iPhone alarm clock: Your comments

A glitch on Apple's iPhone has stopped its built-in alarm clock going off, leaving many people oversleeping on the first two days of the New Year.

BBC News website readers and tweeters have said the glitch has caused them to be late for work, miss flights and ruin other plans, here are some of their comments.

I had to drive my wife to Heathrow on New Year's Day, and had only set my iPod alarm. We were meant to set off at 0900, luckily for us we left more than enough time and she naturally woke up at 0900 on the dot. Any later and it could have been very bad. Of course I got all of the blame for "not setting the clock correctly" as well. Dan, Brighton, UK

I work in a hospital and I am required to be there on some weekends and holidays. On both 1 and 2 January my iPhone 3Gs did not go off to wake me up. After the first time I thought it must have been user error so I set it again. Again it failed me. Thanks Apple! A warning or notification would have been nice. Essential personnel need to be able to count on their devices. Back to the tried and true alarm clock. Brian Glanzel, Delaware, US

Four adults, four iPhones, six alarms, one baby and all of us overslept by an hour-and-a-half! It was manic trying to get our friends and their baby out of the house to make their train from Edinburgh to Bournemouth. They made it ok, but it could have been a very expensive problem. Do we blame it on Apple or our over-reliance and belief in their products? I'm just off out to get myself a rooster. Holly Wheeler, Edinburgh, Scotland

I am a flight attendant for a major US airline and I had a 0715 show time this morning (2 January). I set my alarm like I always do for 0510. I rolled over and saw light coming through my window and the clock said 0807. My flight was scheduled to depart at 0815. I had missed my show time and my flight because they had to re-crew it. It cost me three points against my work history too! T, Virgina, US

Mine failed to go off this morning. I run a guesthouse and when I woke at 0900 my 10 guests were waiting in the unprepared dining room for me! Not good at all. Padraic McDonagh, Galway, Ireland

I set several alarms to make sure I got up bright and early this morning in order to begin my new year's fitness regime. It's nice to know that it was Apple's fault I never got going, rather than my own laziness. Tom K Hawkey, Nottingham, UK

I was too ashamed on New Year's Day to admit that I had "overslept" for work because "my alarm didn't go off". It is the oldest and lamest of excuses. I assumed I had slept through it or switched it off in a half-sleep. It was not until I failed to get up this Sunday morning that I became suspicious. No sooner had I searched "iPhone 4" than "alarm not working" appeared as an auto-complete suggestion. Time to dig out some batteries for my old bedside alarm clock. Darren Smith, Berlin, Germany

A meeting had been scheduled for today after a brief meeting yesterday of the founders and financiers of my company. I programmed my iPhone 4 alarm to set off at 0730 but I woke up 0800 because the alarm failed. I was 20 minutes late for the meeting. My wife saved the Apple as I almost smashed the uncooperative device to pieces. She hid the device when I told her of my plans to destroy it. I still love my Apple though. Folorunsho Wilfred, Warri, Nigeria

I can't thank you enough for running this story - my fiancée thought I'd turned the alarm off causing us to oversleep on a big day for sorting out our wedding arrangements, and now I can prove my innocence! My only gripe is that this couldn't have happened on our first day back in work. David, Liverpool, UK

I had two alarms set for 0400 to get my family up and to Birmingham airport for 0500. Alarms failed! We missed the 0700 flight to Turin and had to pay over £1,000 for flights to Chambery. I'm typing this from a private taxi trying to get to Sestriere for our ski holiday. Far, far, far from happy! Dear Apple... Nick Pound, Staffordshire, UK

I work nights and last night was late for work by an hour and I've been trying to work out why all day! At least I know why now. Thanks Apple. Steven Bowler, Duquesa, Spain

Alarm didn't go off on New Year's Day making me very late getting to the stables to let my horses out - they were not happy, neither was I. Nicole, UK

I set the alarm on my iPhone 3GS for 0630 this morning for a 0800 start at work. My husband woke me at 0841! Oops. Luckily my work colleagues were very understanding. They have however had to eat their words in light of your article, seems they now believe my excuse after all! Ness Byrne, Somerset, UK

I use the alarm on my iPhone every night so I can check on my young son. He has Type 1 diabetes and it is essential I check his blood sugar levels in the night to stop any potentially dangerous hypos (low blood sugar) and hypers (high blood sugar). Luckily I woke up two minutes after my alarm was due to go off so I could still check on my son. I know several other parents who do the same and slept through because of this problem. It is a heart-stopping moment when you sleep through an alarm that is vital for the safety of your children. I never had this problem with my iPhone last year. Sarah, West Sussex, UK

I also overslept this morning because of the iPhone alarm clock although I managed to make it to work on time. I couldn't believe myself when I checked the time as things like this have never happened to me before in the past 20 years (I am the kind of person who can get up right before my alarm clock goes off). The news just made me think I definitely need a new alarm clock and we should not depend on the iPhone alarm clock entirely. Dosankoregon, Hokkaido, Japan

Both my boyfriend and I were late for work this morning due to this fault. We both work for the ambulance service and because of the fault a front line ambulance was unmanned until we got there. Kerys Bessell, Basildon, Essex, UK

I'm an expat living in Utrecht. I had a train booked from Paris back to Amsterdam at 1125 this morning with my alarm set on my iPhone 4 set for 0830. I woke up just before 1100, missed my train, and had to buy another ticket for 130 euros. (I'm on board the 1225 train as I type) Can I bill Apple? 2011 has been an expensive year. Ross Buddie, Utrecht, Netherlands

I have the iPhone 3G which didn't go off this morning but my body clock did - only 10 minutes after the alarm. Thanks to mother nature I wasn't late for work. But it caused a slight argument with my boyfriend as I accused him of not setting my alarm properly. Now I will have to apologise. Kayleigh Harris, Barnsley, UK

Set two wake-up calls for this morning, 0545 and 0600 to get to work by 0730. The alarm never went off and I ended up being late by 15 minutes. Apple should write my employer a letter excusing my tardiness. Rosey, New York, US

I was late for work this morning and this has resulted in me receiving a file note on my personnel record which is annoying when I have paid a massive amount for a phone - my old alarm clock cost £10 and never let me down. Zac, England

We set our iPhone alarm to wake us up in time to get ready and drive to the Chiefs game in Kansas City. If the people who came over to ride with us hadn't showed up we probably would have missed the game completely. We had to jump out of bed, throw on our clothes and run out the door. If we had known that we couldn't rely on the iPhone we would have set an alarm clock. Very inconvenient! Lydia Wynes, Waukee, Iowa, US

Why must we constantly be looking to blame others for our own actions? Surely we can't pin the blame on Apple for sleeping in, just because the alarm didn't go off. Liz, Cheltenham, UK