If you’ve ever set an alarm on your iPhone and used the Snooze button for a little extra
sleep, you may’ve noticed that it counts down from nine minutes exactly.
Apple made the decision deliberately, and I’ll explain why right now.
When Apple creates software for time-related apps, they often follow the traditional practices
of timekeeping found in analog clocks.
In fact, when creating the Apple Watch, the company invited watch historians to speak
at their headquarters.
And it’s why the time on Apple Watch ads are set to 10:09.
A tradition that dates back to the 1920s when the Hamilton Watch Company noticed that positioning
the hands at 10:09 prevent their logo from being obscured, while also giving the impression
that the watch was smiling.
Apple recognized this tradition and still includes it in their smart watch a century
later.
And there’s a similar story when it comes to the snooze button.
About fifty years ago when the snooze feature was first invented, clockmakers had to retrofit
a new component to existing mechanical alarm clocks.
This was a problem, since they couldn’t adjust the clock’s gear teeth to line up
perfectly for a ten minute snooze.
So they had to choose between nine minutes and a few seconds, or almost eleven minutes.
Clockmakers went with nine, although the reasoning behind their decision is still debated today.
Many people theorize that a 9 minute snooze is optimal since 10 or 11 minutes could be
enough time for your body to enter deeper sleep, which would cause someone to wake up
more drowsy.
But there isn’t any scientific evidence to back this up.
Others believe clockmakers chose 9 minutes since getting a one or two minute head start
in the morning is better than running a couple minutes late.
But the most likely reason for a nine minute snooze was simplicity.
Since programing a single-digit timer was much less complex than programming one with
double digits.
The original clock that set this trend was called the Snooz-Alarm, and while there were
subsequent clock models that deviated from the traditional 9 minute timer, Apple decided
to honor the snooze button’s origins by setting the iPhone’s default snooze timer
to 9 minutes.
But unlike the old Snooz-Alarm clock, modern technology on the iPhone allows users to customize
their snooze timer.
Although Apple doesn’t offer this feature natively, you can download a third party alarm
clock app and set the timer length to whatever works best for you.
This is Greg from Apple Explained, thanks for watching till the end, and I’ll see
you in the next video.