Help Alarm doesn't work when phone is off?

[naviwilliams]

...on a side note, people actually turn off their smartphones?

Sorry, I couldn't help it; just kidding

 

[Davoo]

I saw the OP said something about not wanting their phone to wake them up in the middle of the night. I use a FREE app called silent time for this reason. There are others like it but it works for me. It allows only the people I list to actually wake me up and still works with alarms. You can set the time frame for it to go into effect so just to be sure my alarm works I set it go stop silencing my phone 5 minutes before my alarm goes off. Hope this helps. Enjoy the freedom of Android.

 

[Deleted User]

Hi all,
A somewhat belated addition to this thread. I just arrived directly here from googling the problem I also have, i.e. the alarm does not sound when the phone is off. Unfortunately this is my first disappointment within two days of moving to Android on Samsung Galaxy.
Whilst the point may be valid about a Blackberry only being in "standby" or "sleep" instead of truly off, I am compelled to add that on my previous phone the alarm would sound when the device was fully powered off (with battery inserted, of course). This phone being the very well-built Nokia E71. To me it seems that the technology required to do this has taken a small step backward and suggestions to leave the phone on are, albeit well-intentioned & appreciated, not the true solution.
Oh well, 12 days left of my 14 day trial. Lets' hope it's not be showstopper. Let me see...

regards,
Mark

 

[Bearsyzf]

I'm thinking the Samsung Captivate's alarm would still go off if the phone was off ?

 

[Szadzik]

Try this:

Set up an alarm on your PC. Turn it off. Will it work?

Of course it will not.

The same is true for Android.

Done

 

[Max_Headroom]

I don't know if this is a bug in ICS 4.0.4 or I am just a complete tool.

Basically when I set an alarm, it will only go off if the phone is on. If I turn off the phone, the alarm time comes and goes and the phone stays off and doesn't make a peep.

This is a terrible issue (and bug, if it's one) since many people turn off their phone before bed. I'm hoping this is a simple setting or configuration.

Please help thanks.

Get one of these and turn your phone off, sorted.

 

[Jeepmaster]

What is that giant round metal thing!

Anyways, my 7 years old Sony Ericsson phone has that feature and I used to turn my cell off at night too. But that was before mobile internet was popular and before facebook was in people's phones.

 

[DroidUser1]

I actually had a similar problem with my alarm clock I unplugged it at night and the damn thing didn't wake me up in the morning...



Sorry I'm trollin..

 

[justaneonlol]

Hi all,
A somewhat belated addition to this thread. I just arrived directly here from googling the problem I also have, i.e. the alarm does not sound when the phone is off. Unfortunately this is my first disappointment within two days of moving to Android on Samsung Galaxy.
Whilst the point may be valid about a Blackberry only being in "standby" or "sleep" instead of truly off, I am compelled to add that on my previous phone the alarm would sound when the device was fully powered off (with battery inserted, of course). This phone being the very well-built Nokia E71. To me it seems that the technology required to do this has taken a small step backward and suggestions to leave the phone on are, albeit well-intentioned & appreciated, not the true solution.
Oh well, 12 days left of my 14 day trial. Lets' hope it's not be showstopper. Let me see...

regards,
Mark

The fact that the phone won't set off the alarm when it's powered off is a dealbreaker amuses me.

You have two options, buy an alarm clock, or leave the phone powered on at night. Both options aren't that difficult and the average user should be able to accomplish one of these.

If not, I guess return the phone.

 

[Deleted User]

The fact that the phone won't set off the alarm when it's powered off is a dealbreaker amuses me.

You have two options, buy an alarm clock, or leave the phone powered on at night. Both options aren't that difficult and the average user should be able to accomplish one of these.

If not, I guess return the phone.

Thanks for the reply. Glad to be able to provide amusement!

The two options you state do not, for obvious (I would have thought) reasons, provide entirely desirable solutions.
The battery life of the phone is poor enough without it having to be left turned on all night. As for the alarm clock suggestion, that fails because it would be yet another device to carry around should I be staying away. (Never-the-less I may try to re-discover the alarm option on my wristwatch...)

