iPhone's Alarm's Clever Design Trick Leaves User Astonished

In the digital world, it's not every day that an oddity is discovered in one of the most common features of a device. Recently, users on Reddit and tech platform Wccftech noticed something peculiar about the iPhone alarm time picker. This anomaly has been observed in both the 12-hour and 24-hour clock formats, causing a bit of a stir among iPhone enthusiasts.

The odd behaviour presents itself when you scroll to the upper or lower limit on the supposed time wheels. Instead of smoothly transitioning to the next or previous hour and minute, you find yourself needing to move in the opposite direction. For instance, if you reach the end of the hour list, you'll need to scroll back a bit to advance to the next hour.

This peculiarity has been observed in the beta build of iOS 26. If you scroll down for about 10-15 seconds on the hour and minute lists, the alarm time picker stops at 4:39 in both formats. This has been dubbed the "4:39 alarm clock mystery" by some users.

The time wheels on the iPhone alarm time picker appear as if they are rotating on a numerical wheel, but they are not. Instead, they are a list of numbers that repeats a few times before hitting the upper or lower limit after a long scrolling session. The list includes 0 to 12 for hours and 0 to 60 for minutes.

This unusual behaviour is not a new discovery. In 2018, an iPhone user shared the 4:39 alarm clock mystery on the Apple Community forum, but the query went unanswered. The mystery sent many users into a tizzy, with some even suggesting that it could be a hidden Easter Egg or a design oversight.

However, it's important to note that the iPhone alarm time picker's oddity does not affect its functionality. It's also worth mentioning that the unusual time display on iPhones, such as the time shown in Apple product marketing materials and advertisements, is a tradition and a signature design choice by Apple. The time is set to 9:41 AM, which was the approximate time Steve Jobs first unveiled the iPhone in 2007.

Despite the buzz, Apple has not yet addressed this issue publicly. For now, iPhone users will just have to accept the quirky behaviour of their alarm time picker and continue setting their alarms as usual.