iPhone Alarm Not Playing Song, How to Fix
Reading Time: 4 minutes I recently had this problem. I don’t normally use the built-in alarm on my iPhone, but I decided to turn it on. I hate the sound of alarms, so I chose one of my Apple Music songs to play instead. However, when my alarm went off in the morning, it played the default alarm sound instead of my chosen song. This happened a couple more times, and so I tried another song — same result.
There were a couple of problems I noticed:
- I could “Pick a song” and see it in the Songs list, then select it for my alarm, but the song wouldn’t play when the alarm went off.
- I have also had the problem of trying to pick a song for my alarm, and after selecting it, it doesn’t show up in the Songs list in the Alarm app. There is just a blank space.
Fortunately, there is a fix for these problems. It is definitely not obvious from what you can see in the Alarm app; after all, you expect things just to work on iPhone. The fix involves going into your Apple Music app. In this article, we’ll tell you how you can fix the problem.
How to get Alarm to play your chosen song
When your Alarm can’t play your chosen song, it reverts to the default alarm sound. In order to get your Alarm to play your chosen song, you will need to make sure it is both downloaded and in your Library.
If you see the song in your Songs list in Alarm
If something is in your Library but is not downloaded, you see the song title, but it doesn’t play when the alarm goes off. You will need to download the song.
- Find the song in Apple Music.
- Tap on the three dots to the right of the song title.
- Tap on Download. You will see a small down-pointing arrow next to the song when it has been downloaded on your device.
If you don’t see the song title in the Songs list
If the song is not in your Library (even if you find the song under the Library tab), you will need to add it to the Library.
- Find the song in Apple Music.
- Tap on the three dots to the right of the song title.
- Tap on Add to Library.
Another fix to try
If downloading the song and adding it to your Library doesn’t work, you can try changing your Apple Music settings. The changes will lower the quality of your songs, but you can change them back later. Some users have had success with the following:
Change your Music settings:
- Open Settings on your iPhone, then tap on Music.
- Under the Audio section, tap on Dolby Atmos. Select Off.
- Tap on Audio Quality and turn off Lossless Audio.
- Under Downloads, toggle off Download in Dolby Atmos.
Remove and re-download the song:
- Open the Music app and find your song.
- Tap on the three dots to the right of the song title and select Remove Download or Remove. If prompted, select Remove Download.
- Now re-download the song: Tap the three dots and select Download.
Try setting an alarm with the song now. If it works, you should be able to go back and change your Music settings to the way you had them before.
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Thank you so much! It worked. Much appreciated. The default ring is a terrible way to start the day.
Finally, a fix! Thank YOU.
unfortunately it didnt work for me! have any other ways to help solve this?
Vola,
It worked like a charm!
Thanx a ton!!
Thank you so so much! You have helped with something that even the Apple customer care could not help with. Fixed my problem. More power to you.
How thoughtful of you! You’ve made my morning brighter… I hated the loud alarm sounds… Thank you!
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you, you helped me because i wouldn’t wake up in the mornings for work 🙂
i give you 10/10