iPhone has not been ringing for 2 years

[Infernoqt]

Obvious problem is obvious. One of those apps you opened is at fault here. What I recommend is close out all apps from the Switcher. Then hard restart your iPhone. Open ONE app at a time; test a call. If you get good rings, then CLOSE that app and try the next. And so on. It could be a combination of apps also. Do one at a time. If no dice, then try pairs.

Other thing to do is check App Store reviews for your prime suspects. If others are complaining about this with that app developer, well there ya go.

I need some rest before another round of testing. You wouldn't believe how mentally exhausting it is. I will do as you said.

If I was to rely on my feelings it's one of those: Apple Music, YouTube or one of my streaming apps (Netflix, HBO etc.) As you noticed I love movies so I have them all that are avaliable in my region. I do also have 3 cloud (4 with iCloud) storages where I store my data. I am used to have everything online and accessible from everywhere.

I removed all apps (not many, but 3 or 4) that were outdated. As you wrote to read review on App Store I exactly did it. And I was also looking when an app was last time updated.

 

[pdoherty]

It’s also silly that this and other simple basic-function bugs still persist. It seems to relate to using “do not disturb” to silence, and un-silence, the phone at night/morning.

The way I get around this is to navigate to Settings/Audio & Haptics and simply adjust the volume slider up or down a bit, then turn the phone off (just press the button on the side of the phone, not shut it down). That will usually get it working again.

 

[Monika_B]

I have this problem too. I thought I was going crazy you never know when your phone ain't gonna ring. I got pissed so much that one day I just picked up android phone and worked on him. But I was presented an Apple watch on Christmas so I returned to iPhone and now my watch notify me when I have call. I can't rely on iPhone anymore.

 

[Infernoqt]

I have this problem too. I thought I was going crazy you never know when your phone ain't gonna ring. I got pissed so much that one day I just picked up android phone and worked on him. But I was presented an Apple watch on Christmas so I returned to iPhone and now my watch notify me when I have call. I can't rely on iPhone anymore.

I know there is more people out there fighting with this. The problem is we are fighting alone instead of coming together be loud and let Apple know about it.

 

[smirking]

Hey @Infernoqt, I may have gotten closer to solving my years long issue that's somewhat similar to yours. Mine's the issue with Siri vanishing on me after a few minutes of turn by turn directions. I took your inferred suggestion to force quit all of my apps first. I did that and for the first time in a long time I was actually able to get voice directions while driving.

I'm not celebrating yet though. I'll want to see it stay healthy for a few drives before I get comfortable. FWIW, I'm still of the belief it's a likely software conflict so the next step will be to zero in on the most likely culprits and force quit those only.

 

[Infernoqt]

Hey @Infernoqt, I may have gotten closer to solving my years long issue that's somewhat similar to yours. Mine's the issue with Siri vanishing on me after a few minutes of turn by turn directions. I took your inferred suggestion to force quit all of my apps first. I did that and for the first time in a long time I was actually able to get voice directions while driving.

I'm not celebrating yet though. I'll want to see it stay healthy for a few drives before I get comfortable. FWIW, I'm still of the belief it's a likely software conflict so the next step will be to zero in on the most likely culprits and force quit those only.

To be honest I am absolutely scared to leave any apps open. I don't want to miss any calls so I close them all regularly. I'm on the edge of switching to android which I did not want at first but I am losing my love to the phones now. Just because I am afraid to open apps.

 

[Infernoqt]

Well I have a big update. When I transfer ALL my data to iPhone 7 and set the phone as I am used to everything works fine. Not even single 1 missed call. I can open as many apps as I want and no missed calls. This is impossible for me to do on 14 pro max... Which makes this phone almost unusable. I am very limited for work, can't open a few apps without fear my phone will not be ringing later.

 

[opkkkk]

I had the same problem and was already planning to go to a phone store to fix it

 

[Infernoqt]

I had the same problem and was already planning to go to a phone store to fix it

Have you find any solution? Because I am nearly 100 % convinced I tried everything. I've visited store and got not 1, not 2 but 3 software reinstallations. I also created new Apple ID and only, ONLY solution for me so far was to close all apps after I use them. I spent days of testing. DAYS!

I came to a conclusion either I give up on iPhones and switch to android or I will buy Apple Watch. And I personally hate wearing watches. And yet I am not sure if the Apple Watch will ring if my phone doesn't.

 

[Infernoqt]

Obvious problem is obvious. One of those apps you opened is at fault here. What I recommend is close out all apps from the Switcher. Then hard restart your iPhone. Open ONE app at a time; test a call. If you get good rings, then CLOSE that app and try the next. And so on. It could be a combination of apps also. Do one at a time. If no dice, then try pairs.

Other thing to do is check App Store reviews for your prime suspects. If others are complaining about this with that app developer, well there ya go.

Well I missed a call from a food delivery which pissed me off. So I sit down with my phone and started another testing session.

