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How to change the alarm sound on an iPhone

Get rid of that awful klaxon alarm and opt for something gentler.
By
March 7, 2023

There’s a nice way and a not-so-nice way to get woken up in the morning — and Apple seems to be perfected the knack for developing really irritating alarms on the iPhone. The solution is to know how to change the alarm sound on the iPhone, as well as the vibration. Once you have a better tone and vibration to gently wake you up, you’ll wonder why you never did it before. You’ll also stop wetting the bed when the klaxon or the radar alarm tone doesn’t goes off, making you think SWAT is storming your house.

QUICK ANSWER

To change the alarm sound on the iPhone, open the clock app. Select the alarm you want to change the sound for or set a new alarm. Under Sound, choose the sound you want. You can either select one of Apple's delightful pre-installed ones, buy one from the Tones store, or have an Apple Music song wake you (if you are subscribed to the service.)


JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS

How to change the alarm sound on your iPhone

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Changing the alarm sound on your iPhone is dead easy and is a very quick process.

  • Find the Clock app and tap it. In my case, it’s in the Utilities folder but you may have it elsewhere, such as pinned to the home screen.
  • Tap Edit if you want to edit an already-existing alarm, or tap + on the right if you want to add a new alarm.
  • If it’s an already-existing alarm, tap the red circle with the white line next to the alarm you wish to change.
  • Tap Sound. This will open up the sound settings.
  • Select the alarm you wish to change to. You will get a five second preview when you tap it. Chimes and Night Owl are two of the less irritating ones. Radar makes you want to blow your brains out.
  • Once you’ve made your selection, tap Back to come out of the sound settings and back to the Edit Alarm page.
  • Tap Save to save your changes.

How to add a new alarm sound on your iPhone

Many of the pre-installed alarms are as appealing as listening to your mother complain about your lifestyle choices. If you would prefer a more soothing ringtone, then there are a couple of options open to you.

From the Tone Store

After tapping on Sound on the alarm page, there is a link called Tone Store. This is a section of the iTunes Store which will sell you alarms and alert tones for as little as a dollar.

Note that if you have uninstalled the iTunes Store from your phone, it will tell you to reinstall it again to access the Tone Store. You can then access the purchased tone in the tones list on your phone to connect it to an alarm.

From Apple Music

If you are an Apple Music subscriber, then it really is your lucky day. You can have any song in Apple Music as your alarm. So whether it’s a lullaby or a soothing rain shower sound, you can have whatever you want as long as your Apple Music subscription is active.

Simply tap Pick a song. This will take you to Apple Music where you can search for the song you want. It will then appear in the Songs section where you can select it for your alarm.

How to change the alarm vibration sound

As well as changing the alarm on the iPhone, you can also change the vibration sound.

  • To start, go back to the Sound page. At the top, tap Vibration.
  • Choose a new vibration from the Standard section. You will get a five second preview of it when you tap it.
  • To save, tap Sound at the top-left to exit the page.

How to create a new alarm vibration sound

If you’re really feeling adventurous, you can create your own alarm vibration sound.

  • On the Vibration page, scroll down to Custom and tap Create New Vibration.
  • You will then get a blank screen. Use your finger to tap out the new vibration pattern. Keep going till the screen tells you to stop.
  • You will then be asked to name your new custom vibration.
  • Back on the Vibration page, you will find your newly-made vibration in the Custom section.

FAQs

It is most likely due to the volume not being turned up loud enough. Go to Settings > Sound & Haptics and make sure the volume is up loud enough. Also check to make sure that the switch on the side of the iPhone that silences the sound is not on.

Go to Settings > Sound & Haptics. You will find a slider there for the volume.