Do Not Disturb 'Until Next Alarm' Function Mysteriously Vanishing From Android Smartphones

For some, one of the most useful updates to hit Android 5.0 'Lollipop' was the notification tweaker. With it, you can block different types of communications when you don't want to be disturbed, but still let important stuff through. Making this feature even more useful is the ability to lift the blocks automatically at a certain time, such as in the early AM when you are getting ready for your day.

This "Set until next alarm" feature is undoubtedly useful, and perhaps even important, for many. So you can imagine the faces of those who need it when they load up the notification pane and see that the option no longer exists.

When this news first hit the Web a few days ago, the general consensus was that the removal was caused by an update to Android 6.0.1, but as discussions continued, it even affected those running Android 5.1, who didn't update at all.

While there's no word straight from Google's mouth on this matter yet, thanks to community efforts to sort this out, it seems that the feature's removal is due to nothing more than a bug. Apparently, if you disable the automatic time feature in the Android OS and then roll back the date to December 25 or earlier, the option returns.

Some speculate that this feature is somehow tied to Google's servers, and it could be that it's those servers that are having the issue, but the issue is downright bizarre nonetheless. How a feature like this would be tied to a specific date, seemingly Christmas day, is really questionable, although it could just be nothing more than a hiccup that happened to pick a coincidental day to occur.

Fortunately, since it does just appear to be a bug, a fix should be en route.