Google Clock just made it harder to sleep through your alarms
  • Google Clock has been updated to version 8.5
  • This includes a new option to dismiss alarms with a swipe rather than a tap
  • You can still stick with the tap approach if you prefer

If you use Google Clock on your Android phone then you’ll likely either just have got or soon be getting an update that could help ensure you don’t sleep through your alarms.

Now, rather than being presented with large ‘Snooze’ and ‘Stop’ buttons when an alarm goes off, you can choose to instead have a slider, which will snooze the alarm if you slide it left, and stop it if you swipe right.

As having to swipe in a specific direction is a more involved gesture than simply tapping at the screen, you’re less likely to accidentally stop the alarm when you want to snooze it, or vice versa.

Two ways to dismiss an alarm with Google Clock
The tap and swipe options for dismissing an alarm with Google Clock (Image credit: Google / 9to5Google)

An optional approach

However this change – which was first spotted by 9to5Google – is optional, so if you prefer the buttons and aren’t in the habit of sleeping through your alarms, you can stick with that approach. To decide which method to use, head to the Google Clock settings screen, where you’ll find a new ‘Dismiss alarm with a’ toggle, which lets you switch between taps and swipes.

This change is very reminiscent of one that Apple rolled out with iOS 26.1, which also meant that you now have to swipe to turn alarms off, though in Apple’s case the implementation is slightly different, with stopping the alarm requiring a swipe, while snoozing still just requires a tap.

In any case, this is a small but potentially useful update that’s rolling out as part of version 8.5 of Google Clock. That said, it seems to be a gradual roll out, as 9to5Google has only started seeing the change days after updating to that version. So if you don’t see these options yet, keep checking, as they’ll likely show up soon.

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Source: TechRadar