Most of us probably replaced our old and clunky bedside clocks with smartphones ages ago. With a built-in alarm and an always-active battery backup, it’s usually a reliable way to get up in the morning. However, throughout this week, Google’s Clock app hasn’t been activating alarms properly for some users, causing massive headaches for anyone afflicted. Thankfully, a fix has arrived.
Over the last week, countless users have taken to Reddit to complain about missed alarms (via Android Authority). The problem seems most common with Pixel users, where Google’s Clock app is pre-installed as the default choice, but Oppo and OnePlus devices have also been included in the mix. Some users have described alarms being completely missed, with absolutely no sound or notification, while others noticed their phones vibrating for just a moment before turning off.
There appears to be some sort of link between Do Not Disturb and missed alarms, with some reports stating they fixed the issue by ensuring their devices weren’t silenced overnight. Likewise, some users made a connection between the app’s Spotify integration and missed alarms — even reporting the bug on Spotify’s help site and suggesting to use different tones for waking up. In both cases, the suggested fixes didn’t work for everyone, suggesting this is a more significant issue with the app as a whole.
It’s unclear how many devices are impacted by this. I couldn’t recreate the error on any of my phones on either Android 11 or Android 12. It’s undoubtedly widespread enough to invite a flood of one-star reviews on the Play Store, as well as an Issue Tracker thread (via XDA Developers). According to that filing, Google has passed the problem along to its product and engineering teams and “will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.”
For now, if you’re using Google’s Clock app, you might want to consider switching to an alternate third-party service from the Play Store to ensure you wake up on time. Or maybe it’s finally time to bring back bedside clocks.
