Do Not Disturb is an incredibly convenient feature, and one that many people (including myself) utilize often.
Whether it’s to avoid disturbances during a busy meeting or simply to get a better night’s sleep without worrying about being woken up early, this nifty little feature can be a real life saver.
But will it prevent any alarms from going off? Do alarms still go off when Do Not Disturb mode is turned on, and is there any way to change this?
In this article, we’ll cover everything that you need to know!
Does The Alarm Still Go Off While Do Not Disturb Mode Is Turned On?
Yes. Even if Do Not Disturb mode is turned on, your alarm will still continue to go off as scheduled. It will not be silenced, and will play according to the settings set within the alarm app. This is true both on iPhone / iPad, as well as on Android phones.
Whether Do Not Disturb mode is turned off does not make any difference to how the alarm will play or sound. Therefore, you can consider it to be a non-factor when determining how your alarm app will behave.
If you are in a situation where you can’t have your alarm go off (for example, in a business meeting), we recommend that you disable your alarm and set yourself a Reminder using the Reminders app (iPhone) instead. This will still send a notification to you when the desired time passes, but without causing a loud ringing or vibrating sound that may pose a disturbance to others.
Can You Disable Your Alarm From Ringing On Do Not Disturb?
Unfortunately, there is no way to disable the alarm from going off normally, even if Do Not Disturb mode is turned on. This is if you’re using the Alarm app built into your device, of course.
Third-party alarm apps may be a different story.
Because third-party apps aren’t integrated into your device and must be downloaded off Apple’s App Store or the Google Play store, they may not behave the same way as the normal Alarm app would.
So, we recommend trying out a few different alarm apps to see which one you like best.
In order to see whether or not the alarm will go off on Do Not Disturb, set an alarm a few minutes ahead from now and turn Do Not Disturb mode on. If the alarm still goes off, you can delete it from your device.
Repeat the process until you find an alarm app that works for you!
Do Alarms Go Off In Silent Mode?
Yes. Alarms will continue to go off even if your phone is in silent mode, or is set to vibrate only.
Many people consider this to be a good thing, as they may go to sleep each night with silent mode on. If the alarm didn’t go off as scheduled, this would lead to a lot of people oversleeping and being late for work!
So, it makes sense that Apple and Google have chosen to keep the alarm on, even when silent mode has been enabled.
Just like before, you may consider trying out some third-party alarm apps, which can be downloaded from your device’s app store. Some of these may allow you to disable the alarm if silent mode is enabled, should you wish to do so.
On iPhone, you can also set certain features only to enable when the phone is locked, and allow people to bypass Do Not Disturb mode if they call repeatedly. This may be useful is someone is urgently trying to reach you, such as in the event of an emergency.
All-in-all, Do Not Disturb is more powerful and more flexible, making it the preferred option of many users.
What Is The Difference Between Silent And Do Not Disturb Mode?
Both silent and Do Not Disturb mode prevent your phone from ringing, and silence certain types of notifications. Since both offer the same functionality, you may be wondering – what is the difference between the two?
Ultimately, Do Not Disturb is a more advanced, more customizable version of silent mode.
Not only does it prevent the phone from lighting or vibrating entirely, but you can even customize it further to allow certain contacts to get through, for example.
So, if you’re expecting an important call from your spouse you can automatically silence all calls except theirs, or you can even set a group of contacts as your ‘Favorites’ and let all of their calls through while ignoring others.
Do Alarms Go Off In Airplane Mode?
Yes. Just like on Do Not Disturb and silent mode, your alarm will continue to go on as normal even if your phone is in airplane mode.
This is because airplane mode only affects incoming and outgoing connections on your device, such as Wi-Fi, cellular data and Bluetooth. It doesn’t have any affect on apps that run entirely offline, such as your phone’s alarm app.
So, you can still expect your alarm to go off as scheduled. Note that if you’re traveling with an iPhone and you have an alarm scheduled to go off, the alarm will play through your headphones if you’re on iOS 14+, and through both your headphones and your device’s speakers if using an older version of iOS.
You may want to keep this in mind if you have other people around you!
For more information, see: Do Alarms Go Off On Airplane Mode?
Conclusion
On both iPhone and Android, alarms will still continue to go off if your phone is on Do Not Disturb mode.
The same holds true if your phone is in silent or airplane mode as well. This is to ensure that you’re still able to hear important alarms, even if you are taking advantage of the benefits that Do Not Disturb offers.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a way to disable the alarm if Do Not Disturb mode is off. However, you may be able to bypass this limitation by using a third-party alarm app.
I hope that you’ve found this article helpful. If you have any other questions about iPhone or Android phones, please ask them using the comment form below.
Wishing you the best,
– James McAllister