Apple Watch: New switch to prevent oversleeping

Small change, big effect: The upcoming operating system update for the Apple Watch, watchOS 9.4, comes with a switch that is intended to prevent oversleeping. With the new setting, it should be possible that the alarm of the clock is no longer muted by laying on of hands. This mishap, which can easily happen when you’re half asleep, may have caused headaches for those who rely entirely on the Apple Watch as their alarm clock.

The new selector switch can be found in the Apple Watch settings under “Sounds & Haptics”. If you switch off “Cover for ‘mute'”, you no longer have to worry that carelessly covering the clock will lead to unwanted consequences. If you want to keep the convenient way of switching off the alarm clock, you have to cover the screen with your palm for three seconds. According to Apple, there is also a small shaker to confirm – a so-called tap.

That’s how it is on the iPhone

On the iPhone, on the other hand, the alarm clock enjoys a free pass anyway. Both Do Not Disturb mode and muting via the mute button or in the control center do not affect the sound of the wake-up alarm.

watchOS 9.4 was released as a release candidate together with iOS 16.4 and updates for Mac, iPad and Apple TV on Tuesday evening German time. This means that participants in the public beta and registered developers currently have access to the almost finished version. The updates are expected to be available for all supported devices in the next few days.

(mki)