Silent Mode should not silence a real alarm.

Clock alarms and AlarmKit alarms are different

The built-in Clock app manages Apple’s standard alarms. AirAlarm uses AlarmKit, the iOS 26 framework that lets an authorized third-party app schedule a system alarm. Both are treated differently from an ordinary notification.

In Apple’s AlarmKit introduction, an alarm is a prominent alert scheduled for a predetermined time. Apple explicitly says the alert breaks through Silent Mode and the current Focus. The user must first grant alarm authorization to the app.

What Silent Mode does not fix

• Low alert volume: Clock alarm volume follows the Ringtone and Alerts level in Settings.
• No sound selected: An alarm configured with no sound may only vibrate.
• Denied permission: AirAlarm cannot schedule an AlarmKit alarm if its authorization is denied.
• Wrong final time: Always check the actual scheduled time after the sleep-start signal is confirmed.
• Power problems: Keep the iPhone charged for the night.

A one-minute daytime test

1. Set an alarm for two or three minutes from now.
2. Turn on Silent Mode and your usual nighttime Focus.
3. Lock the iPhone and wait for the system alert.
4. Confirm that the volume and sound are strong enough from the phone’s usual location.
5. Open AirAlarm and verify that alarm authorization remains enabled before the first overnight use.

Testing during the day is more useful than discovering a volume or permission problem in the morning. If the setup must wake you for travel, medication, caregiving, or another high-consequence event, use an independent backup alarm as well.

How this applies to AirAlarm

AirAlarm calculates a time inside your wake window and schedules that exact time with AlarmKit. Once scheduled, the system owns the alert experience. AirPods are used during the bedtime flow and for the sleep-start estimate; they are not a promise that the final alarm will sound only in the earbuds.