Sometimes Apple can pin things down from their end.
Per The Unofficial Apple Weblog, a problem with iOS alarms breaking on January 1st or the 2nd appears to been solved by Apple, at least in part. In 2011 the glitch caused some iOS devices to stay silent despite alarms being toggled on in the Clock app. Most iOS 5 devices have been working normally in 2012.
Still vulnerable though are devices running iOS 4.2.1. The gap is important mainly because v4.2.1 is last version of iOS supported by the iPhone 3G and the second-generation iPod touch. Those devices will likely never have fully-functional alarms, since Apple has never retroactively updated iOS, unlike OS X.
Stay tuned for additional details and if you’ve seen this bug on your end, please let us know.
One reply on “iOS alarm bug resolved under newer versions of iOS, Apple recommends updating if possible”
Apple needs to reimburse and apologize to iphonev3 users who are stuck with their Microsoft like bad buggy software! Not fixing this bug for a year is ridiculous and apple is liable for all costs as a result.