How to set a voice alarm or custom alarm sound on iPhone

The iPhone Clock app only lets you choose one of its tones or a song. If you want your alarm to talk to you (“Good morning, time to get up”, “Take your pill”, “Leave the house now”), you need a voice alarm app. This guide uses Alarma Voz, which is free to get started, works without internet and rings like a system alarm, even when your iPhone is on silent or locked.

1. An alarm that says your message out loud

1. Open Alarma Voz and tap + in the Alarms tab.
2. Choose the time and whether it rings once, every week (on the days you want) or on a specific date.
3. For the message, type or dictate what you want to hear. Dictation happens on your iPhone, without sending anything to the internet.
4. Choose the voice and the speed, and how many times the message repeats.
5. Save. At the exact time, the alarm will read your message instead of beeping.

2. Record your own voice as an alarm on iPhone

To wake up your kids, remind your parents of something or get yourself motivated in the morning, nothing beats a familiar voice.

1. Create the alarm as in the previous step.
2. For the message, choose Record and say your phrase.
3. Listen to it and save it. The alarm will play your exact recording.

The recording is saved to “My audios” and you can reuse it in other alarms and timers.

3. Use an MP3 or a WhatsApp voice message as a custom alarm sound

Alarma Voz accepts any audio file (MP3, M4A, WAV…) as well as WhatsApp voice messages.

1. Find the audio. If you don't have one, our voice alarm sound library has free MP3 phrases to download.
2. From Files or from WhatsApp, tap Share and choose Alarma Voz.
3. Trim the start or end if you like, give it a name and save it to “My audios”.
4. In your alarm or timer, choose that audio as the message.

4. Talking timer for cooking, studying or working out

Want to try it without installing anything? Use our online talking timer.

A timer that talks tells you what to do when it ends, without looking at the screen: “Take the cake out of the oven”, “Pomodoro done, take a five-minute break” or “Switch exercises”.

1. Go to the Timers tab and tap +.
2. Set the duration and the message (text, your voice or an audio).
3. Start it: you'll see the countdown on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island.

5. Have the alarm read your calendar events

Alarma Voz can connect to your iPhone calendar and give you a spoken alert before every appointment: “Dentist, in 30 minutes.”

1. Turn on the calendar in the app and allow access.
2. Choose which events give you a spoken alert and how far in advance: when they start, 10 or 30 minutes before, or 1 hour before.
3. The alert rings like an alarm, even when your iPhone is on silent. Your events never leave your iPhone.

6. Birthdays and surprise alarms in your voice

Save birthdays or import them from your Contacts and the app will remind you on the day, or a few days before. It helps you prepare the birthday wishes in your voice or with a WhatsApp message ready to send, in 18 languages.

With PIN-protected surprise alarms, you send someone an alarm in your voice that they can't listen to or change ahead of time: they'll only find out what it says when it goes off. It's perfect for birthdays, anniversaries or a special good morning.

7. Voice medication reminders

We explain this in detail in medication reminders with voice.

A notification is easy to ignore. A spoken alert with the name of the medication is much harder to miss, especially for older adults.

• Create an every week alarm with the days and time of the dose.
• Write a clear message: “Mom, take your blood pressure pill with breakfast.”
• If it's for a family member, record it in your voice: it will feel more personal.

8. If your voice alarm doesn't go off

• Alarms permission: in Settings › Alarma Voz, check that alarms are allowed.
• Volume: turn up the Ringtone and Alerts volume in Settings › Sounds & Haptics.
• Days and time: make sure the alarm is turned on and that the repeat includes today.
• Audio: if you're using an audio from “My audios”, play it in the app to make sure it sounds right.
• More fixes: if it's the Clock alarm that's failing, see why your iPhone alarm is not going off.
• iOS version: the app requires iOS or iPadOS 26.2 or later. Update in Settings › General › Software Update.

You can snooze the alarm from the Lock Screen and watch the live countdown in the Dynamic Island.

Frequently asked questions