iPhone 13 notification sound too low

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.

I have performed this exercise and others repeatedly on my iPhone 13ProMax.

In a quiet room, I set ringer and ANY other selected notification to the same tone. The ringer performs as it should. Any other notification set to the same ringtone it is barely audible.

It is an issue beyond my phone. If not fixed, I will have to return as audible Notifications are a necessity for me.

After ios 15.1 update my problem continues specifically with the gmail app. I don't have volume issues with what's app or Apple notifications.

With gmail installed by default i have no sound after ios 15, i have to go to the gmail app, my gmail account section, settings and select a tone, of course it doesn't matter which i choose all sound low.

Perhaps a Gmail (Google) issue? who knows...

I was thinking about giving the phone a clean ios 15.1 install but i don't think it will be worth.

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.

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.

I shouldn’t have to flip this switch, turn this knob or hold this button. (Which I did, and I use the default ring tone)

THE PHONE NOTIFICATIONS on my PHONE are low volume!! MY GAME SOUNDS I HEAR WITH NO PROBLEM!

FIX THIS!

The attention aware feature has nothing to do with the alerts low volume issue.

It something that will be fixed by Apple in future updates.

The attention aware features just lowers the notifications volume when you are looking at the phone. In certain situations it’s a cool feature, for example when you are reading something on the phone and suddenly you get a call. A sudden full volume blast might be disturbing for some people.

Same here absolutely fed up with not hearing my notification’s I will be returning my iPhone 13. How can apple ignore it’s customers on such a serious issue? Come on Apple don’t mess people about and fix this issue!

Apple sent in my new iPhone 13 in exchange for my 2 week old iPhone 13 due all the issues being brought up on this discussion. All seems ok so far . My maps still freeze up and messenger doesn’t let me know when I’m receiving incoming messages sometimes. Not as bad as when I had my first 13 . I’m thinking the messenger app is buggin and maps app have some type of bug also causing it to act up . Overall I’m satisfied so far .

The discussion here is only about the low volume alerts issue.

I’m almost sure that your iPhone 13 replacement has the low volume alerts issue too because it’s a iOS problem, not hardware.

This issue persists since iOS 14.

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.

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.

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!

My iPhone 13 arrived with Software version 15.0.2

my original phone issue was low notification . I set every sound setting to max level on my notifications but only received low sound notification or no sound at all . If I checked my phone I would see the messages there but never heard a sound . That was just one of the many issues I was having with my original iPhone 13 .

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.