why is my alarm only vibrating on my apple watch
Many Apple users love the alarm feature on the Apple Watch because it can help them wake up better, having both the sound and the vibration directly on their wrist. But sometimes, the Apple Watch will only vibrate when an alarm goes off, which can cause people to sleep right through it. We will go over why this is happening and how you can fix it.
The Apple Watch alarm may only be vibrating without any sound for many reasons: the volume is down, the watch is muted, Do Not Disturb is enabled, the alarm sound on the iPhone is set to None, the nightstand mode is disabled, or Silent Mode is enabled on the Apple Watch.
It can be difficult to determine the exact reason why an alarm is only vibrating on an Apple Watch rather than making a sound as well. It can take an individual troubleshooting a few potential causes before they can fix the issue. After looking into things that cause an Apple Watch to only vibrate, the following information has been compiled to help individuals fix their alarm.
The Ringer Volume for the Alarm is Turned Down or Off
The first issue that could be causing an alarm on an Apple Watch to only vibrate is that the ringer volume is turned down or off completely. This would result in the alarm only vibrating which could result in an individual being unable to wake up on time.
There are a few ways to fix this issue. The easiest is to simply ensure your Apple Watch sound settings aren’t down. To do so, after waking up the Apple Watch, open the Settings App, and there will be a “Sounds & Haptics” tab. To increase the volume, tap the volume up button repeatedly to increase the volume. On some Apple Watch models, this can be done by using the green slider to adjust the volume or even the digital crown at the side of the watch.
If the ringer is turned completely off, this issue can be fixed rather quickly. By going to the setting and ensuring there is a ringtone set. Without one set, an Apple Watch will only vibrate when an alarm is going off.
The Alarm is set to “None” in the Settings
If an Apple Watch is only vibrating when an alarm is going off, it could simply be a result of an alarm being assigned no sound when being created. When an alarm is set on an iPhone or an Apple Watch, it will prompt an individual to select which kind of alarm sound should be enabled. An alarm can either be set to have sound or to have no sound. If it’s set to None, the alarm will not sound and your iPhone and Apple Watch will only vibrate.
The process for fixing this issue can be down within a few short minutes. An individual will need to open the clock app on their iPhone, go to the Alarm tab, and then tap Edit. Click on the alarm that needs to have sound, and tap the sound you want to hear when it goes off. As long as your iPhone is paired with your Apple Watch, the alarm should sound through your watch alone as your watch vibrates.
Silent Mode is Enabled
Another reason an Apple Watch only vibrates when an alarm goes off is that the silent mode is enabled. It can be easy for an individual to enable this without noticing. To make sure your Alarms will sound, you can ensure that while setting your alarm you don’t tap “Turn On Silent Mode.” This will show up at the end of the Alarm setting process after you’ve added an alarm through the Apple Watch alarms app. Keep in mind that while your Apple Watch is charging, alarms will sound even while in silent mode.
To turn off silent mode, touch and hold the bottom of your Apple Watch screen to wake your watch, then swipe up to bring up the Control Center. If the bell icon is glowing red and has a diagonal line through it, tap on it to disable it. You can also do this on your iPhone by opening up your Apple Watch app, tapping My Watch, then Sounds & Haptics, and then pressing the toggle next to Silent Mode so that it turns gray. This will help ensure that you get both vibration and sound from your watch alarms.
By disabling silent mode, an Apple Watch will sound as well as vibrate when an alarm is going off. This can help an individual to avoid sleeping through their alarm.
Nightstand Mode is Disabled
For some individuals, the reason their Apple Watch doesn’t have sound when an alarm is going off is that they have the nightstand mode disabled. The nightstand mode allows an individual to charge their Apple Watch at night while still being able to rely on it for an alarm. Without this feature being enabled, an Apple Watch may only vibrate when an alarm is going off.
To enable nightstand mode, swipe up to open the control panel on the watch face. Tap the settings icon (which looks like a little gear), then tap general, and then Nightstand Mode. Tap the toggle to enable Nightstand Mode. When an individual wakes up, follow this same process to disable it.
Other Ways to Troubleshoot an Apple Watch
In some instances where an individual is unable to figure out how to get their Apple Watch to sound in addition to vibrating when an alarm is going off, it might be necessary to reset the Apple Watch. In most instances, this allows an individual to easily reset the alarm settings. This results in the alarm ringing and vibrating when an alarm is going off.
In some serious cases, it might be necessary for an individual to take their Apple Watch to an Apple store in order to have someone determine what the issue is and how to fix it, especially if the issue persists after the owner of the Apple Watch has done everything they can to fix the issue.