The Google Clock app received a major overhaul as part of its Material 3 Expressive redesign. However, Google also changed how alarms are dismissed, replacing the familiar swipe gesture with a large, pill-shaped Dynamic Color button, which made alarms too easy to dismiss. Google appears to have realized this and is now offering an option to switch back to a swipe gesture to dismiss alarms.
9to5Google reports that Google is rolling out a new customization option in the Google Clock app. A new “Dismiss alarms with a” option in the settings will let you choose how you want to dismiss alarms: either with a swipe or by tapping the large pill-shaped button.
With the swipe option selected, swiping left snoozes an alarm, while a right swipe dismisses it. If you have accidentally stopped or snoozed alarms by pressing the large pill-shaped button easily, the swipe gesture adds a layer of friction to prevent those slip-ups.
The feature is supposedly tied to Google Clock v8.5, but it also requires a server-side rollout from Google. So, you may not have access to the feature even if you already have the latest build installed. Google appears to be testing the feature through a limited rollout and may expand availability more widely in the coming weeks.
I don’t see the option to switch to the swipe gesture on my Pixel 8 Pro running the latest Android 16 QPR3 beta or on the Vivo X300 Pro.
Google already offers a similar option in the Phone app. You can either have pill-shaped Accept and Reject buttons on the incoming call screen or switch to a swipe gesture.
Alarm volume slider gets a Material 3 Expressive makeover
Another minor change in Google Clock v8.5 is a thicker slider bar for the alarm volume.
That’s in line with the Material 3 Expressive design guidelines. Plus, it now lets you adjust the alarm volume increments from 1.00 to 7.00, which is presumably the decibel level. This change is already live with Google Clock v8.5 and is not linked to a server-side push.