There is of course a third option, to which you do allude, and that is to change the phone for one that provides the required function. Sadly, from what I glean from other messages, this is not going to happen with any phone that uses Android?
This isn't about buying the latest pocket-sized computer to be able to check others' Facebook statuses 24/7, it is having some useful device that fits in with and assists with a lifestyle.
Although I have no idea about your priorities, I don't doubt your enthusiasm for this platform however as a customer paying good money for this device, I may well decide, quite validly, it is the dealbreaker.

 

[neatheyc]

The replies are true. No Android or Iphone phones have the active alarm when the phone is off. I know Blackberry's and Nokia phones do this.

I just put my phone in airplane mode when I sleep. That way the alarm still goes off and it doesn't drain the battery as much.

 

[Szadzik]

The replies are true. No Android or Iphone phones have the active alarm when the phone is off. I know Blackberry's and Nokia phones do this.

I just put my phone in airplane mode when I sleep. That way the alarm still goes off and it doesn't drain the battery as much.

And if you use AlarmDroid, you can set it up to disable flight mode the moment it goes off in the morning.

 

[ylexot]

The only Android phones that I know of that might have this ability are the Motorola phones that have a standby mode, but I'm not sure if the alarm works in standby mode either...and I can't check since I no longer have my Droid X.

And I guarantee you that any device (BlackBerry, Nokia, whatever) that will sound an alarm while "off" is not actually off.

 

[neatheyc]

Cool. Thanks Szadzik. Didn't know about alarmdroid. Will give it a go.

 

[raymondcoia]

I agree with tickerhacker,

I believe that the phone should be able to be turned off, over night and the alarm to operate in the morning.

I have had a mobile phone for around 12 years, various Nokia's and some Sony Ericssons. and it all this time, and all these phones I have turned my phone off at night, and I do mean off, and the phone has in the morning turned itself on and raised the alarm, so to speak. That is until I got an Android.

It is a definite step backward if Android cannot achieve this simple task. Granted, most of the time it doesn't matter too much, you plug it in before you go to bed and set it to silent/airplane. However it would be simpler if you could just turn it off.

There are also times when it would be beneficial to be able to do so. For example, I'm staying over somewhere and don't have my charger with me. I want to preserve the battery, as we all know with reasonable use, you're not going to last 2 days, so 1, I'm sure the battery will last till morning to wake me, and 2 to get as much use out of the second day as I can. So I set the alarm and turn the phone off and it wakes me in the morning.

To suggest that this is a silly demand, and an alternative is an alarm clock is not a reasoned argument.

I grant you it may not be a deal breaker for most, but I can see for some that it's an issue, and it's certainly ridiculous to suggest that it is not an issue at all, when it is a clear step backward.

 

[Deleted User]

...
And I guarantee you that any device (BlackBerry, Nokia, whatever) that will sound an alarm while "off" is not actually off.

How can we claim on your guarantee?

Seriously, that's a very interesting point, and I suppose it depends upon how we say a "device" is off. Clearly when a Samsung Android phone is off, the entire device appears very off. Inside a Nokia device I would hazard a guess that there must be some separation of functions within the device, at an electronics level. A Nokia such my E71 will not do anything when it is powered off, and the primary OS is not active (demonstrated by the long boot time at power-on ). However there has to be some sort of clock circuit that is active and maintains the current time and moreover the alarm time, plus this must have the ability to power-up enough of the rest of the phone to sound/display the alarm.
Coming back to the Samsung, it can't be completely "off" either because then the clock would lose the current time, and I haven't noticed that happening. So the clock circuit must surely be active, and "not off". What's missing is the little bit of electronics to turn on the audio and display (and possibly store the alarm times in a non-volatile memory).

So for me, it's really down to the phone being "off enough" to save battery, stay silent, but still sound a wake-up alarm! Shame it can't be an out-the-box option. I'm definitely going to try the helpful suggestions of airplane mode and the alarmdroid utility. It is quite possible that with those options in use phone nirvana can be achieved!

Thanks!

 

[TonyGinLA]

So if I read this thread correctly, in order to not hear all my alerts for incoming messages without putting the Sound Setting to Mute (which cancels the sound of the Alarm), I simply need to put the Galaxy on Airplane Mode. I have tried activating the Mute When setting it Face Down but apparently that's only designed to stop a sound as it occurs, such as ringing while you are in a meeting. I can sit here with my phone face down and hear all my alerts all day. The Blackberry I just tossed out did have a setting for stopping the sounds of alerts only but leaving the clock functioning. Perhaps it's because the Clock is an App, and not a feature hard-coded into the phone, that this is required on the S3.

