An alleged user interface leak claims that Apple will change the appearance of alarm notifications on iPhone, but the authenticity of the claim is questionable at best.
On Tuesday, AppleInsider received imagery claiming to show an unannounced overhaul of iOS Clock notifications, implying a full app redesign is coming. Specifically, the images we received feature an entirely new interface for the Snooze feature already present on iPhone — something that pops up whenever users have active alarms.
Though the imagery contains a unique interpretation and a novel design for the alarm system on iOS, there are numerous questions about its authenticity, stemming from visual shortcomings, grammatical errors, and even inconsistencies with Apple’s existing designs. Though the leak is most likely not real, it’s important to understand exactly why we arrived at this rumor score.
Crude design
The design itself is rather crude and simplistic, consisting of a white rectangle with rounded corners and Snooze and Stop buttons. The two buttons are located towards the very bottom of the window, meaning that their corners don’t align with the corners of the main user interface element — an unlikely choice for Apple’s design teams, who never cut corners.
The alleged new alarm interface leaves something to be desired.
Visual shortcomings aside, the user interface doesn’t make a lot of sense when Apple’s existing Clock application is taken into account. If the Snooze and Stop buttons were this close to each other, this would undoubtedly lead to many mistakes, causing users to inadvertently stop an alarm they meant to snooze.
Tuesday’s alleged leak comes from a source with no previous history or verifiable track record of any sort, meaning that the purported design should be taken with a grain of salt. Some of the text in the images is especially unusual.
Suspicious placeholder text with grammatical errors
The purported imagery also features dubious placeholder text, raising additional questions or concerns about the already suspicious user interface design. The phrasing indicates that it may have been written by a non-English speaker, likely an Apple enthusiast with too much time on their hands.
Above the two buttons are what appear to be detailed alarm notes with corresponding app icons — an apparent attempt at placeholder text, though not a particularly good one. Notably, the alarm notes include the text “Recall Jason,” where the word recall is used incorrectly in place of “redial” or simply “Call Jason back.”
Is this something Apple could have made?
It’s important to note that Apple does indeed use placeholder text for in-development features. This is something we were made aware of in our reporting on the company’s confidential BlackPearl and Ajax projects. That being said, however, even Apple’s placeholder text typically has some degree of thought put into it.
It’s quite unlikely that an employee would have a meeting at Apple’s global headquarters and that they would need tickets to New York on the same day, unless the person in question was a company executive. New York and Cupertino are located on opposite sides of the United States.
The placeholder text typically found in Apple’s pre-release operating systems usually references locations in California, such as Redwood City or Cupertino, making the inclusion of New York somewhat unusual.
More often than not, Apple will also re-use its existing placeholder names, such as John Appleseed or Kate Bell, for in-development UI elements. The company would have no reason to invent or choose a new name for the Clock redesign.
Where the author may have gotten the idea
The author of this image appears to have drawn inspiration from some of Apple’s previous moves and design choices. With iOS 18, for instance, Apple made it possible to schedule reminders directly from the Calendar application, better integrating the two built-in apps.
It also seems similar to the existing wake-up page that is presented when a Sleep Schedule alarm is turned off. That page generally says Good Morning/Afternoon/Night with information about the weather.
Apple integrated the Calendar and Reminders apps with iOS 18, which could have inspired the new Clock design.
Tuesday’s alleged Clock leak was seemingly conceived with similar ideas in mind. One of the alarm notes in the image references the Calendar app, suggesting that the author believes Apple will integrate the Clock and Calendar apps in one way or another.
There are also indications that Apple is internally working on a dedicated “Invites” application for event scheduling, implying that the company is putting more attention into apps that revolve around time-sensitive matters. While the alleged Clock leak does align with the general direction of Apple’s prior software releases and apparent plans for the future, the user interface still remains unconvincing.
While crude and unfinished UI elements are a relatively common occurrence with Apple’s test applications. However, it’s unlikely that any user-facing designs would be this basic.
Apple does change features ahead of launch, but they’re never this bad
While these specific images were probably not produced by Apple, the iPhone maker does often alter operating system features ahead of their launch. In 2024, for instance, Apple rebranded its Web Eraser feature for Safari to the less-menacing “Distraction Control,” and significantly changed some of the user interface elements with the release version of macOS Sequoia.
The same year, Apple also renamed features such as Image Playground and Vocal Shortcuts, which were originally known as Generative Playground and Adaptive Voice Shortcuts, respectively. Freeform Scenes also received minor UI adjustments, as did the new icon for Siri on macOS. Some features, like Smart Song Transitions, didn’t even make it to launch, for one reason or another.
There is a small chance this could be an authentic Apple design or an early user interface mockup, one that the company plans to refine or change later on, but this is most likely not the case. The unusual placeholder text and basic design make it much more probable that this is a fan project, as does the awkward button placement.
AppleInsider has reached out to the leaker for more details that may help authenticate the image. Otherwise, it appears this may not be real and it has earned our lowest rumor rating for now.
