Having issues with quiet iPhone 15 alarms? Here’s how to fix it.

(Note: This article was originally written on April 9, 2024. Apple has since confirmed that this is a bug and a fix will soon be upcoming.)

Have you recently upgraded to an iPhone 15, 15 Pro, or 15 Pro Max and find yourself constantly missing your alarms? Or are your alarm notifications so quiet you nearly sleep through them? Have you tried adjusting your alarm volume and it is still happening? This can be incredibly frustrating, but trust me, it’s not your fault you’re running late for work! You can show your boss this article and tell them it’s an obscure setting called “Attention Aware Features” that is unintentionally silencing your alarms and causing your tardiness. I myself have had this same issue and have finally found the fix. Read on for more information on this unique iOS setting and how it can impact your alarms.

What is the Attention Aware Features setting, and why does it affect my alarms?

Attention Aware Features, released with iOS 17, is a setting that uses your iPhone’s front camera and, after determining whether you’re looking at your phone or not, adjusts notifications and other user settings for you. Some of these can be helpful, such as expanding notifications when you look at your phone, or not auto-dimming your screen when you’re clearly busy reading an article. However, one of its features, which lowers the volume of alerts, such as the Clock’s alarm function, has been reported as inadvertently lowering alarm volumes even when you are not focused on your screen. This is what is causing issues for iPhone 15 users, due in part, it seems, to the fact that it boasts an always-on display.

It appears that the Attention Aware Features setting can, at times, inadvertently mistake someone facing toward their phone while sleeping as the user being aware of the alert on their phone. This then lowers the volume of the alert because it thinks you are looking at your screen. Your iPhone seems to misunderstand that just because you are facing your phone does not mean you are necessarily aware of it.

Whether this is a bug or an intended feature, it is causing a lot of user issues, so know you are not alone, as many users have reported missing alarms since getting their iPhone 15 models. This can cause a number of problems if you are relying on your alarms to notify you promptly when finished. If you have this issue, follow the steps below to see if it resolves it for you.

How do you turn off Attention Aware Features?

To rectify this problem, we need to turn off Attention-Aware Features. We can do that by going to our settings app, scrolling down to Face ID & Passcode, entering our password, and then, on the next screen, navigating to the Attention heading to toggle off the slider for Attention-Aware Features.

That’s it! This will make it so that your alarms are no longer turning down their volume just because you are sleeping near your phone. Now, if you’re late to work, it’s no longer Apple’s fault. Don’t worry though, I won’t tell your boss.