Nine additional minutes will be given to you if you wake up to an alarm on your phone. The only option for the clock app is a nine-minute snooze cycle.

There are a number of ways to give you power over your snooze settings.

Why is nine minutes the default snooze time?

Nine minutes of sleep is the default for most alarm clocks. There are limitations on the physical gears of mechanical clock.

The mechanical clock can't snooze for 10 minutes, so the nine-minute snooze was born.

The tradition is still going strong in your phone's clock app.

How to work around the snooze limits on the Clock app with multiple alarms 

You can use the Clock app on your phone to set your own snooze cycle, or you can use a different method.

The snooze timer won't work if you change your time.

You can set multiple alarms and snoozes to shorten the snooze cycle.

If you needed to be up by 7 am, you could set an alarm with the snooze on, which is the default setting. With the snooze on, set a new alarm for 7 am.

As the two snoozes go off, you'll get your first alarm at 7 pm, followed by one at 7 pm and one at 7 pm. You can set more alarms if you need more than three passes.

The “Alarm” tab of the Clock app on iPhone showing multiple alarms that have been set.
Workaround using multiple alarms with snoozes.
Stefan Ionescu/Insider

If that's what you want, you could set a series of alarms to go off at certain times and turn the snooze off.

If you want to change the alarm's snooze, open the settings app and tap on the alarm you want to modify. It will go from green to gray when you turn on the snooze feature.

After the first alarm, all the others work as snoozes. You have the ability to set a longer snooze cycle. If you get up before the end of your snooze sequence, you will have to physically turn off the remaining alarms or be annoyed as they sound off.

Use alarm apps that let you customize your snooze time on an iPhone

You can use an app from the App Store to set multiple alarms.

One such app is Alarmy, which, on top of allowing you to personalize your snooze time, features really loud and randomized alarm sounds to wake you up from sleep. If you want to get all the features of the app, you'll have to pay $7.49 a month.

It has fun activities and missions that you can complete for the alarm to sound. These missions are designed to keep you awake when the alarm goes off, and include shaking your phone, doing squats, or taking a picture of a different location.

You can make an alarm with a custom snooze time on the Alarmy app.

This is the first thing. On your phone, open alarmy.

There are two There is a plus sign on the screen.

The Alarmy app on iPhone, with the plus sign for creating a new alarm highlighted.
Add a new alarm.
Stefan Ionescu/Insider

There is a way to change the snooze time of an existing alarm.

There are three. It's time to tap the alarm.

The Alarmy app on iPhone, with the “Alarm” option highlighted after tapping the plus sign.
Select the option to create a new alarm instead of a timer for a power nap.
Stefan Ionescu/Insider

There are four. The alarm should ring after you set the time.

The Alarmy app on iPhone, with the “Snooze” option highlighted in an alarm’s settings.
Tap "Snooze."
Stefan Ionescu/Insidee

There are five. You can choose from the available snooze times in the pop-up.

The Alarmy app on iPhone, showing the pop-up for selecting snooze times.
Select how long you want the alarm to snooze for.
Stefan Ionescu/Insider

There are six. To set the alarm, tap done.

There are seven. Hit snooze when the alarm goes off.