Unable to hear Calendar notifications in iPhone

You might look at an app called Calarm.

Also, try changing the Calendar notification tone to something louder in Settings>Sound & Haptics>Calendar. I downloaded an army bugle notification that pretty much grabs me and anyone else in the room by the shoulders.

And finally, the more expensive solution. Get an Apple Watch. I find that the haptic alerts are unmissable (for me at least).

Rob Ehle wrote:

No to the Apple Watch (I’m already distracted enough by my phone—except for important appointments), but I’ll check out “Calarm.”

For what it's worth, one of the main ideas for the original watch was to minimize distractions. I find it really works. I only get a subset of notifications on the watch, the important ones. They are unobtrusive and, because the screen is smaller, less likely to lure me into something more. I don't pull out my phone to look at a notification and then end up spending the next ten minutes looking at my email. But it might not work that way for you.

Best of luck.

How about setting an alarm for the event start time (or before it). The Alarm sound is always loud.

OK, next try: create a Reminder to set the alarm, because you can specify a date and time to set the alarm.

Also see if you can create a loud enough reminder.

Rob Ehle wrote:

Thanks. This all makes sense. Other than the phone, though, I’m still more of an analog man—regular watch, physical books, vinyl, etc. I even used to have an app to dial my iPhone like an old-fashioned rotary! Definitely understand the utility of an Apple Watch, though.

Everyone is different. I'm in my sixties but I haven't owned a regular alarm clock or watch in at least twenty years. I love eBooks because I don't need reading glasses and a bright light to read them and I can take as many books as I want on vacation without an extra suitcase. I bought a house six years ago that doesn't even have copper wire or phone jacks for a landline. I didn't notice until someone else pointed it out to me.

I just thought of something else. There's a weird little service called "Dola AI" that you can link to your calendar and it will send you text messages about upcoming appointments. I've played around with it a bit but I admit to not having spent much time exploring it or its privacy policies.

https://heydola.com/