Alarms on the Apple Watch are receiving a small but important fix, with an update being prepared to help users from accidentally canceling them during sleep.
Detailed as part of the company's release notes for the upcoming watchOS 9.4 update, alarms set in the company's 'Sleep Focus' will soon no longer be silenced by the 'Cover to Mute' gesture.
The update should arrive in early April following its current testing period.
Currently, if users do happen to cover their smartwatch display for a few seconds during sleep, an alarm will accidentally be silenced.
With the new change, though, that feature is being canned in order for alarms to still sound.
It may not sound like much, but we suspect that this change will actually be a bit of a lightbulb moment for many Apple Watch users - ourselves included - previously perplexed about why their alarm sometimes didn't sound as intended.
It's not the only change slated to arrive through watchOS 9.4, either.
At least from what we know from the update's beta, support for new emoji characters - including a blackbird, goose, and donkey - are all arriving, while AFib history is also being made available in more countries.
Through the update, the health feature will be available in Colombia, Thailand and Malaysia, with Ukraine and Moldova also set to receive it alongside support for Cycle Tracking.
As we say, we suspect the update will roll out to all Apple Watch owners over the next week or so, and, when it becomes available, you can download it by following the steps in our guide explaining how to update the Apple Watch.
How we test
Conor moved to Wareable Media Group in 2017, initially covering all the latest developments in smartwatches, fitness trackers, and VR. He made a name for himself writing about trying out translation earbuds on a first date and cycling with a wearable airbag, as well as covering the industry’s latest releases.
Following a stint as Reviews Editor at Pocket-lint, Conor returned to Wareable Media Group in 2022 as Editor-at-Large. Conor has become a wearables expert, and helps people get more from their wearable tech, via Wareable's considerable how-to-based guides.
He has also contributed to British GQ, Wired, Metro, The Independent, and The Mirror.