With iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, Apple is adding a long-awaited improvement to the sound settings of the iPhone and iPad. For the first time, you can set the volume of ringtone, alarm clocks and notifications separately. This is especially useful if you prefer your ringtone to be a little softer, but want your alarm to go off at full volume, or if notifications should be less prominent without missing calls.
Until now, this was not possible on the iPhone, because ringtone and notifications were together under one volume control. With software update 27, that changes and each category gets its own setting, so you have much more control over the sounds on your device.
Set volume for ringtones, notifications and alarms
It has been possible for some time now to avoid accidentally adjusting the volume of your ringtone or alarm clock when using the volume buttons. As a result, the physical buttons only control media volume, such as videos, music and games, and do not affect call and notification volume. However, since iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, Apple has gone even further, giving you the option to set the volume separately for ringtones, alarm clocks, timers and (system) notifications.
- Open Settings on your iPhone or iPad
- Navigate to ‘Hear and feel’
- Set a desired volume in ‘Ringtone’
Turn off the ‘Change with buttons’ option to prevent the ringtone volume from being changed using your device’s physical volume buttons.
Set separate volume for alarms and notifications
- Open Settings on your iPhone or iPad
- Navigate to ‘Hear and feel’
- Disable the ‘Match ringtone volume’ option under ‘Alarms and Timers’
- Choose a desired volume with the slide switch
Repeat these steps for notifications by turning off the ‘Match ringtone volume’ option under the ‘Alerts and system sounds’ option.
If your iPhone is on silent, you won’t hear any sounds. You only hear it when the sound is on. This new feature may encourage you not to always put your iPhone on silent, but to leave the sound on and set specific items.