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How my iPhone made me miss my first flight of the year
- Bud 16y agoSee also: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2057896 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2057896
- helmutgranda 16y agoThanks for the reference, I wasn't aware some one had already already reported the issue.
- ljf 16y agoStill interesting to here how it affected someone - good blog btw. We have all come to rely on our phones these days - when they do fail us it leaves you feeling pretty lost!
- lopatamd 16y agolol fail =)
- cageyjames 16y agoor, "How I failed to see the thousands of blog posts and tweets telling me this was going to happen".
- helmutgranda 16y agoexcellent point! I was thinking of what you mentioned this morning. How I was not able to see this issue before in the social networks? I think part of it was my fault for not checking twitter during the Holidays and unless you search for "Is my IPhone going to fail in 2011" I don't think you were able to know about this issue. Also most blog posts/twitter content has been reported today but not a week or so ago. But following your point, do you think now we have to become dependent on Twitter and Blog posts to know if our software/hardware is going to function properly the next day? Wouldn't that be counter productive?
- cageyjames 16y agoI wouldn't be dependent on an iPhone to wake up in the morning.
- mattwdelong 16y agoIn his defense; While I don't have an iPhone, I'm an avid reader of all things technology and check HN multiple times daily. I also failed to see these so called "thousands of blog posts and tweets". Again, not familiar with the iPhone, but can't Apple send out notifications of some sort?
- cageyjames 16y agoA good way to find the notification bug in iOS4! ;)
- praptak 16y agoYeah, it is obviously the owners fault for not checking blog posts and tweets about the faulty product.
- cageyjames 16y agoIf I used and iPhone to wake up, I'd check every night before I went to bed to be sure the alarm worked. It isn't like this is the first time this has happened. I keep jumper cables in my car because the electrical system drains the battery (and I'm too cheap to get a new car). I do so because I know it will need it eventually. How many times will the alarm clock "bug" have to bite before people start taking precautions.
- billmcneale 16y agoI don't buy for a second that you have a daily recurring alarm which you test every day. Besides, a more accurate analogy would be if every night, you jumpstarted your car to make sure the cables work.
- __david__ 16y agoTo be fair, I only saw articles about this issue last night at 1am or so because I happened to compulsively read Hacker News and Reddit before bed. Seems perfectly understandable to miss the article for someone who has better things to do than browse the internet between a New Years party, family and the early business meeting.
- mattparcher 16y agoDoes anyone have a theory to explain the bug [1]? [1] Any non-recurring iPhone alarm between January 1 and 3 will not go off
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- jamesaguilar 16y agoThat's weird, because my alarm went off this morning at 5:30 AM and was non-recurring. Does the bug afflict only a particular software version? I'm on 4.1 on an iPhone 4.
- helmutgranda 16y agoI haven't seen any official report from Apple, but if you follow the thread link below you can see most people report 4.2.1 http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2702635 http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2702635
- g_lined 16y agoMy phone, 4.2.1, woke me up at 06:53 with a non-recurring alarm this morning. The alarm was set after 00:01 on Jan 1st.
- blhack 16y agoOut of curiosity, how many of you depend on an alarm to wake you up? I don't think I've used one in over 2 years.
- evansolomon 16y agoI would bet most do on a normal day, and nearly all do when they have to wake up at 3:30am after going to sleep at 2am.
- dbz 16y agoAll of us with sleep apnea do.
- tseabrooks 16y agoI'm not sure that's true. I have sleep apnea and I've never used an alarm on a daily basis in my entire life. I've only been using a CPAP for about 2 years... but neither before nor after have I ever needed an alarm. I simply go to bed when my body is tired... and I sleep until I'm not tired. It usually means, for me, I sleep from about 9:30 p.m. - 5:00 a.m. and work 7-3... Prior to using a CPAP I wouldn't expect sleep apnea folks to need an alarm because they'd already be waking up pretty frequently.. after the CPAP machine I'd expect it to be super easy to just go to sleep when tired and wake up when you wake up... and before you say, "I have to be up at X o clock and if I slept until I was done sleeping I wouldn't be able to do it" .. I call hogwash... If you purposefully go to sleep early a few nights you can control your 'well rested' time until you get it to the right point.. and after using an alarm for a few weeks should be able to remove it and let your body wake you up... as long as you will listen to your body when you are tired. I think this previous post talks about this type of sleep ( "free running sleep"?) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=673726 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=673726
- ghaff 16y agoNot day-to-day but whenever I have a morning meeting that I might not wake up for or--alas more commonly--an early morning flight. If it's important and especially if it's very early, I set 2 alarms, one of which isn't "roll over and hit off" distance from the bed. I agree with those that don't depend on their phone's alarm for anything that's critical. When traveling I'll always use either the room alarm or the wakeup service if I have to get up early for something important.
