iPhone 13 notification sound too low

This made an improvement for me in so far as the iMessage alerts and other alerts when phone idle. I had to turn off the sound on my Apple Watch! There is some correlation between the two. The sound on phone improved but I don’t have any sound on my watch now. Until there is an actual software fix, this may be a viable option for those who have the Apple Watch.

open settings then,

Go to sounds & haptics

toggle on ‘change with buttons’

then use the volume up & down button on the side of your phone to choose the sound you want for the ringer (& notifications)

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!

He was referring to your first comment:

”Go to FaceID/Passcode and turn off Require Attention Face ID and Attention Awareness features”.

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

This problem has been discussed a lot in this session. Take a moment and read the replies.

This issue has nothing to do with Attention Awareness Features.

It is an iOS issue.

All alerts volume is too low compared with Ringtones.

Just try this test and you will hear the volume difference between ringtone and text tone.

Settings, Sound & Haptics, Ringer and alerts volume all the way up and change with buttons OFF

Sounds and vibration patterns, Ringtone choose “Sonar” found in classic

Text Tone choose “Sonar” found in the bottom list “Ringtones”, and you will hear the volume difference between ringtones and Text Tone alert.

This issue has nothing to do with Bluetooth. It’s an iOS issue.

Just perform this test and hear from yourself.

Settings

Sounds & Haptics set Ringer & Alerts volume all the way up.

Set ringtone and alerts tone with the same sound.

Choose a loud sound like “Sonar” found in “Classics”

Ringtone “Sonar”

Text Tone “Sonar”

Now you can hear the difference in volume between ringtone and text tone.

”Sonar” in ringtone is very loud and “Sonar” in text tone is very quiet.

Remeber, it’s just a TEST

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 had the same issue. I turned off Bluetooth and then adjusted the notification sound settings and it began to work as expected. I can now hear my notifications.

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.

Hi Joey_Chan_HK,

From your post, it sounds like the notification sound on your iPhone 13 is low. Let's try the steps mentioned here: Adjust the volume on iPhone - Apple Support

Do you have Do Not Disturb enabled? Have you checked each app's settings individually to make sure that notifications are set correctly? Do you have a Bluetooth device connected to the iPhone? If so, let's double check to make sure the audio isn't being pushed to the Bluetooth device.

Take care.

Sorry, I can’t agree that it’s an iOS problem.

The iPhone’s 7, 8, and XS in the family have very audible notifications and ringtones.

The 13 I had briefly, was not as loud, and was returned to Apple Store. Here my 8 and XS was demonstrated against 13, and 13 Pro, and an Apple assistant witnessed, and finally agreed current models definitely not as loud.

All of these ran up to date iOS.