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Alarm volume TOO LOUD in iOS14

I installed iOS 14 on my iPhone 7 Plus, and now the alarm BLARES!! The phone's volume setting is low to moderate; the Sounds/Haptics is set to low/moderate. The alarm volume overrides those settings. In Alarms there is no way to set a volume.


When the alarm goes off, using the 'volume down' button snoozes the alarm instead of adjusting the volume.


Help!

iPhone 7 Plus

Posted on Sep 30, 2020 6:06 AM

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Posted on Oct 5, 2020 9:00 AM

Thanks, Idris. I am using the alarm function in the clock, and it happens regardless of the sound or song chosen for the alarm. The problem stopped for two days and the volume was normal, but then it went back to blaring even though I had not changed any settings on the phone prior to the volume dropping or raising again.


Joy

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Oct 5, 2020 9:00 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

Thanks, Idris. I am using the alarm function in the clock, and it happens regardless of the sound or song chosen for the alarm. The problem stopped for two days and the volume was normal, but then it went back to blaring even though I had not changed any settings on the phone prior to the volume dropping or raising again.


Joy

Oct 31, 2020 11:09 PM in response to IdrisSeabright

IdrisSeabright, I don't think it is helpful to discourage appleuser3791 from following your suggestion to directly lodge the complaint by, in the next breath, telling them that the complaint is not "very common", when in fact the bigger picture complaint is extremely common, and that is making completely unnecessary changes to remove functionality from a basic and commonly used app like the alarm. I too am frustrated that they have changed the alarm experience which is why I'm browsing these forum questions on iOS alarm functionality. In my case I USED to set my alarms every night based on what time i end up getting to bed, and often in a dazed brainless tired state, so simplicity is the key to not screwing it up and sleeping in the next day. Now, with the new "improved" version in iOS14, to edit my alarm I have to be alert enough when i set it AND wearing my glasses, to think through typing the correct number of digits for the alarm time or try and use the tiny new scroll wheel which has now shrunk down to 10mm x 4mm on my iPhone SE. Why? Just Why?? There is space in the new shrunken pane to make it at least three times that size, which would still be smaller than it used to be, but would be easier to use. I have been attempting to set alarms today after the iOS14 upgrade and had to repeat actions numerous times due to selecting the wrong part of the time or whatever, or be forced to type all the alarm time digits in. If I'm not wearing my glasses it is even harder. It was a perfectly good and easy to use alarm function before and i could quickly scroll to the selected time in about 2 seconds and now it is much harder to use, and more prone to error. So the complaint is not uncommon, if rephrased as "please stop removing functionality to the alarm app". If they must keep adding unnecessary features then for pity sake add features, but leave the simple method intact for those who need it!

Nov 9, 2020 8:26 AM in response to aurora australis

aurora australis wrote:

Not a common complaint? I hardly ever encounter a problem after an iOS update, but this is my complaint too, and I don't think it is really that uncommon. They removed the volume slider from the alarm function, so it has basically become impossible to regulate the alarm volume anymore. I would really like to know why they did this, if it is done on purpose.

If it were common, there would be dozens upon dozens of threads about it. There are not. The fact that it is not common doesn't make it invalid. It just makes it less likely to get changed.


There is still a volume slider for the Sleep alarms, just as there was for the Bedtime alarms. There was never a separate one for the regular alarms.


You can (and should) let Apple know your thoughts on the matter. The more people who do, the more likely there is that something might change:


Product Feedback - Apple

Dec 30, 2020 10:21 PM in response to GlobalEngineer

@GlobalEngineer


good find.


here’s what notice:

  1. on 6s, the lowest volume for alarms and alerts was very civilized. It was a volume that gently got my attention even at a 5:30 AM wake up.
  2. but, on the 12 (iOS 14?) the lowest is much louder than previous
  3. your point about the Attention Aware setting proves the point.
  4. when Attention Aware is ON, it starts louder than gets significantly softer when phone is picked up. That ‘softer’ volume is equivalent to the lowest setting on my old 6s (pre iOS 14)
  5. when Attention Aware is OFF, the lowest setting is at the initial volume as if the setting was ON. It never gets as soft in volume.


here’s hoping Apple fixes this in next update.

May 15, 2021 5:57 AM in response to AppleUser___2020

I had this problem too and I think I just found the solution.


  1. On Settings / Sounds & Haptics / Ringer and Alerts: turn OFF "Change with buttons" (this is probably the key for fixing this problem)
  2. Using the slide on Ringer and Alerts, turn the volume to the desired position (I would just turn it to zero, it will still ring but very gently)
  3. Open the the alarm app and ADD a new alarm, do not use an old alarm
  4. Click on Sound and choose the ringtone you want (you should hear it play it at the chosen volume).


