Thousands of Apple iPhone users began the New Year in a frustrating manner with an alarm glitch that caused many to oversleep. Apple has now confirmed the iOS bug that causes one off alarms to not function properly on both the iPhone and iPod touch.
Another Apple iPhone Issue With Alarm
The iPhone previously had a bug that caused the alarm to not work after changes for Daylight Saving Time in November 2010 when clocks went back an hour. Similar issues affected iPhone users in Australia and New Zealand in September, where alarms went off an hour early.
Apple have confirmed that a patch will be released to fix the alarm from January 3rd 2011 in time for when millions of people return to work after the New Year. This should be automatic and users do not need to do anything to activate the fix.
Angry iPhone Users Complain on Forums, Blog and Twitter
On January 1 and 2, 2011, thousands of Tweets were made by iPhone users on Twitter complaining that they overslept an hour due to the alarm failing to go off on time. This glitch showed how many people rely on the alarm to wake, large number blogging or Tweeting about being late for work.
iPhone forums also showed many complains with unconfirmed comments made from people missing flights and other important commitments with some even facing disciplinary action at work.
Advice for iPhone Alarm Fix
iPhone users who use the alarm might choose alternative arrangements for March when the time change occurs. Those who must rely on their iPhones have been advised to set a recurring alarm or download an app.
Engadget.com received confirmation about the alarm directly from Apple: "We're aware of an issue related to non repeating alarms set for January 1 or 2. Customers can set recurring alarms for those dates and all alarms will work properly beginning January 3." It is advisable for people to use an alternative method of alarm until it is 100% confirmed the phone alarm is working.
An alternative alarm clock for iPhone and iPod touch is the Best Alarm Clock app that costs $0.99 and wasn’t affected by the glitch. The app offers a variety of sounds or iPod music as well as information about the weather.
Those who use the iPhone alarm clock feature should keep an eye on Apple announcements to stay informed on the developments. iPhone forums can offer advice from fellow users on ways of getting the alarm working until the patch is confirmed to be working.
Sources:
DailyMail.co.uk. Iphone Alarm Not Working Glitch Leaves Thousands Dozing Into New Year (Accessed January 2, 2011).
Engadget.com. PSA: Iphone Alarms Not Working Come New Years Day 2011 (Accessed January 2, 2011).
TechWatch.co.uk. iPhone Alarm Bug Strikes Again (Accessed January 2, 2011).
Priya Chauhan - A designer, topic editor and feature writer (for Hinduism) and all round experimenter of healthy living; Priya enjoys being creative, and ...
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