You may be having a problem where your iPhone seems to ring too softly even though you have checked and turned up the volume. Sometimes, your iPhone ringer volume decreases automatically when receiving calls. There are several settings on your iPhone that can affect the ring volume. In this article, we will take a look at those settings to help you find the problem and get your iPhone ringing as loudly as you would like it to.
No one wants to miss a call because the ringer was too quiet or set on mute.
You can turn up your iPhone’s volume using either the physical buttons on the side of your phone or the volume slider in the Control Center.
These controls may or may not increase your ringtone volume, depending on your settings
Specifically, the volume buttons on the side of your iPhone and the volume slider in the Control Center only change the volume of media (like music and video) by default, not the volume of the ringer and alerts. Here’s everything you need to know.
How to adjust the ringer volume on an iPhone in settings
By default, you’ll need to use the Settings app on your iPhone to adjust the ringer volume. The ringtone and ring volume settings is located in Sound & Haptics. Follow the steps below:
- Launch the Settings app.
- Tap "Sounds & Haptics."
- In the Ringer and Alerts section, drag the slider to the desired volume level.
How to adjust the ringer volume on your iPhone with the Volume buttons
If you want to use the Volume buttons on the side of the iPhone for the ringer volume, you’ll need to turn this feature on in Settings. Follow the steps below:
- Launch the Settings app.
- Tap "Sounds & Haptics."
- In the Ringer and Alerts section, turn on "Change with Buttons" by swiping the button to the right.
If you enable this feature, remember that the Volume buttons now perform two functions, depending upon when you use them:
- When you are not listening to media (like music or video), the volume buttons only control ringer and alerts — to change the volume for media, you need to pull down the Control Center (swipe down from the top right of the screen) and use the volume slider there.
- When you are listening to music or video, the volume buttons will only control the media volume.
Why does iPhone volume go down when ringing?
this is because you have Attention Aware Features enabled on your iPhone. It lowers the ringer volume of the iPhone automatically if you are looking at your phone. This works on all Face ID iPhones, even when Face ID has not been set up on the phone.
How do I stop my iPhone from lowering the volume when ringing?
To stop your iPhone from lowering the volume when ringing, turn off Attention Aware features. Here’s how:
- Launch the Settings app.
- Tap on Face ID & Passcode. Enter your passcode if prompted.
- Scroll down to find Attention Aware Features and toggle it off.
Other iPhone settings that affect the ringer
The Ring/Silent switch
As a general rule, Silent Mode disables all ringtones and notification alerts, so while in this setting, your phone won’t notify you about phone calls or text messages. Some third party apps also mute themselves when your phone is in Silent mode, though most music and video will generally continue to play normally. Even in silent mode, for example, YouTube videos will still play the way you’d expect.
Your iPhone makes it very easy to toggle Silent mode: It’s controlled from the Ring/Silent switch on the side of your phone. To turn off Silent mode, flip the Ring/Silent switch upward, so you can no longer see the band of orange at the top of the switch.
On iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, you can turn off Silent mode by going to Settings > Sounds & Haptics, then turning off Silent mode.
Focus
If you have a Focus mode enabled that’s set to block calls, incoming calls will go straight to voicemail without ringing.
To check if you have Focus turned on, swipe down from the top-right corner of your iPhone’s screen to open the Control Center. There, look at the rectangle next to your brightness controls — if it says Do Not Disturb, Driving, Sleep, or something similar, it’s turned on. Tap this button to disable your Do Not Disturb or Focus mode.
Silence Unknown Callers
This iOS feature cancels calls from all unknown numbers.
With Silence Unknown Callers toggled on, people who call you that aren’t listed in your contacts will have their calls sent straight to voicemail and your iPhone won’t ring.
Instead, unknown callers will be displayed on your Recents list.
To check if you have Silence Unknown Callers enabled on your iPhone, follow the steps below:
- Launch the Settings app.
- Scroll down and tap Phone.
- Scroll down to the section titled Calls.
- Look at the switch next to Silence Unknown Callers. If it’s turn on, tap the switch to turn it OFF.
