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Apple says iOS software update to fix pesky alarm clock bug

A software update for Apple's iPhone and other iOS devices is reportedly in the pipeline to rectify a glitch that has caused quite a few rude awakenings for some users overseas.

A report out of Australia notes that the Alarm Clock application Apple ships on the iPhone and iPod touch began waking users up an hour early in the southern region of the continent — New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, and Tasmania — because a bug caused the software not to fall back an hour when changes to daylight savings time kicked in one Sunday ago.

More specifically, it appears that the bug affects devices running variants of iOS 4 than have reoccurring alarms set to wake users up during the week for work, for instance. Meanwhile, a lengthy discussion thread over at the whirlpool forums has dozens of users complaining that their non-recurring alarms have ceased working completely.

"Mine did not work this morning," said one user. "I have since tried creating new alarms, turning the[m] off etc.. Doesn't work. I just tried setting the alarm 1 hour forward and it worked. So definite issue with DST."

A representative for Apple Australia told ZDNet that the company is "aware of this issue and already developed a fix which will be available to customers in an upcoming software update."

That update is likely to appear in the next few weeks before changes to daylight savings time begin to take affect in other portions of the world, including the United States.

In the meantime, users plagued by the recurring alarm problem can either set the alarm one hour after the time they actually want to wake up or deactivate the recurring alarm and remember to set a non-recurring alarm each night.

34 Comments

solipsism 19 Years · 25701 comments

This is one of those times that a small OTA patch would be ideal, IMO.

bdj21ya 19 Years · 295 comments

Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider

That update is likely to appear in the next few weeks before changes to daylight savings time begin to take affect in other portions of the world, including the United States.

That's a bit of a strange way to say it. DST will "have an effect" very soon in the US. "Take effect" is usually reserved to point to the beginning, or reinstatement of something, not the fact that it is ending.

At any rate, what a frustrating bug. I rely on my phone every morning for an alarm, so I'd be pretty annoyed. I would imagine this is probably not a bug for the end of US DST, but if it is, here's hoping they get it fixed in the next couple weeks.

sheff 16 Years · 1407 comments

I would be so pissed, but I always have 2 alarms set - comp and touch just to be sure.

matrix07 15 Years · 1993 comments

No problem here. Tried some 3rd party apps and they did't even wake me. The native one wake me on time every morning. Couldn't be happier.

wings 22 Years · 261 comments

What about the alarm that goes off every Friday morning at 10:30AM reminding me to pick up some furnace filters? I set that up early this summer and deleted it a month later but it won't go away.