It appears that for many people out there, the scheduled alarms feature on the Google Clock app is flat-out broken with the bug preventing preset alarms from going off. On the back of this issue, the Play Store listing has now seen a deluge of 1-star ratings from disgruntled users.
[Update 09/06]: Google has issued a statement via a thread over on /r/GooglePixel, with the broken Google Clock problem likely a result of Spotify integration. A temporary solution is to just switch to one of the on-device default alarm sounds to ensure that your scheduled alarms go off on time:
We’re sorry you’ve been experiencing this issue, and thank you for reporting it. We’ve identified a fix and will roll it out soon. In the meantime, you can change the alarm sound setting to a selection within Device sound.
A growing thread over on the /r/GooglePixel subreddit noted that many devices have been skipping their morning alarms or haven’t shown as “upcoming” on their Pixel devices. The problem also shows any previously scheduled alarms as “missed” shortly after said alarm was pre-programmed to go off (via Android Authority).
According to the large volume of negative and 1-star reviews left on the Google Clock app Play Store listing, these broken alarms have been affecting people for a little while already. However, the problem doesn’t appear to be limited to just Pixel devices. Complaints come from owners of devices from all the biggest OEMs, including OnePlus, Samsung, and Xiaomi.
Most complaints are from people frustrated that Google Clock alarms are broken and won’t go off, leading to late wake-ups and scorn of employers. While anecdotal, in the original thread on the Pixel subreddit, some have mentioned that when putting their phone face down in “Flip to Shh” mode this appears to be the culprit for missed alarms. This does hint that it could be related to the on-device Do Not Disturb mode and Google Clock not overriding any system settings. It’s not clear if this is what is affecting devices from other OEMs though.
Luckily, Google is aware of the broken Clock app with an IssueTracker thread (h/t XDA) noting that the problem has been “shared with our product and engineering teams.” Updates will be shared “as more information becomes available.” At least until a solution is forthcoming, it may be worthwhile trying out a different alarm app to be 100% certain that you wake up on time.
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