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iOS 26.2 Developer Beta Brings Real Alarms and Timers to Apple’s Reminders

The update uses AlarmKit to elevate urgent tasks into system-level alerts with snooze controls and a lock-screen countdown.

Overview

  • An Urgent toggle now appears when setting a time in Reminders, prompting permission to schedule alarms and timers.
  • Triggered reminders behave like alarms with slide-to-stop or snooze, and snoozed items show a lock-screen countdown with options to complete or reschedule.
  • The feature is built on Apple’s AlarmKit, which supports one-time or repeating alarms, countdown timers, and standardized authorization and UI.
  • Settings include integration of Clock app alarms with Reminders and an option to replace Snooze with a Complete button.
  • These alarm-style alerts can break through Focus modes for time-critical tasks, and the functionality is currently limited to iOS 26.2 developer beta 1.