iOS 26 Finally Lets Us Get Rid of the Abomination That Is the 9-Minute Snooze
In 2007, Apple launched the iPhone, a monumental device that became synonymous with the advancement of mobile technology. At that time, it also included a dreadful alarm feature: the nine-minute snooze. The latest iPhones are bezel-free, can shoot 4K videos in slow-motion and we can unlock these devices by looking at them, just to name a few of the many advancements that have been made over the past 18 years. These iPhones are a far cry from the original model Apple launched in 2007, and yet the alarm's nine-minute snooze has persisted -- until iOS 26.
The tech giant announced the next iPhone update at its Worldwide Developers Conference 2025, and the software upgrade will bring a lot of new features to your iPhone when Apple releases it later this year, like new tools in Messages and a new Games app. But the company could also loosen its grip on your alarm's snooze duration in your Clock app in the software. In the iOS 26 developer beta, you can set your default snooze duration to anywhere between one and 15 minutes. After messing around in the developer beta, this is one of my favorite tweaks. I should note that the developer beta of iOS 26 is an early version of the software that is specifically aimed at software developers. This means that part of it could change over the coming months, including this new snooze feature.
But first, why does snooze last nine minutes? According to CNET's sister site Mashable, the snooze button was introduced to alarm clocks in the mid-1950s, and the snooze duration was -- that's right -- nine minutes. It was supposedly easier on the hardware to set the snooze duration to a single digit as opposed to a double digit. Thus, the wretched nine-minute snooze was born.
The nine-minute snooze also has some scientific backing. Science says nine minutes might be an ideal snooze time before we fall back into a deep slumber.
This is an early version of iOS 26 aimed at developers. The Snooze Duration menu could look different in the final version of iOS 26.
Apple/Screenshot by CNET
"In terms of sleep, nine minutes is just enough time for a brief rest," Holly Schiff, a licensed clinical psychologist, told Reader's Digest. "Once you get past the 10-minute mark, your body can start to fall back into a deep sleep, which will make waking up again difficult and more unpleasant."
However, it's 2025: My iPhone can stream videos from Netflix, play games from Xbox Game Pass and Android devices can set snooze for 10 minutes, so we know we can leave the nine-minutes in the past. As for health science, it would probably say I should do a lot of things, like eat more vegetables and less cheese. My doctor hasn't mentioned my cheese intake at my annual checkup, so will one more minute of snooze really be that detrimental? I don't think so.
But at the end of the day, my true reason for loving this change is not nearly as nuanced: This tweak makes my brain happy because in my mind, nine is an uncomfortable number for me.
For starters, nine's an odd number, and everyone knows that even numbers are superior to odd numbers. The only exception to this rule is any odd increment of five, which are honorary even numbers, as everyone also knows. Is nine divisible by five? No. Strike one.
Next, despite nine being an odd number, it isn't even a prime number. In fact, it's the only single-digit odd number that isn't also a prime number, so it's even weirder. That's strike two.
And why would you pick nine when 10 is right there? There's a reason people say, "On a scale from 1 to 10," and not, "On a scale from 1 to 9." See how weird that sounds?
So now whenever I make an alarm in the iOS 26 developer beta, I'm changing my alarm's snooze duration to 10 minutes. It's an even number, and in my head it's a nice, smooth number that makes my brain happy. And isn't that really what snoozing is all about?
Think of it like this: If you had to manually set a snooze timer, how long would you set it for? I'd bet almost everyone would pick some increment of five. Absolutely no one would pick nine, except maybe some clock enthusiasts and whatever mad scientist at Apple made it the default for all these years.
Is 10 minutes a scientifically better snooze time than nine minutes? Probably not. Will it leave me in the same trap of just barely falling back asleep only to be abruptly woken up once more? Most likely. Am I relieved at the thought of snoozing for a number of minutes that is comfier for my brain? Absolutely.
It's also nice to have the option to set it for a shorter time, like five minutes, so if you want a couple more minutes to wake up, you don't risk actually falling asleep again.
Since this is a developer beta, I recommend downloading it only on something other than your primary device. Because this isn't the final version of iOS 26, the update might be buggy and battery life may be short, so it's best to keep those troubles on a secondary device.
