Ring/Silent switch acts on its own :-)

[AMACL]

Hello all,
I feel like I'm asking another stupid question, so let's hope there's a simple answer.
My husband and I both have iPhone 12s (that's the plural of 12, not a special model ). We both use official Apple phone cases - just the simple ones.

As far as I can tell, he has not programmed silent periods at night (or during the day for that matter). The issue is that the Ring/Silent switch on the side of the phone appears to turn itself to Silent without him doing anything. I understand that that was impossible, but that's what seems to be happening. As it's not my phone I don't know exactly how he uses it during the day, but I did check the settings (he's not very tech-savvy) and can't find anything amiss that might explain this behaviour.

Does anyone know how to fix this?

Thanks
Ann

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Is the ring/silent flipping to silent? Most phone cases protect that switch in such a way to avoid accidental toggling. However, not all cases are designed the same. So entirely possible that the phone coming in and out of the pocket is causing the toggle.

Might make a habit for briefly checking the state of the switch during the day to see if it's toggling and that might give an indication.

 

[MacInWin]

Does he have "Do Not Disturb" turned on? That silences the phone during the DND hours set. You should find it under "Focus" in Settings.

 

[Jimmysb]

Does he have "Do Not Disturb" turned on? That silences the phone during the DND hours set. You should find it under "Focus" in Settings.

Surely that does not toggle the physical switch on the side.

 

[IWT]

the Ring/Silent switch on the side of the phone appears to turn itself to Silent

But does it? Not being rude; what I mean is that "Silent Mode" can be actioned in other ways. @MacInWin made a very sensible and poignant remark: "Do Not Disturb" achieves much the same thing, and, more.

The action required to get DND on the iPhone 12 is the same as on newer iPhones:

Turn off Do Not Disturb – Apple Support (UK)

You can turn Do Not Disturb on or off in Control Centre, with Siri or in your Lock Screen gallery.

support.apple.com

If we rule out any such action, and/or the toggle switch IS being moved to Silent, then, for the moment, I can only agree with Moderator Ashwin in Post #2. I can't think of any other way this could happen. (Wrong, see below)

Ian

 

[IWT]

Addendum: Read this:

Quick Fix iPhone Silent Switch Keeps Changing [8 Ways]

Are you eager to fix iPhone silent mode that keeps switching on and off? Here are some possible fixes that can get rid of the iPhone silent switch keeps changing.

www.tenorshare.com

Ian

 

[ferrarr]

If none of the above resolve this issue, you both could also switch phones for one day to test?

 

[MacInWin]

Nothing moves the switch from internal, only external. So, if the switch itself is actually moving, then it's something he is doing, or the case is doing. There is no "motor" to move the switch itself from inside the iPhone.

BUT, and this is what I was trying to say, there are multiple ways to "silence" the phone. DND is one, turning the volume all the way down is another. DND is a settign that he may or may not have set. I have DND set, and I noticed when I traveled that the DND timing seems to be set to universal time instead of local. That is, I want my iPhone on DND from 11 pm to 7 am, but when I travelled from US to UK, the DND stayed on EDT instead of BST. So my DND period shifted 5 hours to be 4 am to noon. Don't know why thst happens, but I just turned DND off for the trip.

The other way is to turn the volume down to zero. That's easy to accidently do as all it takes is a continuous press on the volume down button on the side. Easy to do in a pocket of trousers if there are also keys, coins, wallet, or anything else in there with the iPhone. Also easy to do just pulling the phone out of that pocket.

As for the case, if it slips loose a bit, it can press on the volume button, or move the mute key. I have a more rigid case that fits really tightly, so I only see that problem taking the case off or putting it on, but a looser or softer case can slip a bit and press the volume buttons.

 

[ferrarr]

See if anything here helps,

Time zone does not update automatically - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

 

[MacInWin]

See if anything here helps,

Time zone does not update automatically - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

The time zone did update. Just not DND. Not a big deal.

 

[Rod]

I think it's pretty clear the Sound On/Off switch cannot be physically turned off by any settings in the phone.
You can disable the side buttons in Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Change with Buttons but this does not disable the Sound On/Off switch. If the "Change with Buttons" is turned off the sound will be whatever you set on the slide bar but toggling the Sound On/Off switch to Off will still mute all sound on the phone.
So, if the switch is found to be unexpectedly off it can only be due to some sort of manual action.

 

[AMACL]

To all those who replied to my original post: abject apologies for not having responded to your questions and suggestions. I was used to Mac-Forums alerting me by e-mail when a reply arrived, and that didn't happen this time, I don't know why. And I was busy, so I didn't check back on the site until now.

Let me address the main issues:

@Raz0rEdge : Yes, that is exactly what seems to be happening : the ring/silent switch toggles to the "silent" position (where you see the red underneath).
Interesting about phone coming out of pocket: husband keeps his in pocket, I don't and this never happens to me. We used to have the same kind of case, the official Apple soft silicone one made specifically for the iPhone 12. I recently changed mine for a transparent case that is stiffer and perhaps more protective - if anything, it makes pressing the side button more difficult than with my previous case.

@ferrarr : If it's the case that is incriminated, we wouldn't necessarily know if we switched cases since I don't usually put mine in a pocket. And no way would we switch phones.

@MacInWin : I use Do Not Disturb, so I know how it works (though I turn it off and on manually at night without programming it for a specific hour). Husband has never wanted to use this feature. I did check and DND was not in use on his phone.
The idea of inadvertently turning the volume down is possible, but in this case the problem is specifically the (apparent random movement of the) Ring/Silent switch. The volume on his phone is normal when that switch is on Ring.

@Rod : I agree - but as we can't figure out what manual action might have triggered the switch off, since he swears he hasn't touched it, I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

So it remains a mystery, with a possible lead involving pocket gremlins fiddling with his phone .

Maybe a case that won't interfere with the button is a cheap fix. Husband now says he wants a new phone .

Thanks a bunch guys!

Ann