iPhone 13 notification sound too low

ANSWER -- SOLVED

Got to Settings--Accessibility--Face ID & Attention and turn "Attention Aware Features" OFF. If this is set to on and you are using the phone when an alert is triggered, the iphone when locked will lower the volume of "some alerts." Setting this to OFF made my iPhone 13 work the same as my iPhone 6 used to work--volume "sticks" for all alerts.

I fixed this on my 13 mini.

Settings>Face ID…>Attention Aware Features. Turn it OFF.

With this setting on, if the phone glimpses any part of your face it turns notifications (including Alarms) volume way down. I overslept 2 days in a row with my phone next to my bed.

The problem of "iPhone 13 notification sound too low" is solved on my phone. The steps are:

1) Go to Settings

2) Select Sounds & Haptics

3) Find RINGER AND ALERT, Activate Change with Buttons.

Then you can adjust the ring tone volume by the volume buttons to what you want, much loader than before, or as normal as my old phones.

It’s a software problem and replacing the old iPhone for a new one, will not fix the issue. Some people already got a replacement thinking it was a faulty device.

You don’t have to cross your fingers, you have to read the messages in this thread.

I have checked all new iPhones 12 and 13 models (mini, regular, pro and pro max) in the Apple store just doing a simple test and I lost the count of how many times I’ve told it.

Settings, Sound & Haptics, Ringer and alerts volume all the way up.

In Sound and Vibration set the same sound for Ringtone and text tone.

Try with “Sonar” (you can find it in Classics) which is very loud.

Ringtone “Sonar” and Text Tone “Sonar and you will hear the volume difference.

Sonar in ringtone is very loud and Sonar in Text Tone is very low.

Again, it’s a software problem and with this simple test you can verify if the issue is still there or not and unfortunately hasn’t been fixed yet since iOS 14.1 when iPhone 12 came out.

All iPhones have this issue included the new one sent to you by Apple.

Hi Manocete

Yeah, here's the workaround I had to figure out. I've copied and pasted my message here for you. It defintely works but annoying it has to be done this way. If you need any more help, just let me know!

As I mentioned in this thread, I'm having the exact same problem. Unfortunately, it seems I have no way to change the notification volume for apps such as Whatsapp as they have the default notification sounds only within the app itself and I don't think it's possible on iPhone to change it to a custom ringtone (if anyone knows how to do this, I'll pay you with part of my soul for such knowledge! XD) However, I seem to have found a solution for email notifications/texts etc. What I've done is got hold of an mp3 apple notification tone online (or use whatever sound you'd like), imported it to Garageband, maxed the volume and exported it as another audio file (it has to be exported as an audio file, not a Garageband song file). Then, iport it back into Garageband and do the same again. I've done that a couple of times to get to the desired sound level. Then, the last time export it from Garageband, set it as a notification sound when prompted, then select it for your email/text notification sound and, hey, alerts that are audible!

This is a super bug in iOS. If your media volume is down, the whatsapp and other notification volumes also go down. Even if ‘change with buttons’ toggled off.

There is a workaround. While tapping on your notification tone inside whatsapp notification settings, press the volume up button on the side of your phone. Now your whatsapp notification volume can be at desired level. But again!! If you watching a media/youtube video and reduce volume, your whatsapp volume also goes down. Not expected from Apple !

Someone referred to this in a youtube video

Go to Settings -> Face ID and Passcode -> Attention Aware Features -> Turn OFF

This seems to work for me!

This worked for me : Settings -> Sounds & Haptics -> Headphone Safety -> Toggle Off Reduce Loud Sounds

I also purchased an iPhone 13 Pro Max. I issue with the message tone was driving me nuts as well, so I decided to try different tones, and tested each one. I did find one that I like that works. I turned off my Apple Watch to make sure that was not interfering with the phone, it was not. So, long story to say, try different tones and test them. Also, I turned on Silent Mode and them turned it off and noticed the ringer was all the way on low, I turned it up and all is good now with the new tone.

Hi all.

As I mentioned in this thread, I'm having the exact same problem. Unfortunately, it seems I have no way to change the notification volume for apps such as Whatsapp as they have the default notification sounds only within the app itself and I don't think it's possible on iPhone to change it to a custom ringtone (if anyone knows how to do this, I'll pay you with part of my soul for such knowledge! XD) However, I seem to have found a solution for email notifications/texts etc. What I've done is got hold of an mp3 apple notification tone online (or use whatever sound you'd like), imported it to Garageband, maxed the volume and exported it. I've done that a couple of times to get to the desired sound level. Then, the last time export it from Garageband, set it as a notification sound when prompted, then select it for your email/text notification sound and, hey, alerts that are audible!

I find it utterly ridiculous that Apple has not managed to fix this issue yet. I bought the iPhone 13 Pro Max outright and, as I'm sure you're aware, they are not cheap! As I have 2 jobs and one is running an Air bnb accommodation, I have actually missed important emails/messages making an impact on my income! This is my first iPhone and if I'm being honest, I love the phone... Apart from this serious issue! It's a "notification" alert, it's supposed to "notify" you! Come on Apple, please fix this ASAP. I shouldn't have had to find a fix myself and it's not perfect, but it means me purchasing your phone isn't costing me money now from missed business opportunities. I still miss Whatsapp messages, but that looks like it's something I'm going to have to deal with as it seems not too much is being done about this problem.

One last point, what are people who are slightly hard of hearing supposed to do? Totally unacceptable and it's causing a LOT of grief to iPhone owners.

Please, please, please Apple fix!

I had this problem and found a fix that worked for me, I turned off blue tooth and the sound went back to normal.

hi, i just had a genius bar appointment at regent street london today ay 13.40 , i have complained about low sound notifications and lock sound,i had all the settings correct including attention aware feature off. they have run diagnostic and sound check,everything is perfect according to apple tech. so the problem is not the phone or the hardware, issue behind the problem is software,they are hoping there will be a software update for apple 11-12 and 13, apple tech also reported my complaint to head office i have also mentioned there are thousands of us complaining on discussion group and also all over the internet sites, hope this will help

Hi Manocete!

That's great and you're most welcome! =)

You should be able to repeat the process multiple times to make the notification tone even louder. As in, export as audio with the gain maxed and import and change the gain again etc etc.... then repeat, and then finally export when ready and set as a notification tone from Garageband. I've only dont the process twice myself though so not 100% if it will get even louder, although I don't see why it wouldn't be possible.

Yeah, I was new to Garageband when I figured out this workaround. It's not the easiest process but worth the effort when your notification tones for email, text and calendar tones etc actually "notify" you again lol

If you could find my post that helped you on this thread, or my original post on page 16, and mark it as "Helpful", that would be great! Just so others can see the workaround easier too!

Again, glad I could help! =)

Hi crosslwired!

I used Audacity in my PC. However, you may also use Audacity for Mac. Both can edit, shorten, or lengthen the audio and adjust the volume to whatever intensity you wish. Then I uploaded the audio to Google Drive (or iDrive if you wish). I then run GarageBand in my iPhone and imported the Audio file from Google Drive and selected it as my text notification tone. The tone is very much loader than the iPhone ringtone as I wanted it to be.

I hope this will help.

I only tried it on the message tone. I also found out that when I have my Apple Watch on, for some reason it does mute the sound.