Note that the beta is not the final version of iOS 26, so there could be more features to land on your iPhone when iOS 26 is released. Apple wrote on its site that iOS 26 will be released to the general public this fall, but there's no word on an exact date. Until then, iOS 18 users are stuck with the horrid nine-minute snooze.
For more on Apple, here's what you need to know about iOS 26 and everything the company announced at WWDC 2025.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Android Authority
36 minutes ago
- Android Authority
This 32-inch Insignia Fire TV is only $69.99! (Record-low price)
We know this is not the most exciting TV around, but it isn't supposed to be. Instead, it is meant to be a good screen for the kitchen, dining room, or a smaller bedroom. There's also a reason why it's Amazon's top-selling TV! It is super cheap, especially right now that it's on sale for a mere $69.99. Buy the Insignia 32-Inch F20 Series Amazon Smart TV for just $69.99 ($60 off) This offer is available from Amazon, but since Insignia is a Best Buy brand, it is shipped and sold by Best Buy. We're referring to the 32-inch model, but the 24-inch version costs the same, so you can get a smaller screen if you prefer. Insignia 32-Inch F20 Series Amazon Smart TV Insignia 32-Inch F20 Series Amazon Smart TV A low-end TV for the kids or grandparents. The Insignia F20 series delivers a meager 720p 32-inch panel. But at least you also get Fire TV support, AirPlay functionality, and a low price. See price at Amazon Save $60.00 Limited Time Deal! Again, this is meant to be a less fancy screen for a bedroom, or a smaller space like a kitchen. The display measures 32 inches, and it has a 720p HD resolution, along with a 60Hz refresh rate. Again, nothing fancy, but one thing I am surprised about is that it does come with Fire TV OS baked in. This means you get access to all your favorite streaming apps, including Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV, and more. You can even use Amazon Luna, so it can handle high-quality games on the cloud! Because it has direct access to Alexa, you can even use the TV to control your smart home devices. You can also ask it for information, request alarms, control skills, and more. In terms of ports, you get three HDMI ports, which is actually quite surprising for such an affordable display. It also has a 3.5mm AUX port and an optical output. At $69.99, it's hard to beat this offer for the right customer. Again, keep in mind this is a record-low price. The last time we saw this TV at this low cost was back in December 2024. The offer may not stick around for long, so take advantage of this deal soon!
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Andreessen Horowitz Backs AI Startup With Slogan ‘Cheat at Everything'
Andreessen Horowitz led a $15 million funding round for an artificial intelligence startup called Cluely Inc., famous on social platforms like X for controversial viral marketing stunts and the slogan 'cheat on everything.' The startup was co-founded by 21-year-old Roy Lee, who was booted from Columbia University earlier this year for creating a tool called Interview Coder that helped technical job candidates cheat on interviews using AI. At the time, he wrote on LinkedIn, 'I'm completely kicked out from school. LOL!'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Satellites are polluting Earth's atmosphere with heavy metals. Could refueling them in orbit help?
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The world at large is working to stop the fast-progressing degradation of Earth's environment. In the space sector, however, one-use-only products still reign supreme. The advent of megaconstellations has, in fact, accelerated the rate at which the space industry burns through resources, shifting from big satellites with decades-long lifespans to cheaper birds designed to expire within a few short years. The disposable approach worries some researchers, as too much aluminum is burning up in the atmosphere these days, threatening to cause a new kind of environmental disaster in the decades to come. But what can we do? Should we roll back the space revolution and put a cap on what we can do in space? Or could a circular economy, life extension, recycling and reuse be the solution to the space industry's dirty side effects? Proponents of in-orbit servicing and refueling laud the technology's potential. But most analysts remain cautious: Without strict environmental regulations, the expected cost of in-orbit servicing may not entice satellite operators to switch to reusable technology en masse. Dave Barnhart, chief executive officer of the California-based aerospace company Arkisys, first began developing concepts of recyclable satellite technology some 15 years ago as part of a project he oversaw at DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). He and his colleagues investigated how to set up a satellite recycling facility in geostationary orbit — the region about 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) above Earth's surface where satellites appear fixed above one spot above the equator. "We wanted to know whether we can use parts from old geo satellites to recreate new ones, because the mass is already there," Barnhart told The geostationary ring is home to some of the largest and most expensive satellites. On top of that, the long distance between Earth and this orbit makes geo missions inherently costly, as they require the most powerful rockets with a lot of fuel