Silent switch stopped working. Anyone know why?

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Level 1

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Silent switch stopped working. Anyone know why?

Last night I set my iPhone's alarm to wake me up. Since then my phone's silent switch will not activate silent mode (doesn't even show the icon). The switch is not loose, cracked, or broken, but no matter which way I switch it, I still hear all my phone's sounds. This is especially awkward because I have Vibrate on so often I don't even recognize my ringtone. I turned Vibrate On in Silent mode in Settings, I double-tapped and held the icon to close the Clock app ... I even upgraded iOS and it made no difference. There must be something simple here, because these things don't just stop working.

I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!

iPhone 3GS, iOS 4.3.3

Posted on Jul 23, 2011 2:35 PM

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Answer 1

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brad805

Level 5

7,397 points

Jul 23, 2011 3:24 PM in response to jonvs

If you still have 1 year Warranty or AppleCare Coverage take iPhone to Apple for fix.

Your Question is a bit confusing. When you go into Settings>Sounds and turn Vibrate ON, does the iPhone vibrate. If it vibrates, then the Internal Switch of the Mute/Vibrate Button is broken. This is part of the Headphone Jack Flex Cable assembly. If it does not vibrate, then your Vibrate Motor is not working.

"Things most often just stop working, Immediately and without warning"

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Answer 2

jonvs Author

Level 1

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Jul 26, 2011 9:19 PM in response to brad805

Sorry for the confusing wording. Whether the switch was on or off, there was no vibrate. As I said, the icon overlay that normally appears when the switch is flicked did not appear.

For the record, AppleCare has expired for me.

I'm not entirely sure what I did, but the switch started working again. I will post back here if it stops working agian.

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Answer 3

Jul 1, 2012 2:28 PM in response to brad805

I know this is an old post but the silent button on my iPhone 4 has suddenly stopped doing what it should. It always uses to stop any ring or alert sounds and instead cause the phone to vibrate only. For some reason when I flip the switch now the icon that used to come up on the screen of a bell with a line through it doesn't. Similarly if I flip the switch back up, there is no icon of a bell. I found out because I had flipped the silent switch earlier today to stop the ringer coin off when the phone rang and yet it rang when a call came in. Any ideas?

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Answer 4

jonvs Author

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Jul 2, 2012 12:43 PM in response to Allez Epic

You've probably already explored this, but have you gone to Settings > General > Sounds, and set "Change with Buttons" to on?

My vibe switch just got so annoying I took the phone to the nearest Apple Store (three hours away). It turns out I was fortunate to have a 3GS, because the batteries for the 3GS aren't replaceable (the batteries for the 4 and 4S are), so Apple created a cheap 3GS replacement price in case anyone's battery died out of warranty. Because my phone, besides the switch, was in such good condition, they replaced my phone for the replacement rate, $75 CAD. It was a hardware malfunction, though. Since you don't see the little ringer bell, I'm guessing it's a software change.

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