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You can do more with your smartphone alarm than just set the time

Making it go off on certain days and using the volume buttons to snooze are some of the things you can do.

YOUR ALARM CLOCK may be a basic feature included with your phone but you can do more with it than you think.

Sure, you can give alarms different jingles – but if you delve a little deeper, you can find some other features that can come in useful.

Note: in the case of Android, we’re referring to the stock Google clock that comes on stock Android and can be downloaded from the app store.

Set alarms for specific days (iOS and Android)

Most people tend to ignore this but you can set it so your 6am alarm doesn’t go off during the weekend when you want a lie-in.

On iOS, going into Edit Alarm will show you the repeat option. Tap on that and select the days you want your alarm to be active for. It can be a bit of a time saver if your schedule is pretty consistent.

edit alarm ios iOS iOS

On Android,just tapping on the alarm in question will let you choose the repeat option. When you do, the option to choose specific days will be made available.

Turn off snooze (iOS)

In the same edit alarm screen mentioned earlier, you can turn off the snooze option entirely. Handy if you’re a little too reliant on it when you wake up or accidentally press it when you meant to turn it off.

Use volume buttons to turn off alarm (Android)

On Android, go into your clock settings and scroll down. You will see an option for volume buttons which you can use to either dismiss or snooze.

Screenshot_20160401-162429 Android Android

Gradually increase volume (Android)

Found just above the volume button option, this option allows you to increase the alarm volume after a set amount of time. You can choose it to get louder within five seconds or as long as 60 seconds.

Screenshot_20160401-162422 Android Android

Night mode (Android)

When you’re finished with your phone, the next thing you can do is set it to night mode, which just displays the time on a black screen. This can also be useful as a standby mode for your phone, but when you press any of the buttons, you exit it.

android alarm Android Android

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Quinton O'Reilly
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