 

[hal1]

I've got a different, but similar complaint. The timer doesn't sound if you have the volume turned all the way down. Doesn't make sense (to me). If the alarm will still chime, why not the timer? Had to install separate app.

 

[scooter1942]

putting the Sound Setting to Mute (which cancels the sound of the Alarm)

i just set an alarm, and then muted my phone (using the quick access bar at the top of the notification tray) and the alarm still went off...

 

[Szadzik]

So if I read this thread correctly, in order to not hear all my alerts for incoming messages without putting the Sound Setting to Mute (which cancels the sound of the Alarm), I simply need to put the Galaxy on Airplane Mode. I have tried activating the Mute When setting it Face Down but apparently that's only designed to stop a sound as it occurs, such as ringing while you are in a meeting. I can sit here with my phone face down and hear all my alerts all day. The Blackberry I just tossed out did have a setting for stopping the sounds of alerts only but leaving the clock functioning. Perhaps it's because the Clock is an App, and not a feature hard-coded into the phone, that this is required on the S3.

Have you even checked the alarm options? There is an option to enable alarm ound even on Silent.

 

[camahueto]

I have always thought that the android phones are unable to turn on when the alarms are triggered is a bug.

In fact, my old Nokia n810 (an internet tablet) is able to turn on with the alarm, even if I take the battery off and put it on again (of course, with no battery It doesn't turn on, but what I want to make clear is that It is completely off). It is buggy (the tablet tends to freeze when it is in process of turning on, so it is difficult to press the off button which doesn't responds properly), but it does turn on.

I like to turn the phone off at night so I can charge it while I'm sleeping.

Ohh, and I arrived this post looking for an application that do just that.

I guess I would need to keep relaying on my good old Samsung E1205 which turns on without any problems.

 

[SUroot]

Yes I've had dumb phones that turned on when an alarm was set. But most modern smart phones do not do this any more.

 

[Roadie1015]

I have always thought that the android phones are unable to turn on when the alarms are triggered is a bug.

In fact, my old Nokia n810 (an internet tablet) is able to turn on with the alarm, even if I take the battery off and put it on again (of course, with no battery It doesn't turn on, but what I want to make clear is that It is completely off). It is buggy (the tablet tends to freeze when it is in process of turning on, so it is difficult to press the off button which doesn't responds properly), but it does turn on.

I like to turn the phone off at night so I can charge it while I'm sleeping.

Ohh, and I arrived this post looking for an application that do just that.

I guess I would need to keep relaying on my good old Samsung E1205 which turns on without any problems.

Nope, not a bug. Probably just not something android is worried about.

And you know you can still charge your phone at night when it's turned on right?

 

[tjreishus]

Im also a previous blackberry owner and was disappointed about this at first. Several people have brought up some good alternatives and I thought I would offer one more.

There are several different profile apps on the market. I personally use Quick Profiles pro by softxperience. With just one click you can change your profile to a "sleep" profile. In the settings you set your sleep profile to turn ALL volumes down to zero except for the alarm volume. I also set it to turn on airplane mode to help save the battery. When I wake up I select a profile I created called "Soft". This profile turns off airplane mode and turns all volumes to a very low volume. Now when all my notifications come through from overnight I'm not blown away from loud ringing. Then, when I leave for the day and just before I put my phone in my pocket, I select "loud" so that all the volumes are turned up and I can hear it in my pocket.

Like I said, there are many different profile apps and some are somewhat automated by using times and locations. I would check those out to see if they will work for you.

It sounds like your ultimate goal is to not be woken up at night from phone calls or notifications. You can accomplish this in many different ways and I'm sure you'll find one that works for you. None of the ways are right or wrong, it's just a personal preference. I believe that this is where android shines. There seems to be more options to accomplish the same thing on android than any other OS

Hope that helps.

 

[camahueto]

Nope, not a bug. Probably just not something android is worried about.

And you know you can still charge your phone at night when it's turned on right?

Yeah, but is not as efficient as when you charge it turned off (in terms of complete battery charge).

Anyway. I like it off at night and I will keep it that way and use other alarm instead of keep it on all night.