How to Fix Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge “Unfortunately, Clock has stopped” error

The error “Unfortunately, Clock has stopped” has been plaguing #SamsungGalaxyS6Edge owners for quite some time now and while a minor issue and can easily be fixed, it’s very annoying when it pops up because you can’t do anything with your #smartphone.

There were also reports that the error message is sometimes accompanied by freezing or lagging. So, it appears as though what seems like an app issue has progressed into a firmware issue affecting the performance of the phone. This situation, however, may occur only after an update. We will look into this problem a little deeper.

Here’s one message I would like to include in this post so that other #GalaxyS6Edge owners will become aware of the problem…

“I have a problem with my new Galaxy S6 Edge which involves the Clock app. There’s an error that keeps popping up whenever I set the alarm. The error goes ‘Unfortunately, Clock has stopped’ and it’s not letting me do anything when it pops up except tap the OK button, which will lead to another pop up in terms of seconds. The problem is, there’s nothing I can do because the phone will freeze when it comes out. I have no clue as to why this is happening. It’s a new phone that I paid in cash and now it’s ruined. I badly need your help guys, please.”

Troubleshooting

There are a few variations to this problem and I would like to tackle each one of them, so I will start with a very minor one…

Error pops up without apparent reason

There were reports from other users suggesting the “Unfortunately, Clock has stopped” error may pop up without apparent reason or cause at all. According to them, it will randomly come out a few times in a day but goes away for several hours after tapping the OK button.

While the device needs to be observed closely to know if there’s a pattern or some kind of a trigger, you may troubleshooting the Clock app itself.

The first thing you need to do is get rid of other third-party clock apps if there’s any. You may uninstall or just disable them while you are troubleshooting. After that, try to boot your phone in safe mode to isolate the problem. There are times when other third-party apps create conflict in the system that may result to the crashing of some apps.

1. Turn off your Galaxy S6 Edge.
2. Press and hold the Power key.
3. When ‘Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge’ appears, immediately release the Power key and then press and hold the Volume Down button.
4. Continue holding the Volume Down button until the phone finishes the restart.
5. When you see Safe Mode on the lower left corner of the screen, release the button.

Your phone will still work even in safe mode so keep it that way for a few hours just to observe closely. If the error still pops up, then you’re looking at a possible Clock app issue or worse, a firmware problem. The next you need to do is clear the cache and data of the app.

Note:  All your alarms will be deleted once you clear the data of the Clock app.

1. From any Home screen, tap Apps.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Scroll to ‘APPLICATIONS,’ then tap Application manager.
4. Swipe right to the ALL screen.
5. Scroll to and tap Clock.
6. Tap Clear cache.
7. Tap Clear data, then OK.

These procedures may already get rid of the error and prevent it from popping up again.

Error pops up when setting up an alarm

Based on testimonies from other owners who encountered this problem, the error pops up when the time in your phone is set incorrectly. So, just make sure your phone is following the correct time before setting up an alarm to avoid the error.

In case the error still pops up, just follow the instructions above to clear the cache and data of the Clock app so it will be reset to factory default settings. Again, your alarms will all be deleted so you’ll have to build them up one-by-one.

Error pops up after an update

Since the release of the Galaxy S6 Edge, there were already several minor updates rolled out by Samsung or the service providers that carry the device. Some users complained to be getting this error immediately after the update, although it wasn’t just the only error they were getting.

Basically, once apps start to crash after an update, it’s a firmware-related concern and the first thing that needs to be done is to wipe the cache partition right away. The procedure will delete all caches created by the previous system but still used by the one. Conflicts will occur if the new system uses obsolete caches and/or data. Try this procedure first…

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the following three buttons at the same time: Volume Up key, Home key, and Power key.
3. When the phone vibrates, release the Power key but continue to press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key.
4. When the Android System Recovery screen appears, release the Volume Up and Home keys.
5. Press the Volume Down key to highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
6. Press the Power key to select.
7. When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
8. Press the Power key to restart the device.

If the wiping of the cache partition failed, boot your phone in safe mode just to see if the error still pops up. If not, then you can back up all your important files and data before doing a master reset. However, if the error still pops up even in safe mode, you have no other option but to proceed with the reset even if you’ll lose all your data.

1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up, Home and Power keys together.
3. When the device powers on and displays ‘Power on logo’, release all keys and the Android icon will appear on the screen.
4. Wait until the Android Recovery Screen appears after about 30 seconds.
5. Using the Volume Down key, highlight the option, ‘wipe data/factory reset’ and press the Power key to select it.
6. Press the Vol Down button again until the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted and then press the Power key to select it.
7. After the reset is complete, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and hit the Power key to restart the phone.