June 25, 2025 – Tech news outlet MacRumors reported yesterday that Apple has rolled out an updated alarm interface in the Clock app for the latest iOS 26 Beta 2 version. Notably, the time display and button sizes within the alarm feature have been significantly enlarged.
Under the new iOS 26 system, when an alarm goes off, users are greeted with two large, equally – sized buttons labeled “Stop” and “Snooze.” These buttons are positioned side – by – side at the bottom of the screen.
However, former Apple engineer Jack Fields has raised concerns about this design choice, stating that it contradicts internal Apple research he was involved in during his tenure at the company.
Fields mentioned that during his time at Apple, he participated in a study that utilized a specially – designed version of the Clock app. The purpose of this study was to track users’ screen – tapping heatmaps right after they were awakened by an alarm.
“The study documented where our flailing hands landed on the screen in that semi – conscious state, to assess how accurately we could turn off the alarm,” Fields explained.
The findings of the study were counterintuitive. When the “Stop” and “Snooze” buttons were of the same size and placed close together, the likelihood of users accidentally hitting the “Stop” button increased by 30%. In essence, this raised the risk of oversleeping.
This is precisely why in recent iOS versions, the “Snooze” button was positioned centrally and made more prominent, while the “Stop” button was reduced in size and placed further down at the bottom of the screen. “By making the ‘Stop’ button so small, we ensure that users are awake enough to actually stop the alarm,” Fields elaborated.
Regarding the new alarm interface in iOS 26, Fields added, “This new design is quite intriguing, but it goes completely against our previous research findings. I’m really curious to see what data they have to back up this change. It’s now alarmingly large.”
