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 ringtone and all alerts lower the volume if you have the attention aware feature turned on.

People here complain about alerts volume too low compared to ringtone volume.

So, go to settings, Face ID & Passcode and turn attention aware feature OFF.

Then you have to perform this test:

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

Turn off “Change with buttons”

Then change Sound and vibration patterns and set the same sound to your ringtone and text tone. Choose a loud sound like “Sonar” found in “Classics” and you will hear the volume difference.

Tested five iPhone 8, one iPhone 7, one iPhone 6S, one iPhone XS, one iPhone X, five iPhone 12 and one iPhone 13. All of them with low volume alerts issue.

Try this TEST:

go to settings, Face ID & passcode (touch ID & passcode for iPhone 7,8 and 8 Plus)

and turn “Attention aware features” OFF.

Then go to “Sound & Haptics”, ringer and alerts volume all the way up.

”change with buttons” OFF

Then in “Sounds and vibration patterns” and set the same sound for both ringtone and text tone. I choose “Sonar” because it’s a very loud sound (you can find it in “classic”).

Set Sonar for both ringtone and text tone and you will hear the volume difference.

Again, it’s an iOS issue and not hardware

and you can tell the difference performing this test.

I’ve tested fifteen iPhones and all of them have the low volume alerts issue.

Go to FaceID/Passcode and turn off Require Attention Face ID and Attention Awareness features. This is interfering with volume of sounds for some reason. You might have to go to Reset All Settings and then do the above, but I suggest doing the above first and checking volumes.

Thanks for pointing this out to us Ledmost.

The attention feature in settings Face ID, does mute call ringing as you say, as it recognises you looking at the phone, for example when you go to pick it up. Switching the feature off will maintain ringing volume until you answer.

It’s one of those things buried in settings and easily missed.

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 find a bit strange you don’t have alerts volume issue with native iOS apps and IPhone 13.

I checked various iPhone models, from 7 to 13 and it’s a iOS problem.

To verify the issue, you should perform this TEST. It’s not a solution to fix the problem, it’s just a TEST:

So, go to settings, Face ID & Passcode and turn attention aware feature OFF.

Then, Sound & Haptics, Ringer and Alerts volume all the way up.

Turn off “Change with buttons”

Then change Sound and vibration patterns and set the same sound to your ringtone and text tone. Choose a loud sound like “Sonar” found in “Classics” for BOTH ringtone and text tone and you will hear the volume difference.

It’s only a TEST and not a solution to solve the problem.

It demonstrates the difference in volume between the ringtone and text tone.

That’s why is it important to set the same sound to both ringtone and text tone.

The “Sonar” ringtone is very very loud and “Sonar” in text tone is very soft in comparison.

To all the people I have asked if there was any issue with the alerts volume, they answered “NO”, then after performing my test, they could tell the difference.

I went to an Apple store and asked the same question and then tested five iPhones in front of them. They were astonished!

Well, it’s very strange because i had an iPhone 8 running iOS 13 e everything was fine. Alerts volume was loud and clear. Then iOS 14 came out and suddenly my alerts volume dropped down. Then I bought iPhone 12 mini with the exact same issue.

How is it possible it’s something not related to the iOS?

I’ve tested in a year five iPhone 8, one iPhone 7, one iPhone 6S, one iPhone XS, one iPhone X, five iPhone 12 and one iPhone 13. All of them with low volume alerts issue.

So if it’s not a iOS problem then it must be a hardware problem.

Very strange, ringtones are loud a text tone are weak and all the sounds come out from the same speakers.

Again, perform this test with your iPhone XR:

go to settings, Face ID & passcode (touch ID & passcode for iPhone 7,8 and 8 Plus)

and turn “Attention aware features” OFF.

Then go to “Sound & Haptics”, ringer and alerts volume all the way up.

”change with buttons” OFF

Then in “Sounds and vibration patterns” and set the same sound for both ringtone and text tone. I choose “Sonar” because it’s a very loud sound (you can find it in “classic”).

Set Sonar for both ringtone and text tone and you will hear the volume difference.

Again, it’s an iOS issue and not hardware

and you can tell the difference performing this test.