Ringer volume turns off when Bluetooth in car connects

Apple could never figure this out when I contacted them and spoke with someone. I discovered that when I go in under the sounds for the ringer volume, I turned off where it says “change with buttons,” it fixed the problem for me.

Hello Everyone,

I had the same issue in my Camaro and the only way to stop the ringer volume from dropping after connecting to the car’s Bluetooth is to go to Settings —> Sounds & Haptics —> toggle off the “change with buttons” option under ringer and alerts.

Hope this helps!

I have had same problem. Recently, I solved the issue. The Ringer & Alerts “Change with Buttons” is the key, but not the same with both of my cars.

2010 GMC Terrains It must be turned ON

2020 GMC Acadia It must be turned OFF

It is still a pain going back and forth between the two cars, but at least I know what is happening.

Trouble didn’t start until I got the 2020. This is not a surprise from GM as the can have a similar dash design in two cars, but the buttons do not do the same things. To many people working on similar projects and each wants to do it their own way with no regard to consistency. I am sure they are not the only ones. Maybe change with buttons needs an automatic option, besides on or off.

I’m having same issue in my 2019 Silverado paired to my iPhone XS with iOS 13.1.2, but it’s been going on for a while. The only work around I know of is to turn the “change with buttons” setting off under sounds. I set mine to a median level and let it be. This is still completely ridiculous and unacceptable. I’m glad it’s happening in Fords too. I was beginning to think it was a GM issue. Seems to be Apple. Imagine that...

How to Stop iPhone X Ring Volume Going Quiet

You can disable the attention awareness feature that scans your face and determines you’re looking at the iPhone X, which in turn lowers the ring volume on the device. With this feature turned off, the iPhone X will stop lowering the ring volume of calls automatically when you pick up the iPhone and look at it. 

1. Open the “Settings” app on the iPhone
2. Go to the “Face ID & Passcode” section
3. Locate the “Attention Aware Features” option and turn the switch to the OFF position
4. Exit out of Settings

I’ve been having the same issue as everyone else. We updated the Ford my touch on our 2013 Edge, running latest iOS. 13.5.1. Missed 4 calls from the Dr’s office today. Called Apple Support, spoke to very nice gentleman “Mark”. From what Mr. Mark could tell, the fix is : Go to Settings. Scroll down to Sounds and Haptics and tap on it to open. Under Ringer and Alerts turn off the change with buttons. I’ll know if it works when we go for a drive, it did work for the couple of minutes we spoke over the sync. Turned off the Edge, back in the house and he called back...it did work. I had read on earlier post that this fix stops after someone drove for ten minutes.

I know it does not work for everyone, but if you haven't tried it yet . . . Try disabling the "change with buttons" option under Settings > Sounds & Haptics. This has been a successful workaround for me for the last 8 months. I still want an actual solution like the rest of you, but this beats manually turning it back up if you remember each time.

Side question...Anyone have a solution for making the phone ring out loud for incoming texts (on the phone speaker) while connected to the vehicle bluetooth? I hate not seeing that someone has texted me until I'm already home. Currently I just try to remember to look at the screen while at random traffic lights.

Pretty sure users have reported this on every model since iPhone 8/X (I have the issue with an X). So through at least 3 sets of hardware. This is certainly a software issue that may be specific to the way car makers are building their handsfree / bluetooth streaming systems. This has also happened across most major brands of vehicles which is why most of us believe this to specifically be an Apple issue.

I should add that I'm on iOS 14 (have been since public beta) and have not had the workaround fail me yet (though I have not upgraded my device from the X yet). The specific workaround I am referencing is the turning off the control that allows ringer volume to be set by the side buttons. Yes it does still go to zero while connected, but goes to my "normal" setting when disconnected.

For iPhone 11 with Sync 3 this worked for me. Turn off "control volume with buttons" and set the ringer slider at about 75%. I did this over 2 weeks ago and everything is still fine

I solved my problem. The solution is to turn off the volume buttons ability of changing the ringer volume from the settings menu.

I hope it works for everyone.

It might be the Attention Alert system. Check out this article from MacReports.

https://macreports.com/iphone-volume-keeps-changing-by-itself-fix/

I just disabled it, but the car isn't available for testing, so I can't verify if this works.

I believe the issue is that when you connect to Bluetooth, the “ringer volume” adjusts to match the volume of the Bluetooth speaker. I am having this problem with my ihome. I play an audiobook at a low level as I fall asleep. The ringer volume then automatically matches the level of the Bluetooth volume. This means that my alarms on my phone are low, because they correspond with the “ringer volume.”

I just tried a fix wherein, while connected to Bluetooth, you go to Settings —> Sounds and Haptics, and then adjust the ringer volume. This seems to have increased the ringer volume without increasing my Bluetooth volume. I’ll try to remember to update this post if it works! Wish me luck.

I set my iphone11 to 75% volume with change buttons off connected to a Lincoln Sync 3 system and it stayed put. Seems like it only happens if you have the volume set to 100%

When you get a phone call in the car while connected to Bluetooth, the ringer should be in the vehicle speaker, not the phone. Also, if you have Attention features, once the phone starts to ring, if you look at the screen, the volume with automatically go down. That is a setting on the phone, since the phone "sees" that you are paying attention and don't need the ringer to be loud any longer.

If you haven't tried it yet, try disabling the ringer volume via "change with buttons". While this will not fix the volume while connected to your vehicle, it has stopped the changes from impacting my ringer volume outside of the vehicle. I know it is NOT a fix, but beats not hearing your alarms!