to reach their destination. Yet, Arkisys, the company Barnhart cofounded in 2015, is focusing on low Earth orbit (LEO) — the buzzing region closest to Earth up to altitudes of about 1,200 miles (2,000 km). Arkisyshopes to set up an in-orbit servicing and refueling depot called the Port in LEO. The main goal is to spearhead a green revolution in this region, which gives rise to thousands of tons of dangerous space debris every year. "To date, everything we have ever designed to go into space has been one mission, one life," Barnhart told "It's sort of crazy. Every other domain on Earth, we maintain, we sustain, we grow. Not in space." In 2023, Arkisys secured a $1.6 million deal from the U.S. Space Force to test satellite assembly in orbit using the Port demo module — a basic building block of a scalable orbiting garage and gas station. The company wants to launch the first component of this orbital depot next year — a last-mile transportation device called the Cutter, which is designed to help satellites to dock with the garage. In 2027, the main Port module, a hexagonal structure about 9 feet (3 meters) wide, will join the Cutter in orbit to test how the mechanical interfaces of the two work together in space. The Port, in addition to serving as a fuel depot, will arrive with a supply of components and payloads that could be attached to worn-out satellites to give them a new lease on life. "Today, everything on a satellite is done on the ground, and the satellite is launched with an end date," Barnhart said. "We want to shift that to allow extensions of both — life and business — post-launch. We want to be able to add new revenue streams post-launch. You can do that if you can add something, change something in orbit, or even sell that satellite to somebody else who could make it part of a larger platform." Cameras or antennas could be replaced with more powerful ones once those get developed, worn-out batteries could be swapped for brand-new ones, and fuel tanks would get refilled. It all makes sense on paper, but Dafni Christodoulopoulou, space industry analyst at the consultancy company Analysis Mason, warns that whether satellite operators would be inclined to ditch their disposable ways will come down to the cost of the in-orbit maintenance services. LEO is currently dominated by small, relatively cheap satellites, she says, which can be replaced more cheaply than they can be serviced and maintained. "Right now, we expect in-orbit services to come at a cost that might be quite high for operators of small satellites," Christodoulopoulou told "The operators might not be interested in those services, because the price of building a new satellite might not be higher than that of a servicing mission." Barnhart agrees that the fledgling in-orbit servicing industry is likely to face resistance not just from operators but also from satellite manufacturers, who might feel threatened by the idea of reusability and life extension. "Every time you want to make a big shift like this, it's going to be a threat," Barnhart said. "Satellite manufacturers make money by building more satellites to throw away. It might take some time for them to see that by fitting satellites with interfaces that allow them to be serviced, they could actually add some cool functionality to them after launch." Related stories: — Kessler Syndrome and the space debris problem — Pollution from rocket launches and burning satellites could cause the next environmental emergency — 2 private satellites undock after pioneering life-extension mission Still, Christodoulopoulou thinks that in-orbit servicing will eventually make a difference to how things are done in space, and also to the state of the orbital environment. "The number of satellite launches is not expected to go down, so there will be a high need for constellation management, flexibility, disposal and life extension," she said. "I think in-orbit services can definitely help prevent the buildup of space debris and maintain long-term sustainability in orbit." The U.S. government certainly appears to think that life extension is the way forward. In addition to funding the Arkisys experiment, the Space Force also funds the Tetra-5 and Tetra-6 missions to test in-orbit refueling technologies in space. The two missions, designed to test hardware developed by Orbit Fab, Astroscale and Northrop Grumman, are set to launch in 2026 and 2027, respectively. In addition, intensifying geopolitical tensions are increasing the need for quick deployment of new systems in space, which, Barnhart says, could be more speedily addressed with servicing systems such as the Port, than by building new spacecraft from scratch on Earth. "If there is a new threat that has been identified, you might need a new type of sensor or a new payload to observe it," Barnhart said. "If we can augment the satellites that the government has already put up and provide them with a new capability, a new sensor, we can address those threats much faster." Christodoulopoulou thinks that new regulations designed to protect the environment and curb the air pollution related to satellite reentries could further help move the needle toward a less throwaway culture in space utilization. "There need to be a few changes," Christodoulopoulou said. "There needs to be more awareness among satellite operators to understand that in-orbit servicing offers a value in the long term. But also on the government side, there need to be more regulations to support the in-orbit servicing providers."
