This story was originally published and last update .

Most of us have probably replaced our old, bulky bedside clocks with smartphones a long time ago. With a built-in alarm and an always-on battery backup, it’s usually a reliable way to get up in the morning. However, throughout this week, Google’s Clock app failed to properly activate alarms for some users, causing huge headaches for anyone afflicted with it. Fortunately, a fix has arrived.

Over the past week, countless users have taken to Reddit to complain about missed alarms (via Android Authority). The problem seems most common among Pixel users, where Google’s Clock app comes preinstalled by default, but Oppo and OnePlus devices have also been included in the mix. Some users described completely missed alarms with no sound or notification, while others noticed their phones vibrate for a moment before turning off.

There seems to be some sort of connection between Do Not Disturb and missed alarms, with some reports saying they’ve fixed the issue by ensuring their devices aren’t shut down overnight. Likewise, some users have linked the app’s Spotify integration to missed alarms, even reporting the bug on the Spotify help site and suggesting using different tones to wake up. Either way, the suggested fixes didn’t work for everyone, suggesting that this is a bigger issue with the app as a whole.

It is not known how many devices are affected by this. I could not recreate the error on any of my phones Android 11 and Android 12. It is undoubtedly widespread enough to prompt a flood of criticism of a star on the Play Store, and a thread Issue Tracker (via XDA Developers). According to the file, Google has passed on the issue to its product and engineering teams and “will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.”

For now, if you’re using the Google Clock app, you may want to consider switching to another third-party service in the Play Store to make sure you wake up on time. Or maybe it’s finally time to bring back the bedside clocks.

Google confirms a fix is ​​coming

After our article was published, the stories continued to flood Reddit and other social networks with users experiencing similar issues. A post sent a public service announcement to users to avoid integrating Spotify into the app, which, as we pointed out above, seemed to be one of the most likely culprits. Google’s Pixel community account on Reddit commented on this post, confirming that the built-in music service actually pushes devices to turn off their alarms.

While this does not take into account people who missed an alarm without using Spotify track, most users seem to manage to stick to camera sounds rather than a playlist of their personal library. So, until a fix is ​​rolled out, try to stick with your device’s default ringtone list. Save your Steely Dan mix for when you jump in the shower.


Twitter reports and in the reviews section on the Play Store, Spotify synced alarms that don’t go off now fall back to Android’s default alarm tone. This likely matches Spotify’s statement that a fix will arrive sometime this week, although it’s not clear if that fix has arrived yet.

If you rely on Google’s Clock app to wake you up every morning, make sure you are using version 6.4.1 by updating through the play store or installing the APK on APK Mirror. However, if you can, I suggest you stick with a third-party alarm app a bit longer. Enough of the negative reviews still flocking to suggest that the application still encounter bugs, and it is not worth worth risking your morning routine if Google has not completely solved the problem.

You can also try Google Clock v7 – designed for Android 12 but supporting older devices – although there is no evidence that this version is fixed as well.

Google says it’s fixed

Just in time for the weekend, Google and Spotify fixed the issue of missing alarms. According to the official Pixel community account on Reddit, both companies have posted updates to fix this bug. On the side of Google, it is Clock 6.4.1 – the same version we saw yesterday which included the ability to revert to a default alarm if music sync is interrupted. As for Spotify, the Play Store also shows that its app was updated on September 8, although we don’t have a corresponding APK.

Google’s post says to make sure both apps are updated to prevent your phone from missing alarms.

The clock
The clock
Spotify: Music and podcasts
Spotify: Music and podcasts