No notification sounds after new iOS 26 update on my Iphone

My iPhone 15 on iOS 26.1 caused text tones to stop periodically. I tried everything. Apple Support said “go to Settings/Apps/Messages and turn OFF ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS then restart iPhone then turn ON ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS. I did and all is well now. I hope text tones stay normal.

I had this same problem. In fact, there was no sound when I plugged a charging cable into my iPhone 13 Pro Max (despite not having Focus activated and not having the mechanical silence switch on red). I toggled "Allow Notifications" off and on, plus hard rebooted, as suggested above. Message alert sounds started working again. Apple needs to do better.

Cupcake_234 wrote:

Umm…..Well ur other post says that u have an iPhone 11. So what phone do you actually have?? An iPhone 15 or an iPhone 11???

[Edited by Moderator]

I have checked the user’s profile, and they have only posted about an iPhone 15. I would recommend a force restart:

1. Press the volume up then down quickly
2. Then hold the side power button until the screen goes black with an apple logo in the middle
3. See if notification sounds stay on

Please note that Apple have a lot of problems to fix in the next few updates and hopefully, they fix this problem (if the force restart didn’t work)

Sound came back for all notifications (phone calls, messages, etc) when I went to Settings - Notifications - Messages and turned “Allow Notifications” off and on. I suspect it isn’t related to the Messages app and could be turned off and on in any app’s notification settings.

It seems that what you are experiencing is actually wrong with the system and not just the wrong setup—especially because the sound only returns after switching the Silent Switch and then disappears again randomly. This behavior has appeared with some iOS updates in the past years, and is often caused by a bug in:

Audio Routeing

Notification Center

Or a change in the behavior of the mute button + Focus Modes

Let's try to address the issue with proven steps, and explain what you can do until Apple issues a formal repair.

✅

First: Make sure the problem isn't from the settings (although it really looks like a bug)

1. Disable/Activate Full Focus Mode

Sometimes a bug occurs that causes iOS to enter “silent” mode without showing it.

Go to:

Settings → Focus

Temporarily suspend all modes

Stop sharing across devices

Try sending yourself a message

2. Make sure that the notification tone doesn't change automatically

After some updates, the sound of the notification changes and becomes “None”.

Go to:

Settings → Sounds & Haptics → Text Tone

And make sure it's not on 'None'

And try to choose another tone and test it.

3. Disable “Deliver Quietly”

Sometimes iOS puts the notification on silent mode unintentionally Quiet.

Swipe left on the message notification

Select Deliver Prominently

✅

Advanced steps to reset the notification and voice system

4. Reset system settings (does not erase your data)

Fixes a lot of voice and focus errors.

Settings → General → Transfer or Reset → Reset → Reset all settings

This won't delete photos or conversations, but it returns:

Audio Settings

The network

Bluetooth

Notifications

Home Screen Settings

In 90% of cases, random voice problems are fixed.

5. Disable “Attention Aware Features”

This feature lowers the volume when Face ID recognizes your face.

Settings → Face ID & Attention → Stop Attention Aware Features

Many users have confirmed that they cause strange behavior in the sound of notifications after certain updates.

6. Make sure it's not AirPods/Bluetooth

If the device “thinks” that Bluetooth speakers are connected, the notification audio will be sent there instead of the speaker.

Pull Control Center

Make sure Bluetooth is not connected

Open “Settings → Bluetooth” and make sure there is no device active

I have this problem too. After work, I turn on mobile internet on my iPhone 15 Plus and there is no notification sound. According to Chatgpt: This is typically the case when the iOS Notification Service daemon (process name: UserEventAgent + SpringBoard) does not reinitialize the audio notification subsystem when the system goes from “offline” to “cellular online”.

This is a bug that is sometimes triggered by the network driver (modem firmware) or Apple Push Notification Service (APNS) reconnecting incorrectly.

By any chance are you using an Apple Watch as if you have notifications coming through on your watch they will not sound on your phone as well . I contacted support and got told this.

I have the same problem (my ice cream from a grocery delivery was sitting on my porch for fifteen minutes because of it!) and I noticed when I swiped left to delete the conversation there was a bell icon with a slash through it. I clicked on it and removed the slash but since I deleted the conversation I don’t know if it will do anything.

I’ve read someone’s post that Apple support said that if you turn off notifications under messages, restart the phone, and then turn the messages back on that the problem will be fixed. I tried it without success.

je_vitale wrote:

Any idea when this will be fixed?

This is a user-to-user forum. No one from Apple is participating here.

Have you contacted support? You can use the link at the bottom left of every page of the forum.

If you just want to let Apple know hwat you're seeing, use the feedback page:

Product Feedback - Apple

Found out the phone had switched onto silent mode and I definitely didn’t do that but since I toggled the switch on the side of my phone, everything works! Crazy!

I just did the iOS 26 update last weekend and was frustrated with the lack of sounds for notifications. I stumbled on a site with a checklist - which I won't link to due to being heavily ad-infested - and one of the checklist items was to toggle the Silent switch. That worked, but it looks like you did this already.

My phone would go into silent mode after a restart, even though the Silent switch was turned off. I had to toggle it again to get notification sounds.

My phone is an iPhone 14 Pro with iOS 18 prior to the update. I did the update to make AirPods v4 work as a video microphone and camera remote, which also took some time to enable, but was able to get that working.

So you did this and then it went silent again afterward?

I have the same problem, and it's driving me nuts (14 Pro). It's not even consistent - sometimes when I receive a text it will sound, other times nothing, and other times it vibrates but there's no sound. It's the same with notifications - the screen lights up, but no sound. If I receive a call it will sometimes ring, sometimes not.

I've owned iPhones for over 15 years, and I have NEVER had such a major screw-up as this. Apple need to sort this out NOW!!

There's a list of bug reports: Me and many other users have issue with push notifications. To reproduce this you should do this steps:

1. Lock iPhone and make it idle for 10+ minutes;
2. Send any message from other device via third-party app that uses push notifications (WhatsApp, Telegram and etc.);
3. After few attempts you can see, that messages don't deliver. They delivers immediately when I unlock iPhone or go to the app.

This bug reproduces on iOS 18.7.1 and 26.0.1. As I think iPhone goes to deep sleep after 10+ minutes after it locked and don't get push notifications. I've tried everything: many of settings, DFU without backup, but nothing helps to resolve this issue. Pay attention, please, cause this bug is very annoying and present on iOS 18.7.1 (that is the last for many devices) and latest iOS 26. 

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that fix did not work for me. by the 2nd day after doing this it happened again. seems to be something they need to fix with an update. i wish they would figure it out and get it done. i'm now in the habit of after turning my phone on and letting it boot up, i hit one of the volume buttons(up or down) and see if it's red "silent", some days it's fine, some days it's not. when it is in silent i toggle the mute switch back and then forward again to turn the sound back on. then it seems to last for the day until next morning when powering up. shouldnt have to check my volume buttons every morning to see if it is in silent mode 🙄... and like my other post, even when sound is working, i'll still randomly not get any notification for some text messages, not just sound, but no visual notification either. this has been going on too long