Urgent Timers
Ring an alarm when a Timer ends, even in Silent mode or a Focus
When a Timer is urgent, its end rings as an alarm on your iPhone, even in Silent mode or a Focus. The alarm plays the Timer’s end sound and its Announcements, and it keeps ringing until you stop it.
Only the end of the Timer becomes an alarm. Every other alert on that Timer, such as Halfway or Time Remaining, still arrives as a regular notification.
Use Urgent for a Timer you can’t afford to miss, such as taking food out of the oven or leaving for an appointment.
Requirements
Section titled “Requirements”- Your iPhone or iPad needs iOS 26 or iPadOS 26 or later. On earlier versions, the Urgent switch doesn’t appear.
- Urgent works on Timers that don’t repeat, including Quick Timers and the Kids Timer.
- Stopwatches, Countdowns, and Routines can’t be urgent.
- A repeating Timer keeps its Urgent switch, with the note “Repeating timers can’t be urgent.” It ends with a regular notification. If you set Repeat back to none, the Timer is urgent again.
- Timer+ needs your permission to schedule alarms. See Allow alarms.
Turn on Urgent
Section titled “Turn on Urgent”You can turn on Urgent before you start a Timer or while it runs.
In the Timer editor: open a new or existing Timer and turn on Urgent, below the alerts. The note under the switch changes to “The end of this timer rings as an alarm, even in Silent mode or a Focus.” Save the Timer.
On the Timer’s screen: tap the alerts button with the bell to see the Timer’s alerts, then turn on Urgent at the bottom of the list. This works before the Timer starts, and while it’s running or paused.
In a Quick Timer: in the timer list, tap +, then tap the Timer button in the Quick Timer row. Enter a duration, turn on Urgent below the sound, and tap Start. See Quick Timers.
When a Timer’s end will ring as an alarm, its end alert shows the alarm symbol in place of the bell. Urgent timers also show the alarm symbol in the timer list, on the Timer’s card, and on the Live Activity.
To turn off Urgent, turn off the same switch. If you turn it off while the Timer runs, the end goes back to a regular notification.
If you turn on Urgent very close to the end of a running Timer, there may not be time to schedule the alarm. Timer+ shows “Too close to the end to switch to an alarm.” in Alerts, and you get a notification instead.
Allow alarms
Section titled “Allow alarms”The first time you turn on Urgent, Timer+ shows Allow Alarms for Urgent Timers: “To ring an alarm when an urgent timer ends, allow Timer+ to schedule alarms.”
- Tap Continue. iOS asks whether Timer+ can schedule alarms.
- Allow it. Urgent turns on for the Timer.
If you tap Not Now, Urgent stays off. You can turn it on again later to see the same screen.
If you didn’t allow alarms
Section titled “If you didn’t allow alarms”If you didn’t allow alarms, turning on Urgent shows Alarms Are Turned Off: “Timer+ isn’t allowed to schedule alarms. To ring an alarm when an urgent timer ends, turn on alarms for Timer+ in Settings.” Urgent stays off.
To allow alarms later:
- Tap Settings in that message, or open the Settings app and go to Timer+.
- Turn on alarms for Timer+.
- Go back to Timer+ and turn on Urgent again.
If alarms are turned off after a Timer is already urgent, the Timer shows “Urgent is unavailable. Timer+ alerts will be used.” with an Open Settings button. Until you allow alarms again, the Timer ends with a regular notification.
How the alarm rings
Section titled “How the alarm rings”When an urgent Timer reaches zero, the alarm plays the Timer’s When Timer Ends sound. If the sound is set to Loop, it repeats. If the Timer has Announcements, such as its name, you hear them over the sound.
The alarm keeps ringing until you stop it:
- Reset stops the alarm.
- Restart stops the alarm and starts the Timer again.
To choose the sound, see Timer alerts.
Urgent and regular notifications
Section titled “Urgent and regular notifications”| Urgent Timer’s end | Regular notification | |
|---|---|---|
| Silent mode | Rings | Muted |
| Focus | Rings | Can be held back, unless Timer+ is allowed in that Focus |
| Sound length | Rings until you stop it | Up to 30 seconds |
| Which alerts | Only the end of the Timer | Every other alert, such as Halfway and Time Remaining |
For how regular notifications work, see When alerts play and Recommended Notification Settings.
Check alarms in Alerts
Section titled “Check alarms in Alerts”To see whether each urgent Timer’s alarm is scheduled, tap the bell at the top of the timer list to open Alerts. While an urgent Timer runs, the Alarms group shows how many urgent timers there are, such as “1 urgent timer,” and lists each one’s alarm:
- Alarm scheduled means the alarm will ring when the Timer ends.
- Alarm paused means the Timer is paused.
- A warning explains why an alarm isn’t scheduled, such as “Alarm permission is off.” or “System alarm limit reached.” It also says what happens instead, such as “You’ll get a notification instead, which Silent mode and Focus can mute.”
When permission is off, tap Open Settings under the Timer to allow alarms. When an alarm couldn’t be scheduled for another reason, tap Retry.
If a Timer’s alarm needs attention, its alerts list on the Timer’s screen shows “This timer’s end alarm needs attention.” Tap Details to open Alerts.