Silent mode is not silent

do you know any OS which doesn't play the alarm (set using alarm clock, not a calendar reminder) by default, when in silent mode?

What about:

I set my phone phone to silent mode, because I don't want notifications or calls to wake me up during the night.
In the morning, the alarm clock doesn't ring, I don't wake up, I go to work late, I get fired and I blame the <insert alternate OS here> phone for it and trash it

:)

Jokes aside: case 1) is not as trivial decision as it may sound, if you think about it :) and most (if not all) mobile operating systems will indeed play the alarm sound even when the phone is in silent mode, mainly to avoid the situation I described above.

I, for instance, agree with that, and I'm used to phones which always ring my alarm, because the alarm is something you *actively* set up, so it is more likely that you want it to be played no matter what.

I wouldn't use a phone which forces me to make sure I disable silent mode every evening before going to bed ;)

Yes, I certainly agree that a mode like this is desirable. Perhaps it should just be named differently, to make clear what the user gets. Like "mute notifications".

I have mixed up two things in my report, I believe that "case 1" and "case 2" may be different problems:
- case 1, I see, rather is a design problem, not a bug.
- case 2 looks like a bug to me, because starting "PathWind" actually changes the users's volume setting, which is not to be expected.

I suggest that I file a separate bug report for case 2.

The PathWind volume issue is probably bug 1485522.

There seem to be four basic options:

1. Status quo, where Silent Mode does not mute alarms or other essential sounds. Same as: iOS, and Windows Phone 8.1 and earlier. <https://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/How-to/wp8/settings-and-personalization/set-alarms-on-my-phone> Drawback: Occasionally surprising. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/13/nyregion/ringing-finally-stopped-but-concertgoers-alarm-persists.html>

2. Do as this report suggests, where Silent Mode silences alarms. Similar to: Windows 10 Mobile. <http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/getstarted-adjust-volume-mobile> Drawback: Annoying. <https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-windows_store/alarms-in-windows-10-muted/0e8d7326-4f3c-46fa-9d8f-e6b606380b21>

3. Rename "Silent Mode" to "Priority Mode" or similar, to make clear that it doesn't silence everything. Same as: no other system I know of: Drawback: Doesn't actually let you mute alarms.

4. Rename "Silent Mode" to "Priority Mode" or similar, and add a separate "completely silent" mode. Same as: Android 5.0 and later. <https://www.androidpit.com/android-5-1-lollipop-silent-mode> Drawback: Extra complexity makes mistakes more likely (though a Do Not Disturb mode would have introduced that complexity anyway). <https://twitter.com/DirtyCalvinist/status/674807386176000000>

Any other possibilities?

My Sony Ericsson Cedar Phone (no smartphone, though) DOES mute everything when set to mute mode.
I do only get vibrations.
I did report that behavior as bug https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-clock-app/+bug/1542889.
I did not come across this bug here at that point.

I do accept that one may wish to have the phone not ringing on incoming calls at nighttime BUT wants to have an alarm sound in the morning. Tricky that is! :-)
I personaly do not use my phone as alarm clock therefore sound off = all sounds off is fine with me.

Maybe, even if it does make the system more complex, a three level sound setting as suggested above would make sense.
1. all sounds on
2. most sounds that are not critical turned off - others like alarm are still on
3. sound off for everything - vibrations only

This is the three-level design Matthew suggested in #6. I'd personally favour to have this option. I believe the increase in complexity can be small if the selector will be well designed.
It could be a three-step selector, or two hierarchical switches. In any case, the naming must be very clear (suggestions see comments above). And the indicator should change its appearance in a way that makes the selected mode clear at a glance.

Another possibility is to set a 'completely silent mode' for a fixed time. When that time is expired the phone can go back to normal mode.