How do I turn off silent mode?

What is silent mode?

Silent mode is a setting on smartphones that mutes all sounds and vibrations from notifications, calls, and alerts (Turning phones on silent may increase phone checking, 2022). When enabled, silent mode stops any noises or vibrations coming from the device, while still allowing the screen to light up for notifications.

The main functions of silent mode are:

Muting ringtones, notification sounds, and vibrations

Preventing disruptive noises in quiet environments like meetings, movies, libraries, or late at night when sleeping (Why do some people keep their phones silent without any reason, 2018).
Giving the user more control over when they receive alerts and notifications

Common reasons for using silent mode include privacy, avoiding distractions, being considerate of others in shared spaces, not disturbing sleep patterns, and maintaining focus (Leave Your Phone In Silent Mode to Avoid a Life of Regrets, n.d.). Overall, it allows people to customize when and how their device makes sounds.

Checking if silent mode is on

There are a few ways to check if your iPhone or Android device is in silent mode.

On iPhone

To check if your iPhone is in silent mode, look for the toggle switch on the left side of the device. If the switch is slid down towards the bottom of the phone, silent mode is on. The switch will appear orange if silent mode is enabled (1).

You can also open the Settings app and go to Sounds & Haptics. If the “Change with Buttons” toggle is enabled, your phone is currently in silent mode when the side switch is toggled down (2).

On Android

On Android devices, open the Settings app and go to Sound. Look for the Media volume slider. If it is set to silent or vibrate mode, your phone is in a muted state. You can check the Ring volume slider as well (3).

Notification Settings

You can also see if your notifications are silenced by going into the Settings app and choosing Notifications. Check if the app notifications you want to receive are toggled off or set to silent.

Sources:

(1) https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250771249

(2) https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/set-sounds-and-vibrations-iph3ecf6df3/ios

(3) https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/6111295?hl=en#zippy=%2Cstep-check-your-ring-notification-and-media-volumes%2Cstep-check-do-not-disturb-settings

Turning silent mode off on iPhone

To turn off silent mode on an iPhone, first open the Settings app. You can find this as an icon on your home screen. Once in Settings, select “Sounds & Haptics” from the list of options.

Under Sounds & Haptics, you’ll see a switch for “Silent Mode.” If silent mode is currently on, the switch will be colored red and slid to the right. To turn silent mode off, simply tap the switch so it slides to the left and turns gray.

With silent mode off, your iPhone will resume playing all alerts and notification sounds at the normal volume you have set. You can adjust the volume using the buttons on the side of the iPhone.

If your iPhone is still not making sounds, check that the ringer/alerts volume slider in Sounds & Haptics is turned up as well.

Turning silent mode off on Android

To turn silent mode off on an Android phone, simply open the Settings app and navigate to the Sounds & Vibration section. There you can toggle the Silent Mode switch to the off position.

Specifically, follow these steps:

Open the Settings app on your Android phone.
Tap on Sounds & Vibration (may also be called Sound & Notification in some versions of Android).
Look for the Silent Mode or Vibrate switch and tap on it to turn it off.

Once you toggle silent mode off, your phone will revert to making sounds and vibrating for notifications, calls, alarms etc. You can customize which sounds play and vibration preferences by tapping into each setting while in the Sounds & Vibration menu.

For reference, see instructions from Chron.

Customizing silent mode

Silent mode can be customized in various ways to suit your needs and preferences. One option is to schedule silent mode during certain times when you want to avoid interruptions. On iPhones running iOS 16 or later, you can set up Focus modes that automatically turn on silent mode at scheduled times, like during sleep hours or work hours. Focus modes allow calls and notifications from certain people even when silent mode is on.

On Android, apps like Tasker allow automating silent mode to turn on and off based on factors like time of day or location. You can also customize exceptions in Do Not Disturb mode on Android so that starred contacts can still reach you.

Instagram’s Quiet Mode feature allows scheduling up to 10 quiet hours per day when you will not receive any notifications. You can customize Quiet Mode hours based on your personal schedule. Once Quiet Mode is turned off, Instagram provides a summary of notifications missed during that time.