- drgath 16y agoWhile I do use my mobile's alarm app often, I've always been hesitant to use it as my -only- alarm. There are too many things that could go wrong when compared to a good ol' alarm clock. When I need to catch those 6am flights, I set multiple alarms on my alarm clock, as well as my phone. Always have a backup.
- jonknee 16y agoHe did have a backup, but it was another iPhone. Lesson learned I suppose.
- phillijw 16y agoHonestly, I wouldn't have relied on a phone to wake me up. It's a phone, not an alarm clock. For something so important it can't be worth it to take the risk. Then again, if power goes out with a regular clock you're screwed. I guess the only safe thing to do is a combination of alarm clock types.
- CountHackulus 16y agoThis is a lot like data backups. Your data isn't really backed up unless it's on at least 2 different kinds of media, and also somewhere offsite. Using another iPhone for the alarm is the equivalent of putting keeping your backups in the same server rack and having the data centre burn down.
- helmutgranda 16y agoI hear you, ironically my "backup" was my wife's iPhone and mine is charging at night before trips so that it doesn't run out of juice.
- ams6110 16y agoI have had so many problems with alarms and alerts not sounding on a variety of mobile devices, going back many years, that I don't rely on them for anything important. Hotel wake-up call service has always been my backup when traveling.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- sbierwagen 16y agoA backup that uses the same mechanism is worse than no backup at all, since it gives you a false sense of security.
- jamesaguilar 16y agoNot really, since iPhones can run out of batteries, one could get turned off reflexively, they could break down during the night, etc. There are plenty of reasons to use two iPhone alarms over one that do add security.
- sbierwagen 16y agoIt was an aphorism, but I'll grant you that. But a backup that would take the same effort (a $10 alarm clock) using entirely different hardware and software would be significantly more robust than just using another iphone. The 747 has two sets of controls and four completely redundant hydraulic systems for the control surfaces, rather than two controls for a common hydraulic system. In the cockpit it looks the same, but the backend is far safer. Two iphones share all their software and hardware. Any bug in either would affect both. Additionally, they're both connected to the internet. If they both get a SMS of death, or if AT&T's NTP server decides to tell everything that connects to it that it's January 1st, 1970, 12:00AM, or if someone with a warrant tells them to remotely shut down both phones, etc etc etc. In contrast, the only thing I can think that would take out both a cell phone and a clock radio would be an EMP, or an explosion in the same room.
- ramchip 16y ago> In contrast, the only thing I can think that would take out both a cell phone and a clock radio would be an EMP, or an explosion in the same room. Perhaps more likely: the phone is close to discharged and a blackout happens. Both devices run out of power before morning. Of course your point still stands.
- lutorm 16y agoMaybe that's the reason my wife's new WakeMate (she got it yesterday) didn't wake her up this morning either? She's like "this thing sucks!" but maybe it's Apple's fault then?
- w1ntermute 16y agoNo, IIUC, the WakeMate app's got its own alarm. This only applies to Apple's built-in clock.
- auxbuss 16y agoApple support discussion: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2702635 http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2702635
- extension 16y agoMy son has type one diabetes and is on an insulin pump. Because of this I have to check his blood sugar levels every two hours at night. I rely heavily on my iPhone 4 alarm. Last night went to bed with all my alarms set as usual. None of them went off. I woke up at 8 am in a panic not knowing what I'd find in my sons room. Thankfully he hadn't gone low in the night and died. Instead he was extremely high, which is also bad but not fatal in the short term. But still carries health problems. My first thought was how irresponsible it is to rely on a consumer gadget for something life critical. But then I wondered, is there is any such thing as mission critical alarm clock that this person could find and afford? Can the average layperseon be expected to understand how various gadgets are prone to fail at such simple tasks? We rely on so many non-industrial grade things to not incidentally kill us: shoes, doorknobs, bubblegum, faucets, etc. Maybe it's reasonable to think of a virtual alarm clock in the same way, especially on a device that tries so hard to look and feel like an elementary object rather than a complex machine.
- helmutgranda 16y agoThis is my point. I take responsibility for not waking up when I was supposed to but from different items listed what is a item that you can fully relay on? I agree on setting multiple alarms in my case but do we have to or how about the testimonial listed above, I can't imagine going all my life having to set 2 or more alarms for everything.
- WalterBright 16y agoI use a windup mechanical alarm clock for critical wakeups. I've had batteries fail on battery clocks, and the power go out on plugin clocks. The windup ones have never failed me.
