iPhone message tone notifications inconsistent

Wow! This is a great find. I turned off my Apple Watch, then turned off Bluetooth and magically SMS works perfectly. I just got the SMS code needed to log in for this forum normally.

For me this problem seems to be only SMS and not iMessages. I think some SMS come through to my Apple Watch, but not all. And when Watch is off, they seem to never alert. I called Apple and they seemed unaware of any problem. My case is still open, so I'm going to pass this on. Maybe they'll get it right by iOS 12 or 13.... 😐

IIt’s the same problem Apple had over six years ago and fixed. Tones are only heard over a Bluetooth device if it is connected - not on the iPhone speaker. It started when I updated the OS. I can turn off Bluetooth and get tones but I refuse to use a device without the hands free option Bluetooth provides.

Same here. Turn off BT in settings and everything works. Turn it back on and the notifications stop. What a pain.

I was having the same issue on my iPhone 8s iOS 11 and after turning off Bluetooth the sounds came back. It must be a flaw of the ios 11

Bluetooth seems to be the culprit here as correctly isolate by a few contributors. Switching OFF BT (from settings and not from control panel) restores sounds/notifications for messages/whatsapp etc and switching BT back on disables the sounds.

I'm having this issue too - STILL (iPhone X, iOS 11, up to date.) It's affecting text messages and phone (my phone doesn't ring, but I do usually get a voicemail notification - not much help...) It's about 90% of the time; with text messages I don't get a banner, a sound, or anything, just a badge.

My notification settings are all as they should be, including checking the sounds; DND is turned off, mute switch also off. I tried turning off bluetooth - magically the text notification worked again. After turning bluetooth back on, no text sound.

Fixing it by turning off bluetooth is a huge problem. I use my bluetooth for my watch, my echo, my headphones. Has anyone heard anything about a fix from apple? It's really frustrating.

What's even more annoying is that my phone just doesn't ring. Ever. There I am waiting for important calls and.... I get a voicemail notification. Brilliant....

edited: I also read this at appletoolbox, which I guess solves the question about why bluetooth is the fix. But it's annoying - my watch is usually on silent but with haptics, and I think it usually does buzz for messages (although it's hard to say for sure as I just can't remember)

"If your iPhone pairs to an Apple Watch, by design your paired iPhone does not chime when a new text arrives. Instead, Apple routes your alerts to your Apple Watch, especially when the iPhone is locked.

As of now, there is no option to play a sound alert on BOTH your Apple Watch and your iPhone at the same time. It’s one or the other, based on the locked status of your phone. The rule of thumb is if your phone is unlocked, notifications go to the iPhone. If your phone is locked, notifications go to your watch."

A successful fix:

I had tried all fixes here, No help. Then I tried

Context:

• iPhone 6S
• iOS 11.4.1
• No watch
• I have Do Not Disturb set to run on schedule (10pm-8am, all above experiments done around 3pm)
• I frequently use Bluetooth headphones, usually turn off BT at Settings.
• I occasionally use Personal Hotspot

(Edited: correct path to setting I diddled, Settings: Notifications: Reminders: Alert Sounds.)

I worked on several possible solutions just today when I lost my sound alerts then it finally came down to just sipp turning bluet off and back on. I’ve been getting text sounds ever since.

Do not forget to check if the "Do Not Disturb" option is active...

Same with you. I switch off my bluetooth then my alert tone are ok then. :)

I suspected Bluetooth is the culprit and when I have a device connected. It affects text and phone notifications. Notifications are coming through the device but not the phone. Which means if I take my headset off I am effectively on DND.

Come on!! Was this a new “ feature“??

Sometimes I want to take off the headset without disconnecting.

Faces with this problem too but followed the recommendations to off the bluetooth and managed to solve this problem. Is Apple doing anything about this? Cannot be the case where we do not use our bluetooth to connect other devices forever?

I too am having the same no notification tone alert when my phone screen is turned off after now updating to the new iOS 11.4 - I took someone else's advice and turned off the BT in settings and now it works perfectly normal....although now I can't use my watch properly or connect anything that needs BT without taking away the notification tones again. I hope the next update rolls out quickly to fix this - so unfortunate.

This worked for me. Turn off bluetooth and all my tones worked. Of course now my watch stopped working. Turned it back on and it continues to work. For how long i dont know yet.

OMG! I had do not disturb on somehow. iPhone X is so new to me I guess I thought it was night mode or something. thank you so much!!!!! Face palm moment for sure.