How do I find out what app is making sound?

It can be frustrating when you hear notification or alert sounds coming from your phone or tablet, but don’t see any notifications. This mystery sound effect indicates that an app is producing a notification sound, even though no visible notification appears. Determining which app is the culprit for unwanted sounds can take some trial and error. However, there are steps you can take to track down the source of unexplained alert noises on your device.

Check Notification Settings

A good first step is to check your notification settings to see which apps have permissions to send sound alerts. On an iPhone, open the Settings app and select Notifications. Here you can view a list of apps and check their notification settings (Apple Support). Look for any apps that have sounds enabled and consider disabling sounds for apps that don’t need them. You can also adjust notification settings per app – tap on an app and customize options like sounds, lock screen access, and notification grouping.

Notification settings allow granular control over which apps can produce sounds and how intrusive their alerts will be. Turning off sounds for nonessential apps is an easy way to reduce audio clutter from notifications. This can help identify if the mystery sounds are tied to a particular app’s alerts.

Close Open Apps

One way to determine which app is making an unwanted sound is to force close all currently open apps, and then reopen them one by one until you isolate the problematic app. Here are the steps:

1. Double click the Home button or swipe up from the bottom edge to bring up the app switcher.
2. Swipe up on all open app previews to force close them.
3. Open your most frequently used apps one at a time. Listen for the unwanted sound after launching each app.
4. Once you’ve identified the app causing the sound, you can choose to mute notifications for that app or delete it if necessary.

Force closing all apps and selectively reopening them is an effective troubleshooting technique to pinpoint which app is producing unwanted audio. See this Apple discussion thread for more details on forcing apps closed. With some trial and error, you can isolate the source of the mystery sound.

Use a Sound Identifying App

A convenient way to identify a mystery sound on your device is to use a sound recognition app. Apps like Shazam can listen to any ambient sounds through your phone’s microphone and identify the source of the sound. Shazam has an extensive audio fingerprint database to match against and can identify music, TV shows, advertisements and more. Some Android interfaces also have a dedicated Shazam button on the shortcut panel for quick sound detection.

Other apps like Sound and Noise Detector provide detailed sound analysis. They can measure sound frequency levels, identify noise types, and detect anomalies. These apps turn your phone into a sound level meter. For unknown ambient sounds, the visual waveform display can help narrow down the possible sources.

Sound identifying apps provide an easy way to instantly detect and recognize mystery sounds on your device. Their recognition capabilities and detailed sound measurements make them ideal for pinpointing unidentified ambient noises.

Check Accessibility Settings

One of the first places to check for an app making unexpected sounds is in your iPhone’s Accessibility settings. The Accessibility settings allow you to enable various features that provide audio feedback for vision, mobility, learning, and other accessibility needs.

To check your Accessibility settings:

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Tap on “Accessibility.”
3. Look through the different categories like VoiceOver, Typing Feedback, and Spoken Content. These settings allow apps to read text, speak selections, and provide other audio feedback.
4. Check if any accessibility features are enabled that you don’t need. Turn off any unneeded audio feedback.

For example, if Spoken Content is enabled, your iPhone will speak text and other onscreen elements. If Typing Feedback is on, your iPhone will read back each character you type. Disabling any unnecessary feedback can help pinpoint if an accessibility feature is causing unwanted sounds.

For more details on iPhone accessibility features, visit Apple’s support article: Hear iPhone speak the screen, selected text, and typing.

Toggle Do Not Disturb

One simple way to identify an app making unwanted sounds is to turn on Do Not Disturb mode. This setting mutes all notifications and alerts so any sounds playing are not official system notifications. To enable Do Not Disturb on an iPhone, open the Control Center by swiping down from the top-right corner and tap the moon icon. You can also enable it in Settings > Do Not Disturb. With Do Not Disturb enabled, listen carefully for any sounds coming from your device. Once you identify the sound, turn Do Not Disturb off again and the culprit app’s notifications will likely start up again. This can help narrow down which app is producing the unwanted sounds.