It took me 12 (!) F* hours and guess what. I haven't figured out anything. My iPhone will NOT ring everytime I open some apps. It doesn't matter which one. The last time I had Safari, YouTube and Twitter in background and it wasn't ringing. So I closed Instagram and phone started ringing again. After a while phone stopped ringing again so I closed YouTube and it started ringing again.

So only solution is to keep all my apps closed. This is not why I have such an expensive device. I'm going to buy a Samsung with my next paycheck. There is actually no solution how to make iPhone ring.

-----

This is interesting... When you download an app like Microsoft SwiftKey, there is like 20 % chance your iPhone WILL NOT ring even if you have all apps closed (nothing left in the background).

It looks like iOS is not able to handle apps that you download from APP store. YouTube, Instagram, Netflix, HBO, even Messenger. Like you can have only pre-installed iOS apps.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Well I missed a call from a food delivery which pissed me off. So I sit down with my phone and started another testing session.

It took me 12 (!) F* hours and guess what. I haven't figured out anything. My iPhone will NOT ring everytime I open some apps. It doesn't matter which one. The last time I had Safari, YouTube and Twitter in background and it wasn't ringing. So I closed Instagram and phone started ringing again. After a while phone stopped ringing again so I closed YouTube and it started ringing again.

So only solution is to keep all my apps closed. This is not why I have such an expensive device. I'm going to buy a Samsung with my next paycheck. There is actually no solution how to make iPhone ring.

-----

This is interesting... When you download an app like Microsoft SwiftKey, there is like 20 % chance your iPhone WILL NOT ring even if you have all apps closed (nothing left in the background).

It looks like iOS is not able to handle apps that you download from APP store. YouTube, Instagram, Netflix, HBO, even Messenger. Like you can have only pre-installed iOS apps.

This is a problem unique to you. BTW.... have you checked your Focus/DND settings?

 

[Infernoqt]

This is a problem unique to you. BTW.... have you checked your Focus/DND settings?

There is no real fix to this problem but don't install any new apps and don't leave them open in background.

I've been an iPhone user for most part of my life I wouldn't do so basic mistake by leaving focus mode on. This happens occassionally. You miss every 2nd or 3rd call just because the phone stops ringing itself after 1 second. And it affects ALL types of calls (phone call, messenger, skype, whatsapp even facetime). It doesn't affect alarms (fortunatelly) so I am able to wake up.


I actually made tests on 4 different iPhones and 3 of them were 14 pro max (one 12 pro). All of them stopped ringing. There must be something more that is preventing my iPhone to ring but I just can't figure it out. It makes me feel iPhone can't handle apps you download or leave running in background.

I am used to close all apps after I use them now. Once I was on the road so I forget to do so and I received a call on which my phone didn't notify me (no sound). There was 7 apps I left in the background (notes, calendar, safari, twitter, instagram, youtube and messenger). I returned home and started calling myself to see which app was preventing my phone to ring. After I closed Instagram my phone started ringing again. Next 8 calls were fine with sound but the 9th went silent again. And since then I missed every 2nd or 3rd call again (like there was something stacking in the background while I was calling myself). So I closed youtube and phone started ringing again for the next 8 to 10 calls and then again it stopped ringing for every 2nd or 3rd call. So I closed all the remaining apps and next 20 calls were fine - all with sound. This is no coincidence. There is something (software related issue) that is preventing my phone to ring. And it drives me crazy. With the next paycheck I swear I am switching to Samsung.

 

[Infernoqt]

Ringtone cuts off after 1 second (for every type of call).

I dare to say I made all possible things to sort this out. Turned true depth camera off, attention awareness feature off, refresh apps in background off, siri off I even created new Apple ID on which problem occured again. This is definitelly a software related issue since you notice no problem when you use ONLY iphone native apps (no apps downloaded from app store).

And there is good, very, very good example. App like SwiftKey is definitelly one of the worst apps that is preventing your phone to ring. It requires full access enabled and when you give it then it doesnt matter if you close all apps in background or not. Your phone might not ring at all.

----

And very important point. The problem doesn't occur on iPhone 7 (which was actually 5th iPhone I tested it). I tried so hard but I couldn't replicate the issue on iPhone 7.

 

[Infernoqt]

Screw it. Apple is the most useless brand in the world. You can do everything with their iPhones but calling. I feel really stupid I bought 14 pro max. Such a downgrade. Impossible to receive a call on iPhone.

 

[Infernoqt]

Even Apple support werent able to help. I ended up selling my 14 PM and ordered S23 ultra. Never thought I would switch to android and here I am. iPhone's just don't ring. No matter how much you try.

 

[Infernoqt]

It's probably a little too late now, but have you tried disabling "Attention Aware Features" in Face ID and Passcode Settings? iPhone will lower the volume of ringtones, alarms, and alerts when it thinks that someone is looking at the screen. (Emphasis on "thinks" - it easily gets fooled.)

