Apple Watch update could stop you missing your morning alarm

Apple’s forthcoming watchOS 9.4 update will introduce a small, but very important fix for Apple Watch users.

The update, spotted within the latest beta version by a Reddit user earlier today, will prevent alarms being silenced by the ‘cover to mute’ gesture.

The usually helpful feature can accidentally cause users to cancel their morning alarm if their hands are covering the screen for more than three seconds. Quite annoying and, considering we all sleep in different positions, counterintuitive.

News of the pending feature change has been somewhat of an “aha!” moment for users on the r/Apple subreddit, who are suddenly realising why they’re sporadically missing alarms set on Apple Watch.

“Certainly explains why I’d randomly miss the alarm in the morning… I’d sure love to know why it was ever like this,” writes one user.

Another says: “It’s like they expect everyone to sleep on their backs with the arms over the covers, perfectly still. So glad this is changing.”

A further user is overjoyed the feature is changing after reporting the alarm silencing as an issue for years.

It is already possible to disable the Cover to Mute feature, but then you lose out on the useful ability to silence an incoming call. Thankfully, you’ll be able to silence your calls without risking missing your Apple Watch alarm from next week.

A report from MacRumors says the change is also reflected in the release notes for watchOS 9.4. A wake-up alarm set in sleep focus mode will longer be silenced by the Cover to Mute gesture, the site reports. We’re expecting watchOS 9.4 to launch to all compatible Apple Watch owners next week, alongside iOS 16.4 and updates for tvOS, macOS and iPadOS.