iOS: how to change the alarm volume using the volume buttons when the option to do so is enabled

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iOS: how to change the alarm volume using the volume buttons when the option to do so is enabled

Just what the thread title says. The option to adjust ringer and alarm volume using the volume buttons is enabled, but when I use the volume buttons, it is adjusting a volume OTHER THAN the ringer or alarm volume and I see no other controls for adjusting the alarm volume.

I missed an alarm this morning because the volume was set to about 5% even though I used the volume buttons to jack the volume setting that the volume buttons were controlling to the max.

I have no idea what the OTHER volume setting, is and I am relatively confident I don't want to ever adjust it ever again in the remainder of my life. All I can say is that the ringer volume has a horizontal volume bar but the other mystery volume setting has a vertical volume bar.

I want to adjust the ringer and alarm volume using the volume buttons and honestly I have no idea how iOS could possibly have turned this simple task into a research project, but that does seem to be par for the course with Apple products

iPhone SE

Posted on Jul 22, 2021 11:50 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Lawrence Finch

Level 10

211,484 points

Jul 27, 2021 10:46 AM in response to GuyAskingQuestionsAboutMacOS

When on the Home screen the buttons adjust the ringer volume, the volume for the built-in timer/Alarm app and notification volume
When on a phone call they adjust the phone volume and do not change the ringer volume
When in an app such as a game they adjust the volume for the app, unless the app developer chooses to honor the ringer volume settings

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Answer 2

Jul 22, 2021 12:15 PM in response to GuyAskingQuestionsAboutMacOS

Are you using the standard alarm in Clock? Or are you using the Sleep tracking function in Health? If the latter, it has a separate volume control. Go to Health>Sleep, find your alarm, tap the "Edit" button, and swipe to the bottom of the screen. You'll see a volume bar.

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Answer 3

Jul 22, 2021 12:20 PM in response to GuyAskingQuestionsAboutMacOS

The volume buttons are specific to the app currently in use. If you are on the Home screen they adjust the ringer volume. If you are in an app they adjust the volume for that app. If you are on a call they adjust the volume for the call itself.

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Answer 4

Jul 23, 2021 5:57 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

Thank you, but that is what I already attempted. The clock app does not seem to specify whether it uses the ringer volume or a separate volume setting so I mashed the UP-VOLUME button from both the home screen and the clock app screen. One thing I noticed was that when using the buttons to bump the volume up and seeing the vertical volume bar being adjusted on the screen, it kept settling back down to a lower level after I would release the button. Almost like holding the VOLUME-UP button was allowing the volume to be turned "up to 11" like the Spinal Tap movie, but as soon as I released the button it would lower itself a notch or two before disappearing.

I assumed this the alarm volume since I still have no idea what else it could have been. But apparently it was not.

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Answer 5

Jul 23, 2021 7:32 AM in response to GuyAskingQuestionsAboutMacOS

It’s because you are looking at the phone and you have Attention Aware features on. This lowers the volume when it knows you are looking at the screen. Go to Settings/Accessibility/Face ID & Attention and turn off Attention Aware if you don’t want this feature.

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Answer 6

Jul 27, 2021 10:32 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

So when I am on the home screen, and I use the volume buttons to adjust volume, and a volume OTHER THAN the ringer volume is being adjusted... what volume is that? Does the home screen have its own volume? For what? Where do I need to be in order to use the volume buttons to toggle the ringer volume?

I am still getting the non-ringer vertical volume bar on the home screen and I have no idea what volume setting it is referring to.

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Answer 7

Jul 27, 2021 10:50 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

Huh, I guess it may have been adjusting the notification volume then, because I bumped it to max but the alarm volume proved to be set to about 5%, and I was not on a call or recently on a call. Still a bit mystifying but thanks for the info.

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iOS: how to change the alarm volume using the volume buttons when the option to do so is enabled

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