If you want to test this out, follow the above instructions setting a very quiet timer for a minute from now. Then use the side buttons to increase the volume on your iPhone to the maximum. Then lock your screen and wait for the magic to happen. Important: if you try this while your screen is still open it won't work because the volume to the max will override your alarm volume, but that won't happen with the screen locked.


I just tried it a few times while writing this and it worked every time. I actually realised the "change with button OFF" was the problem while writing this.

Oct 5, 2020 8:56 AM in response to AppleUser___2020

Are you using the regular alarm? Or are you using the new Sleep function? If you're using the Sleep feature, open the Health app, go to Sleep>Your Schedule. Tap on your schedule(s) then tap "Edit". You'll be able to adjust the alarm volume there.


If you're using the regular Alarm, it does not have a separate volume control. I'd suggest you try a different alarm sound.

Dec 2, 2020 6:57 AM in response to appleuser3791

appleuser3791 wrote:

BE AWARE though - automatic IOS updates reset the Attention Aware Feature to be turned back on. My phone recently updated to the latest IOS update overnight and I was awoken next morning by the BLARING alarm again due to Attention Aware being turned back on by the auto update. Scared the c**p out of me. NOT a nice way to be woken up!

I think you may be misunderstanding how Attention Awareness works. It turns the volume down when the phone senses that you're looking at it. It doesn't force the volume to maximum.


About Attention Aware features on your iPhone X or iPad Pro - Apple Support

Dec 2, 2020 12:15 PM in response to aurora australis

aurora australis wrote:

"If you don't want maximum volume, don't set it to that."

I was speaking specifically to the Attention Aware issue. However, you set the volume for the sleep alarms in Health>Sleep>Full Schedule>Edit


In iOS 13, you could set the volume of an alarm in the Bedtime tab in the Clock app. However, you've never been able to set an alarm volume for the regular alarms. If that's a feature you'd like to see, let Apple know:


Product Feedback - Apple

Dec 18, 2020 3:20 PM in response to Gregp2424

Gregp2424 wrote:

Volume used to be independent of the main sounds and hepatic, that does not seem to be the case anymore. Extremely frustrating and hopefully just a temporary bug.

The alarm volume has never been independent of the main volume. People have complained about that for years.


You can let Apple know your thoughts here:


Product Feedback - Apple

Jan 25, 2021 5:45 AM in response to AppleUser___2020

This "shortcut/automation" seems to work on my iphone 6s / ios 14.3; it's worth a try...

-First, in Settings/Sounds/RingersAndAlerts, I have the ChangeWithButtons slider turned On.

-In the Shortcuts app, tap the Automation icon at bottom middle.

  • tap "+", then "CreatePersonalAutomation"
  • "TimeOfDay", then pick a Daily time that would be prior to whenever your alarm would be set
  • "Next", "AddAction"
  • in the 'SearchForAppsAndActions' space, type "Set Volume", then tap the "Set Volume" result icon
  • tap the nn% number shown, then slide the bar to pick a lower volume level %. Then try it out twice by tapping the SolidArrow icon at bottom right, to play the automation. Then tap "Next"
  • scroll to the bottom, and turn Off the "AskBeforeRunning" slidebar. Confirm the "Don'tAsk" popup.
  • tap "Done"
  • (Open and review your new Personal Automation, making sure the EnableThisAutomation slider is turned On.)

I hope this works for you! Good luck.


Nov 13, 2020 5:58 AM in response to AppleUser___2020

i have had the same issue. If you scroll to bottom of this picture I found the culprit. You have to toggle the “change with button” slide to ON under alarms. Otherwise it’s manual. I just did this and it’s now connected to my volume buttons like before. But otherwise it blares. It nearly given me a heart attack foe two days now. Hope it helps.


Dec 9, 2020 4:59 PM in response to dagtag43

I have an iPhone 6 and just did the iOS update a couple weeks ago, at which point I was having this problem too, and after about an hour of reading through these posts and trying everyone’s suggestions with no success, I was about to give up. I had one more idea and it seems to be working. Worth a shot.


In Sounds settings, my toggle for “change with buttons” is turned on. Then I used my volume buttons to set the volume to the level I wanted for my alarm. Like you said, once I hit snooze, the second alarm would blare. So, my last idea was to keep the toggle button on, reset the volume back to the level I wanted, and then in the screen below, I noticed the volume level was much higher, so I adjusted that to the same level as I put for my alarm, and tested it out. My alarm went off and the volume did not go up for the second alarm (after snoozing). The ringer and volume bars still pop up on the screen without me doing anything, but the volume level does not change. Hopefully this will help others having the same problem!!

Alarm volume TOO LOUD in iOS14

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