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Do alarms work in airplane mode?

Alarms work normally in airplane mode on both iPhone and Android because they are scheduled locally. The exception is alarm apps that need a network at ring time.
iPhone & AndroidLast updated

The short answer

Yes. Alarms are scheduled locally on the device, so airplane mode, no SIM and no Wi-Fi all leave them working normally on both iPhone and Android. The exception is third-party alarm apps that fetch something — ads, config or sounds — at the moment the alarm fires.

Why alarms survive airplane mode

An alarm is a local timer. When you save one, the operating system records the time and wakes the device itself. No server is involved, which is why alarms have always worked on planes, in basements, and on phones with no SIM.

When an alarm app breaks this

A third-party alarm app can undo that guarantee, and some do. Watch for three patterns.

  • Advertising shown on the ring or dismiss screen. If the ad has to load before you can silence the alarm, no network means a stuck screen.
  • Cloud features on the dismiss path — remote puzzle generation, cloud photo matching, or an account check.
  • Sounds streamed rather than bundled, including music-service integrations that need to reach a server.

Roosta treats this as a hard rule: nothing on the alarm path requires a network. Alarms are scheduled by the operating system, all sounds ship with the app, and camera missions run their recognition on the device. A user with no signal still wakes up, and every mission still works.

Frequently asked

Will my alarm go off in airplane mode?

Yes. Alarms are scheduled locally by the operating system and do not use a network connection, so airplane mode does not affect them on either iPhone or Android.

Do alarm apps work without internet?

System clock alarms always do. Third-party apps vary: those that show ads at dismissal, generate content in the cloud, or stream their alarm sounds can fail without a connection. Check before relying on one while travelling.

An alarm that cannot quietly fail.

Roosta registers alarms with the operating system rather than scheduling them itself, and nothing on the alarm path needs a network. Most of the failures on this page cannot happen to it.

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