November 21, 2024

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A Samsung Electronics social media post mocks rival Apple for a bizarre iPhone alarm bug. (Samsung UK's Instagram)

Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics made a mockery of its rival Apple on social media last week, after some iPhone users came forward complaining that their alarms had failed to go off.

In a post on Instagram, Samsung UK shared a dog meme alongside text that reads "Rest assured our alarms go off.” It also wrote, “Samsung users woke up on time today.”

According to industry sources, some iPhone users recently complained on social media, including TikTok, of inconveniences after they set an alarm but there was no sound.

Apple has confirmed that there is an issue and experts are working to fix the problem, but the company has not yet shared what is causing the alarming glitch.

Some device experts have speculated that the phenomenon is caused by a feature that automatically reduces notification sounds due to the iPhone’s special features.

The Attention Aware features allow the iPhone to automatically lower sound alerts and dim the display screen when users are not looking at their smartphones.

Other reports came of a new problem on Apple’s gadget, claiming that the Apple HomePod speaker is having trouble telling users the time, according to MacRumors.

The HomePod and HomePod Mini are reportedly having trouble responding to voice requests asking "What time is it?"

Instead of Siri verbally giving a response, users say it has been directing them to check their iPhones.

Since the issue emerged, Siri is reportedly responding to "What time is it?" but it still does not answer other questions such as "What's the time?" or "Can you tell me the time?"

On Wednesday, Apple also revealed that iPhone sales had dropped in nearly every country it operates in its first-quarter earnings report.

Demand for its flagship smartphone devices fell by more than 10 percent in the first three months of 2024, as sales sank in every region except Europe.

As a result, Samsung reclaimed the No. 1 spot in terms of shipment volume in the global smartphone market in the January-March period, according to market tracker Counterpoint Research on Sunday.

Samsung’s global smartphone market share stood at 20 percent, beating Apple's 17 percent in the first quarter. The Korean firm reclaimed the top spot after having fallen to second in the previous quarter.

By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)