Can I mute the shutter sound for Japanese iPhones on iOS 17?

Yes you can. Depends on your circumstances.

I do not quite understand why "apple recommends" such answers as "No you can not turn the sound off". Maybe the moderators aren't actually capable in this discussion's technical issue, but you can turn it off. If you buy japanese iphone and use it outside of Japan with local sim-card the iphone will recognise that you are not in Japan so the shutter sound will work according to global standarts. Today I had just the same issue, bought japanese iphone 15 pro max in Russia, turned it on - shutter sound cannot be turned off. But right after I injected the local sim-card it worked fine, after it checked geolocation.

Obviously if I will travel to Japan the sound will return.

Furthermore I've received info that starting from iPhone 14 and iOs 16 it doesn't matter where you've bought the iPhone but if you visit Japan all phones will make shutter sound based on your location. It matters for me as I travel to Japan often.

So I tried to find some official info, but all I get by now is the "Apple Recommends" marks on the incorrect replys to the simple question. So my hopes to find the right answer to the more complicated one are obviously down after that. Seems it was too hard to put it in minimalistic manner as they usually do in official guidelines, so it was scrapped and we are left with forums.

Thank you. But if you still know about iPhones bought&produced in other countries and them being switched to "Japan mode" with shutter sound always while in Japan, please reply🙏

Also posting the model below. (I don't know why the settings model code differs from the type-c charger inscribed code).

I recently purchased an iPhone 15 Pro Max in Japan, which I am now using in Norway. When I activate "Live Photo," the shutter sound disappears, but there is still a beep after taking the picture.

If I switch the phone to silent mode, there is no sound at all when taking photos, regardless of whether "Live Photo" is activated.

I hope this puts any concerns to rest.

Kind regards,

Hugo Berg Otterlei

No, it's not. And if Apple made this change in iOS 15, it wasn't widely reported, so as far as we knew, we were correct in saying the shutter sound cannot be muted, regardless of location, because that's how it was for many years.

Not true. Bought japanese iphone today, launched it with russian sim in russia and it worked fine. Without the sim yes - cannot be turned off, location Japan - cannot be turned off, otherwise can be turned off.

Please post the model number of the iPhone you purchased.

Settings > General > About > Model

EDIT: I've just read that other people are suggesting that changing the SIM when outside Japan does permit someone to mute the camera shutter sound. This is news I simply was not aware of, but it evidently requires an iPhone which can run iOS 15 or higher. So, it does appear you may well be correct.

No. You can not.

Phones manufactured for specific markets have features, such as the camera shutter sound, which cannot be eliminated, regardless of where you live and will use the phone.

Found out that if you click model in "about" menu it changes to A3105. So yes, (Canada, Guam, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and U.S. Virgin Islands)

is it the same for 15pro Japanese version?

shamil277 wrote:

is it the same for 15pro Japanese version?

Yes, of course it is. It's a requirement for ALL phones (regardless of model or manufacturer) made for the Japanese market.