Some users have reported that Do Not Disturb is not fully muting sounds on iOS 15, particularly with Focus modes enabled (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253744756). Try toggling Focus off as well when testing Do Not Disturb. If that still doesn’t mute sounds, you may need to restart your device or check for app updates to resolve any glitches.

Restart Your Device

Restarting your iPhone, also known as power cycling, can help resolve temporary sound issues by shutting down all apps and processes and starting fresh. When you restart your device, iOS closes all open apps and reloads the operating system. This stops all sounds and gives you a clean slate without any glitchy apps running in the background that could be causing sound problems.

To restart your iPhone, press and hold the side button and either volume button at the same time until you see the Apple logo appear on the screen. After restarting, test if the sound issue is fixed by playing music or making a call. Restarting provides a simple way to refresh the sound drivers and troubleshoot problems without losing any data or settings.

If the missing sound returns after restarting, it likely indicates a deeper issue, at which point you may need to try updating your iPhone software, checking for accessibility settings being enabled, or contacting Apple support. But restarting is one of the easiest first steps to try for any sound problems.

Update Apps

Outdated apps can sometimes be the cause of various sound issues, as bugs in older versions may produce unintended sound effects. Developers regularly release app updates that contain fixes for audio problems and optimizations. It’s a good idea to check for any pending app updates and install them, as the latest versions may have addressed your sound problem. According to discussions on Apple’s forums, some users found that updating to the latest iOS version resolved sound problems caused by bugs in outdated app code.

Go to your device’s app store and look for available updates. You can sort by apps that have pending updates. Pay special attention to apps that utilize sound features, like social media, music, video and gaming apps. Install all available updates and then restart your device, as this ensures the updates are fully implemented. Test if the errant sound persists. If so, additional troubleshooting is needed, but app updates can resolve unpredictable audio issues resulting from bugs in older app versions.

Check Connected Devices

Sounds could come from connected speakers, TVs, cars or other devices that are paired to your phone. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections allow you to wirelessly connect to accessories and stream audio or mirror screens. However, these connections can sometimes cause interference noises, audio feedback or unwanted sounds.

To check if connected devices are the culprit, start by turning Bluetooth off on your phone. This will disconnect any paired Bluetooth speakers, headphones or vehicles. Similarly, disable Wi-Fi to disconnect any casted or mirrored devices like smart TVs or Chromecasts. Listen if the unwanted sounds persist. If they stop, it indicates one of the now disconnected accessories was causing the noise.

You can further isolate the issue by turning Bluetooth/Wi-Fi back on and re-connecting devices one-by-one. Check if the unwanted sounds return when paired to a specific gadget. Update the device’s software, drivers or settings if needed. As a last resort, unpair the problematic accessory. For continued issues, the connected device itself likely requires servicing or replacement.

Sources:

https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000176846/how-do-i-fix-problems-with-my-speakers-emitting-unwanted-noise

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/usb-disconnect-sound-keeps-repeating/c6951ad0-126e-447a-a55b-88d11d28e6f2

Conclusion

In summary, there are several best practices for identifying mystery sounds on your phone:

First, check your notification settings to see if you can identify the sound associated with a particular app or feature. Look for options to preview or listen to notification sounds.

Close out of any open apps and see if the sound stops. This can help you isolate the problematic app.

Use a sound identifying app like SoundHound to listen to the sound and match it to a song or other audio clip. This can reveal the source.

Toggle on Do Not Disturb mode to mute all sounds temporarily. If the mystery sound stops, it’s likely tied to a notification.

Restart your device to clear any glitches that could be causing phantom sounds.

Update your apps, as the sound could stem from a bug in an outdated version.

Check connected devices like Bluetooth speakers that could be emitting a system sound.

As a last resort, back up your data and perform a factory reset if you can’t isolate the sound through other means.