Overall, silent and Do Not Disturb modes on both iPhone and Android provide options to automatically silence notifications during certain times while allowing exceptions for important people. This enables customizing silent mode to fit your daily routines and preferences.

Using Do Not Disturb mode

Do Not Disturb mode is another way to silence your phone, similar to silent mode. However, it has some key differences:

Overview of DND mode:

Mutes calls, alerts and notifications like silent mode

Allows more customization around which notifications come through
Can be scheduled to turn on automatically at certain times

How it differs from silent mode:

With silent mode, all notifications are muted. With DND you can allow exceptions.
DND has more options like being able to allow calls or messages from certain contacts.
DND can be scheduled based on time or location, while silent mode needs to be turned on manually.

When to use each mode:

Use silent mode when you want to mute everything and don’t need any notifications.
Use DND when you want to mute most notifications but still allow certain calls or messages through.

DND is also good for automatically silencing your phone during certain times like at night.

In summary, DND provides more flexibility and options for muting notifications compared to the standard silent mode.

Turning off vibrate

On iPhones, sound and vibration settings can be controlled separately. To turn off vibrate:

Go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics and toggle off the options for “Vibrate on Ring” and “Vibrate on Silent.” This will disable vibration for calls, texts, and notifications while keeping sound enabled.

To disable vibration system-wide, including keyboard feedback, go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch and turn off “Vibration.” (1)

On Android devices, open the Settings app and go to Sound & Vibration. Toggle off “Vibrate for calls” and “Vibrate for notifications” to disable vibration selectively. To turn off all vibration, tap Advanced > Vibration intensity and move the slider all the way to the left. (2)

Vibration can also be disabled on a per-app basis by going into each app’s settings. Turning off vibrate helps save battery life and avoids unwanted distraction.

Using Airplane Mode

Airplane mode disables all wireless connections including cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, etc. When enabled, you will not receive calls, text messages, notifications or use most apps that require an internet connection (source: https://www.guidingtech.com/difference-between-do-not-disturb-airplane-mode-silent-on-iphone/).

While airplane mode is similar to silent mode in that it prevents incoming calls and notifications, it takes things a step further by cutting off all wireless connectivity. Silent mode only silences the ringer and notifications, but still allows wireless radios to remain on (source: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/do-not-disturb-vs-airplane-mode.1467522/).

You should enable airplane mode when using your device on an airplane or in areas where wireless transmission is prohibited. Airplane mode can also help save battery life if you temporarily have no need for wireless connectivity. Just remember that enabling airplane mode disconnects you from cellular and WiFi networks, so you won’t be able to make calls, send texts, use most apps, or access the internet until you disable it.

Silencing an iPhone Call

When receiving an incoming call on your iPhone, there are a couple quick and easy ways to silence the ringing without rejecting the call entirely.

One option is to press either the side/power button or the volume buttons on the side of the iPhone. Pressing one of these buttons once will mute the ringing so the call comes in silently. You can still answer a muted call normally until it goes to voicemail (Source).

Another way is to swipe up from the bottom of the screen when a call is incoming. This brings up the call options, including the option to mute the ringer. Tap on this option to silence the call.

Silencing the ringer allows you to ignore the call temporarily without rejecting it outright. You can still answer a silenced call normally until it goes to voicemail. This gives you a chance to finish what you were doing and call the person back when it’s more convenient for you.

Troubleshooting Tips

If your iPhone is stuck in silent mode, here are some troubleshooting tips to try:

First, check that the physical mute switch on the side of the iPhone is not flipped to the muted position. This switch is located above the volume buttons, and sliding it downwards will mute the phone.^[1] Make sure the switch is slid upwards so that mute is turned off.

Next, open the Settings app and go to Sounds & Haptics > Ringers and Alerts. Make sure that the volume sliders are turned up and not muted. Additionally, check Do Not Disturb settings to ensure the phone is not set to silent mode.^[2]

Finally, try restarting the iPhone by holding down the power button and home button together until the Apple logo appears. This will reset the phone and may resolve any software glitches that are causing silent mode to stick.^[3]

If none of these troubleshooting tips work, you may need to contact Apple support for further assistance in case of a hardware issue with the mute switch.