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My Mac won't consistently announce the time

I am running Monterey and have my clock set to announce the time every quarter hour. It helps my first grade students learn to tell time. However, it will announce it occasionally, but not consistently. I do attach it to a Smartboard, but have all other sounds play over the Smartboard.

MacBook Air 11″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Feb 25, 2022 5:55 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 12, 2022 6:25 PM

Same here, but I found a workaround using an AppleScript and Automator. The script below clicks the option "Announce the time:" twice automatically, and it could be executed at login, let me show you how:


First, copy the script:


tell application "System Preferences"
	activate
	repeat until exists window "System Preferences"
	end repeat
end tell
tell application "System Events"
	tell process "System Preferences"
		click the menu item "Search" of ¬
			menu "View" of ¬
			menu bar 1
		keystroke "Announce"
		repeat until exists row 1 of ¬
			table 1 of scroll area 1 of ¬
			window 1
		end repeat
		select row 1 of ¬
			table 1 of ¬
			scroll area 1 of ¬
			window 1
		delay 0.2
		key code 76
		repeat until exists the checkbox "Announce the time:" of window 1
		end repeat
		click the checkbox "Announce the time:" of window 1
		delay 0.5
		click the checkbox "Announce the time:" of window 1
		delay 1
	end tell
end tell
tell application "System Preferences"
	quit
end tell


then, we need to open Automator, choose Application, and add an AppleScript:



save the application and try to open it, a dialog asking for permissions pops, so we need to go to Security & Privacy>Accessibility and allow the application:



try to open it again and watch it do the work for you, finally, you can make it executes at login:



I hope this works in the meanwhile.


Note: The checkbox "Announce the time:" needs to be active, since the script just clicks it twice, and leaves it as it was.

Similar questions

15 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 12, 2022 6:25 PM in response to martininpv

Same here, but I found a workaround using an AppleScript and Automator. The script below clicks the option "Announce the time:" twice automatically, and it could be executed at login, let me show you how:


First, copy the script:


tell application "System Preferences"
	activate
	repeat until exists window "System Preferences"
	end repeat
end tell
tell application "System Events"
	tell process "System Preferences"
		click the menu item "Search" of ¬
			menu "View" of ¬
			menu bar 1
		keystroke "Announce"
		repeat until exists row 1 of ¬
			table 1 of scroll area 1 of ¬
			window 1
		end repeat
		select row 1 of ¬
			table 1 of ¬
			scroll area 1 of ¬
			window 1
		delay 0.2
		key code 76
		repeat until exists the checkbox "Announce the time:" of window 1
		end repeat
		click the checkbox "Announce the time:" of window 1
		delay 0.5
		click the checkbox "Announce the time:" of window 1
		delay 1
	end tell
end tell
tell application "System Preferences"
	quit
end tell


then, we need to open Automator, choose Application, and add an AppleScript:



save the application and try to open it, a dialog asking for permissions pops, so we need to go to Security & Privacy>Accessibility and allow the application:



try to open it again and watch it do the work for you, finally, you can make it executes at login:



I hope this works in the meanwhile.


Note: The checkbox "Announce the time:" needs to be active, since the script just clicks it twice, and leaves it as it was.

Mar 9, 2022 1:37 PM in response to SEAPIT412

Give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.


NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files


Apr 8, 2022 2:51 PM in response to SEAPIT412

I have had the same problem on my M1 Mac mini since installing Monterey. Every time I install the latest update it works for a short while and stops. I have called Apple Support and worked with them a while and thought a had a solution but it wasn't. I believe it is a software flag that is getting overlaid. I'm hoping with each new update to see a fix but nothing so far. I was on another thread about this about 4 months ago and the thread disappeared. Several people were having the same issue. No one had a resolution yet. This worked fine on Big Sur.

My Mac won't consistently announce the time

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