For many of us, our iPhone is the only alarm clock we use. Waking up to the exact same blaring “Radar” sound every single morning can become incredibly grating, and over time, your brain might even become conditioned to ignore it. Fortunately, iOS provides a wide variety of built-in alert tones, classic ringtones, and even the ability to wake up to your favorite song from Apple Music. Customizing your alarm sound is a quick way to make your mornings slightly more pleasant.
How to Change an Existing Alarm Sound
You can change the sound of any alarm you have already created in the Clock app.
- Unlock your iPhone and open the Clock app. (If you cannot find it, swipe down on your home screen and search for “Clock”).
- At the bottom of the screen, tap on the Alarms tab.
- Locate the specific alarm you want to change in your list.
- Tap the word Edit in the top-left corner of the screen.
- Tap anywhere on the specific alarm you wish to modify.
- You are now in the “Edit Alarm” menu. Tap on the option labelled Sound. (It will currently display the name of the sound you are using, like “Radar”).
Choosing Your New Sound
The Sound menu provides a very long list of options separated into categories.
- Tone Store: At the top, you can tap this to browse and purchase new sounds from iTunes.
- Songs: If you are subscribed to Apple Music or have songs downloaded to your device via iTunes, you can tap “Pick a song” to select a specific music track to wake up to.
- Ringtones: This is the main list of standard iOS alert sounds. Tap any name in the list to hear a brief preview of the sound.
- Classic: If you scroll to the very bottom of the Ringtones list, you will find a folder called “Classic.” Tapping this reveals all the older alarm sounds from the original iPhones, such as “Bark,” “Duck,” and the infamous “Marimba.”
Once you tap a sound and see a small orange checkmark next to it, that sound is selected.
Saving Your Changes
- After selecting your desired sound, tap the Back button in the top-left corner of the screen.
- This returns you to the “Edit Alarm” menu.
- Crucial Step: You must tap Save in the top-right corner of the screen. If you simply swipe away the app without tapping Save, your new sound will not be applied.
Your alarm is now updated. Remember that changing the sound for one alarm does not change it for all of them; you must repeat this process for any other alarms in your list that you wish to customize.