volume? What is the purpose of that?

How many millions of people each day miss calls at the start of the day by having a low ringer volume (as a result of having a low alarm volume); how many millions wake their partners in the morning mistakenly, by having a loud alarm volume (as a result of having a high ringer volume) ... and yet the multi-millionaires running apple don't seem to have this problem, or care about others who do?

They talk about making the best devices they can, but then they can't be bothered to hire a developer for, what, a day or two, to write the code to fix it? Kills me

 

[Hermes Monster]

I find this so intensely aggravating. It's 2016; the phones can process a gazillion polygons per second; it can FaceTime with someone else on the other side of the planet; it's the backbone of Apple's financial success ... and yet you can't set alarm volume independently from ringer volume? What is the purpose of that?

How many millions of people each day miss calls at the start of the day by having a low ringer volume (as a result of having a low alarm volume); how many millions wake their partners in the morning mistakenly, by having a loud alarm volume (as a result of having a high ringer volume) ... and yet the multi-millionaires running apple don't seem to have this problem, or care about others who do?

They talk about making the best devices they can, but then they can't be bothered to hire a developer for, what, a day or two, to write the code to fix it? Kills me

Read the second post ...

 

[ScratchyMoose]

Read the second post ...

OK, I've done that. Now what?

 

[Hermes Monster]

OK, I've done that. Now what?

Well you said " and yet you can't set alarm volume independently from ringer volume? "

But you can, I said that in post two.

 

[ScratchyMoose]

But you can, I said that in post two.

Apologies, I thought you said "There is actually a volume control in the bedtime section... but it doesn't seem to work in the beta", and given that it hasn't been there in every other iOS, I think it's fair enough to say that it doesn't exist?

I think that was the gist of the OP?

I still don't think something like that should take nigh on 10 years to implement. If it does make it's way into iOS10, then all well and good, though it really is an inditement of Apple's systems either way.

All the best.

 

[zorinlynx]

I've solved this problem by using an alarm sound that starts quietly and then gets louder. It's called "Evolving Dream" and you can find it with a Google Search.

It's great because it's a gentle wakeup that gets me up 90% of the time, but if you ignore it, it eventually evolves into this loud buzzing alarm that'll wake the dead.

My ringer volume just stays at maximum, and all is happy.

My biggest feature request that continues to be ignored is the ability to wake up using a *RANDOM* song from a playlist. I'd absolutely love this, but Apple seems uninterested in implementing it.

Before anyone mentions third party apps... it's just not a good solution. Third party apps have to be running unlocked in the foreground to work correctly. I don't want to have to think about launching an app when I go to bed. You end up having to set up a backup alarm anyway in case you forget, and of course the backup alarm will always go off a few minutes after the third party alarm. Just an overall mess.

 

[GreyOS]

On the Bedtime alarm, I'm really loving the Birdsong sound. Very gentle... birdsong usually heard in my dream before waking up. It's a shame it's not an option for other alarms. Sometimes I have the odd daytime nap or sleep at different times where it's simpler to use the usual alarm list. I know you can set custom sounds, but it's a shame you can't just access the Bedtime ones by default?