Attention Aware Features not lowering ringtone volume when iPhone is locked (iPhone 17 Pro)

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Attention Aware Features not lowering ringtone volume when iPhone is locked (iPhone 17 Pro)

Hi all,

I recently got a new iPhone 17 Pro and noticed that Attention Aware Features don't lower the ringtone volume when I look at the screen while the phone is locked. It works fine when the phone is unlocked, but when a call comes in and the phone is locked/face-up on a table, looking directly at it does not reduce the ringer volume as expected.

iPhone 17 pro & 12 pro

iOS version - 26.6.1

What I've already tried:

Confirmed Attention Aware Features is toggled ON in Settings

Restarted the phone

Checked Screen Distance is not interfering

Cleaned the TrueDepth camera/sensor area

Face ID itself works fine (unlocking, Apple Pay, Portrait mode selfies all work normally)

I've seen several similar threads from other users (iPhone 12 Pro through 16 Pro/Plus, iOS 17 through the latest updates) reporting the exact same issue — it seems to be a long-standing, unresolved problem rather than something specific to one device or iOS version.

Has anyone found a permanent fix for this? Or can an Apple moderator confirm if this is a known/tracked issue? Happy to provide more device details (iOS version, settings screenshots) if it helps troubleshoot.

Thanks in advance.

iPhone 17 Pro, iOS 26

Posted on Aug 19, 2026 6:20 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 19, 2026 7:08 AM in response to amitv9

You’ve already covered the usual troubleshooting. Apple’s current documentation says Attention Aware Features can lower the volume of alerts when you’re looking at the iPhone, including while the device is using the TrueDepth camera for attention detection.

I’m not aware of a user-accessible setting that controls this separately for the Lock Screen, so I wouldn’t reset the phone just for this.

Also, Apple Community moderators don’t confirm or track software bugs here. Since you can reproduce it consistently, I’d report it directly to Apple so they have the exact iPhone model, iOS version, and steps to reproduce.

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