- 16y ago
- mybbor 16y agoHad a few friend sleep over. They experienced the same problem. I feel bad you missed your flight. My girlfriend and I always joke about the importance of "the small things." Apple really let a bunch of people down.
- itistoday 16y agoThis reminds me of the time my iPhone saved my ass. The fault was completely mine, I'd miscalculated how long it would take me to get from the apartment, onto the BART and into the gate at SFO. I could see I'd miss my flight if I tried to run to BART, so I whipped out Siri and said, "Get me a cab." Within literally a minute or two, a cab arrived at my apartment and I got to SFO with time to spare. Technology can be a great thing, when it works. ;-)
- mortenjorck 16y agoOnce is a fluke, but twice is a pattern: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/11/01/iphone-alarm-bug-wakes-users-up-late/ http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/11/01/iphone-alarm-bug-wake... Apple is going to have to restore faith in the clock app like Google needs to restore faith in Android's SMS app.
- nosht 16y agoWhat is wrong with Android's SMS app? I don't want to start another Google VS Apple thread, I honestly haven't noticed anything.
- pierrefar 16y agoValid question. There is a bug in the Android SMS app that sends your text to unintended recipients. See: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=9392 http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=9392 http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/31/android-still-has-horrible-text-messaging-bugs-thatll-get-you-f/ http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/31/android-still-has-horribl... http://www.bgr.com/2010/12/31/android-bug-that-sends-sms-messages-to-random-recipients-is-being-ignored-by-google/ http://www.bgr.com/2010/12/31/android-bug-that-sends-sms-mes...
- gaustin 16y agoInteresting. I get mail addressed to people with GMail addresses that are similar to mine (gaustin vs. g.austin). I sometimes wonder if other people get emails addressed to me...
- paul9290 16y agoThe author can also buy one of the many alarm clock apps in the store in which will avoid this issue. It's a reoccurring issue as it happened when the time changed in the fall. Pardon shameless plug but we have an alarm app that wakes you up & speaks the status of your airline flight(delayed, canceled or on-time). We use flightcaster.com as our data resource. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sleep-fm/id388631053?mt=8# http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sleep-fm/id388631053?mt=8#
- jamesaguilar 16y agoThanks for the plug. They can be useful. But: 1. Why use "promotional pics" rather than screenshots of the actual program? 2. Ugh, why use non-native controls? 3. The Facebook and Twitter icons look low-res, which would make for an ugly appearance on my iPhone 4. There is no chance I would buy this app without an accurate screenshot representation of it, and there's further no chance I would buy it if it really does look the way it does in the screenshots.
- paul9290 16y agoThanks for the feedback. The ups & downs of doing a start-up(one that began in Jan. 2007)..... We intended to push out a better designed app by Nov., but things occurred prompting us to put our focus back into our start-up's(http://Sleep.FM http://Sleep.FM) original concept, The Social Alarm Clock(let friends choose your alarm sound). A concept we put on the back-burner as it got a lot of flak & thus we focused on creating an app that wakes you to weather reports, flight status & more. During app's long development process(8 months) we saw reaction to a competing Social Alarm Clock on Rocketboom's Tumblr (http://bit.ly/bSgGdl http://bit.ly/bSgGdl), as well a large company attempting to use our registered trademark(they probably never heard of us so we notified them & they ceased use immediately). Also, our server got hacked & a month later another Social Alarm Clock app was released, except this one's execution was a mirror of the mock up we had in our server. Thus the iphone redesign was pushed back and we finished & released site's original concept in December, though to deaf ears & losing many users. Overall Im at a crossroads with my start-up; not sure if i want to invest any further of my monies into it. Im skilled at front end coding & pay others to do design, back-end & mobile development. It seems now with this article and the iPhone's alarm clock short comings we should have focused on updating our app. It's all a crapshoot & Im somewhat exhausted...
- TheBranca18 16y agoIn contrast, I bought a ticket on Continental while I was in line for Jetblue at Logan airport right after Jetblue cancelled my flight. I was panicking putting in my credit card in Mobile Safari (and still have never got a confirmation email) but I was able to get out and make it home for New Year's. I try to never rely just on my phone alarm for whatever reason, call that being overly cautious.
- albemuth 16y agoI wouldn't have gone to bed at all. Even if the alarm had gone off I would have slept through it on so little sleep.
- threej 16y agoExact same thing happened to me this morning. I set the alarm on my iPhone and my girlfriend set hers as a backup. Woke up 45 minutes later then I was planning and was completely perplexed. Luckiy, I was not trying to catch a flight, just going skiing.
- siglesias 16y agoI simply set a timer before I go to bed (specifying how many hours of sleep I want). The input merhod is much faster and less bug prone.
- visakhcr 16y agoThat's why I still carry around my old alarm clock wherever I go!