I’m not sure about you, but I’m among those who require several alarms and a snooze or two before facing the realities of each day. Having used an iPhone for a long time, this translates to nearly two decades of hitting snooze and enjoying an additional 9 to 18 minutes of rest every time.
Typically, I configure multiple alarms, which means I don’t always enjoy the full 9 minutes of snooze. Occasionally, a second alarm goes off and interrupts the snooze to ensure I’m actually up.
Apple has historically not allowed iPhone owners to modify the snooze duration, while Android users have had that feature for many years. However, this is set to change with iOS 26, the upcoming iPhone operating system, now in early beta.
As I pointed out after the conclusion of WWDC 2025, one of the iOS 26 features that Apple didn’t emphasize during the presentation deals with snooze time. Users now have the ability to customize the duration of their snooze, and this setting is already active in iOS 26 beta 1.
Why is it 9 minutes?
Apple’s standard snooze length likely pays homage to alarm clocks from around 70 years ago that came with snooze buttons. In theory, you’re supposed to get an extra 10 minutes of slumber, but mechanical restrictions meant it ended up being about 9.
Sleep studies also indicate that snoozing for longer than 9 minutes may cause your body to re-enter deep sleep, making it more challenging to rise. That’s an important consideration if you’re thinking of modifying your snooze duration in iOS 26.
If you’re concerned about drifting back into deep sleep and complicating your mornings, you may prefer to keep the default setting.
