I have a vague memory of this coming up in one of the threads, but it's a big enough problem that it seems worth posting a dedicated post for.
Since iOS 26 was released, I can't turn off any alarm with Voiceover on. The alarm connected to the sleep schedule can be turned off with the side button or from the lock screen. But every other alarm is not recognized by Voiceover and requires turning it off before I can stop it. I'm currently on 26.2 and this is still happening. It's the worst when a banner that I used to be able to tap shows up while I'm trying to read something. I used to rely on these alarms for daily tasks and now a basic function of the phone has been made so obnoxious to use that I have it disabled (I turned them back on the other day because I forgot this was why they've been off since September). I really lothe iOS 26...
Comments
How are you trying to turn them off?
Hi there,
I understand the turning them off with the lock button, but what other common techniques are you not able to use now? Also, what device are you using? On my iPhone 17 Pro Max, I have no trouble turning off alarms when they go off. I haven't had any issues doing so on iOS 26.
Alarms
I'm using a new 16e and so far the alarms don't turn off via banners that appear at the top of the screen (not even with screen recognition on). If the phone is on when the alarm goes off, the side button just turns it off while the alarm keeps ringing. Turning the On the lock screen Voiceover doesn't recognize the alarms either. So the only way I've been able to interact with them at all is to turn Voiceover off completely. This has been an issue since the first 26 update for me and is still going in 26.2.
Single touch actions
Hi
If you want it to revert to the previous behaviour, you can toggle that in settings/accessibility/touch/Prefer Single-Touch Actions
Best
M
The banners
Hi there,
I think you have to explore by touch. For me, the relevant controls appear in the center right at the top of the screen.
Hope this helps.
have this same issue as well
I'm following this I have the same issue.
RE: Have This Same Issue as Well
The only time I deal with banners is if an alarm goes off and my screen is already unlocked. I am then able to find the banner at the top of the screen and turn off the alarm. I am running iOS 26.2 on an iPhone 15 pro. However, when the screen is locked and the alarm first goes off and Voiceover goes to the lock screen, putting my finger near the center of the screen and then swiping left and/or right, I am always able to find the snooze and stop buttons. I am not sure if you do it this way and/or if you have already tried this, but perhaps this will help.
I don’t get it
Is this a dexterity think? If you go to top of page where time is and swipe right, the banner is right there.
Can't turn off alarms in iOS 26
The issue I had is last year it didn’t matter where you were looking—you could tap Dismiss Alarm anywhere on the screen.
Not experiencing this
On my test device, which is an iPhone SE 2020 running iOS 26.2, the alarm feature is working just as it does on my primary device, which currently runs iOS 18.7.2. That is to say I can find the banner to stop for snooze an alarm, I can also press my volume keys to snooze and then just tell voiceover to cancel, stop, or even clear the alarm.
Not sure why some of you guys are experiencing this issue.
Alarm banners
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll see if any of them work.
I have enough vision that I can tell where the banners are. However, if Voiceover is on, they are not recognized as existing at all. Doesn't matter what gesture I do or where I tap on them, the elements under them get read but they do not exist as far as my phone is concerned. It's very annoying.
Edit: I already have one touch gestures enabled, so that's not changing anything.
This is very specifically an issue with preset alarms. The sleep timer doesn't do this, I can still turn that off. It's only the alarms I use for daily reminders that can't be turned off if Voiceover is in use.