Set the alarm on the iPad or iPhone

One of the default apps on the iPad and iPhone is Clock. The small view of the app shows a clock with the current time. If you tap the app, you will see that it can do more than meets the eye. The app consists of four parts:

• world clock
• Alarm clock
• Stopwatch
• timer

In this article we will discuss the alarm clock function. This ensures that a wake-up music plays at the set time. The alarm clock can be used once, but can also go off on certain days by default. You choose the alarm sound yourself. To use the alarm, the iPad or iPhone must be on, but the screen does not have to light up. The device can therefore be placed next to the bed without the light waking you up.

It is useful that several alarm clocks can coexist. Handy if you want to use it as a reminder of an appointment, or get up at different times on different days of the week.

Setting an alarm is a snap. It goes like this:

• Tap the app Clock.
• Tap on Alarm clock.
• Tap the plus sign.
• In iOS 15/iPadOS 15, swipe the numbers to the correct time. In iOS 14/iPadOS 14 a window opens with the time and a kind of keyboard underneath. Use the keys to enter the desired wake-up time.
• In iOS 14/iPadOS 14, tap add to proceed to.

At ‘Repeat’ you can set which days of the week this alarm should go off. By default it says ‘Never’. Do you want to adjust this?

• Tap on Repeat.
• Tap the desired days of the week. A check mark will appear next to it.
• Made a mistake? Tap again and the checkmark will disappear.

Are the days good?

• Tap on Previous.

Now it can be useful to give the alarm clock a clear name.

• Tap on Label.
• The default name is ‘Alarm Clock’. Tap the cross to delete this name.
• Use the keyboard to give this alarm clock a meaningful name.
• Finished? Tap on Previous.

Apple offers a wide choice of wake up sounds. Quite a few can be selected as standard, other tones can be purchased in the Tone Store. In addition, there is the option ‘Choose a song’ where you can choose a song from your own iTunes Library. We assume the free ringtones below.

• Tap on Sound.
• At ‘Ringtones’ there is a large list of standard sounds.
• Tap a sound to hear a sample.
• Via ‘Classic’ even more sounds come into view, such as those of a horn and old motorcycle.
• Tap the desired sound. A check mark will appear next to it.
• Tap on Previous.

For iPhones with a vibrate feature, at the top of the Sound menu, you can tap Vibrate. Here you choose a certain vibration that goes off at the same time as the alarm.

• Tap on Vibrate.
• A list of different vibration types appears, such as ‘Fast’ or ‘Staccato’. Tap the different default options to feel them.
• Tap the vibration of your choice. A check mark will appear next to it.
• If you don’t like the vibrations, it is also possible to make a vibration yourself. You will read about this in the next section.
• If you don’t want to feel a vibration, choose at the very bottom No.
• Tap on Sound > Previous to go back to setting the alarm.

Do you want to make your own vibration? Do that as follows:

• Tap on Sound > Vibrate > Create a new vibration.
• Tap the screen in the desired rhythm until the bar at the bottom is full.
• Tap on Play to feel the specified rhythm.
• Tap on Keep to save this rhythm (or cancel to stop. In that case, skip the next three steps).
• Give the new vibration a name.
• Tap on Keep.
• The created vibration will be added to ‘Custom’. Select him there.
• Tap at the top left Sound > Previous to go back to setting the alarm clock.

Finally, you choose whether or not to snooze. By default, snooze is enabled. If the alarm goes off at the set time and you tap Snooze, the alarm will go off again after 9 minutes. If necessary, tap the green slider behind ‘Slumber’ to disable snooze.

Everything is now set up correctly. Tap on Keep to save the alarm.

The set alarm clock will appear in the overview. On the iPad, a summary of the settings is displayed below the wake time and the name of the alarm.

A slider with a green color indicates that the alarm is active. The alarm will go off at the set time.

• Tap the green slider if you want to (temporarily) switch off an alarm.
• Tap the slider again to turn the alarm back on.

Does something have to be changed about a set alarm clock? This can be done as follows:

• Open the overview of set alarms.
• Tap on Change.
• Tap the set time.
• The settings menu opens,
• Change what is needed.
• Finally tap Keep.

Has the overview become unclear due to all kinds of alarm clocks that you no longer use? Then delete one (or more) of the set alarms. It disappears from the overview and from your device. You must recreate any new alarm clocks.

• Open the overview of set alarms.
• Tap on Change.
• Tap the red round icon with the dash next to the alarm you want to delete.
• The alarm clock disappears immediately from the overview on the iPad. On the iPhone, tap Delete.

If you put your iPhone or iPad next to your bed, you don’t want to be woken up at night by an incoming message or notification. The Do Not Disturb feature is very useful for this. This ensures that the screen remains black during the night or at times set by you. The alarm will go off. In the tip ‘Set iPhone to do not disturb’ you can read how this works for the iPhone and the iPad.