The fact that it worked on the iPhone 7 (which doesn't have Face ID) suggests that this could be the issue.

Yea, I swear I made all possible steps and spend days trying to figure this out.

Since January
- I made 5 factory resets, 3 from Apple
- turned attention aware feature off
- turned face ID and passcode off
- uninstalled all apps that could be uninstalled
- exchanged 2 iPhones
- created new Apple ID (started from the scratch)

I was looking for a culprit with Apple support for 4 months without success. I told them from the beggining that's a global issue. Just search "iPhone ringtone cutting off" and you see tons of threads from tons of people experiencing the same issue. But Apple support isn't Apple itself.

I replicated the issue on 4 (!!) different devices. You can replicate this too. Here is how:

- open YouTube, play video, stop video and return to home screen
- open Music, play music, stop music and return to home screen
- open (Netflix, HBO MAX, Disney+, Apple TV... whatever streaming platform you have) and play video, stop video, return to home screen
- open Instagram (play stories/video) stop video and return to home screen
- open Twitter, play video, stop video, and return to home screen

And now... do all these steps once again. Once you're done, turn off display and call yourself a few times. Your phone will not ring or it will ring for 2 seconds, then it will go fully silent.

This is hard way and 100% accurate how to replicate the issue. In my case YouTube and YouTube Music was enough to stop my phone fron ringing.

I spend days trying to find out which app is preventing my phone to ring and then after factory reset I noticed you don't need to install any apps. You can replicate this issue just via Safari and Apple TV and Apple Music. Play and stop music a few times and your iPhone will stop ringing.

And another thing. This issue occured on iPhone 12 pro first. All models (13 and 14 are "infected") I have iPhone 7 and everything works fine there.

Btw, if you put your phone face down, there is much bigger chance your phone will not ring.

 

[jaworq]

What is the app you're using on that YT video on the second screen? I tried reproducing the issue you mentioned but I used Whatsapp and regular phone call (via my sim card) and it worked fine. My phone rings, it only lowers the volume of the ring when I take my phone into hand.

 

[Infernoqt]

I'm not sure I did understand what you're asking (about "second screen"). I reproduced it very easily.

In this video (recorded myself) you can see a classic call in which a ringtone gets cut off within 2 seconds. When this occurs you miss a call since you hear no notification sound that would allert you somebody is calling.

Note: If you have nothing running in background, your phone should ring fine (unless you use any 3rd party keyboard like Microsoft SwiftKey). Once you start opening apps like Instagram, Twitter, YouTube (all those that can reproduce sound) there is immediately risk your phone will not ring on incoming call.

The procedure I described above should be a 100% guarantee to reproduce the problem on your phone as well.

 

[jaworq]

"Second screen" - I saw you'r camera pointing at some other screen than your iPhone. And you used some kind of app there. I think it's better to test with some other phone and call via regular cellular.

Well, I just reproduced your procedure step by step on my iPhone 13 standard. I have used the apps you mentioned. 2 circles as you wrote. And my phone rings just fine ;D

Then I took my girlfriend's iPhone 14 Pro and did the same thing on her phone. The only difference is she don't have twitter and anything like Netflix, HBO, Apple TV. And her phone also rings fine.

Can you check below things in your account?
1. Settings > [your iCloud user] > Name, Phone Numbers, Email > "Contactable AT" - how many number and emails do you have here configured? When I click "Edit" and i click "i" button next to my number it says "Deregister Number to Remove" - it means my number is registered. Do you have the same thing?
2. Settings > Phone > My Number - do you have 1 correct number here?
3. Messages > Send & Recieve > how many numbers here? Are they correct here? You know that if you add more numbers here your account is probably "watched" by someone else? They receive same calls and messages as you.
4. Also, maybe you're connected to some device via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi ?

Let me know about these and we will check further.

 

[Infernoqt]

Appreciate your reply. I always thought the culprit is youtube/music and streaming services.

I actually sold my phone unfortunately, but I am not satisfied with android as I thought I will be. Since I am in a return period I am thinking about switching back but this time I will start from the scratch with new Apple ID. I should know more within a week or so.

 

[jaworq]

I noticed a lot of weird apps on your screen ;D I know you probably want to use them but try setting them up at least as "Background App Refresh = OFF". I think your issue is caused by one of the Apps you installed.

I also remember someone mentioned that 1 option in Settings > Mobile Data > [scroll all the way down] > Wi-Fi Assist: they suggested to turn it OFF. It could also mess up with the ringing (from what I heard)

Videos from these guys teached me a lot about iOS. I know you already know stuff from that video but just wanted to share with you 1 example from their channel:

Fingers crossed for fixing your issue.

 

[Infernoqt]

"Second screen" - I saw you'r camera pointing at some other screen than your iPhone. And you used some kind of app there. I think it's better to test with some other phone and call via regular cellular.

Well, I just reproduced your procedure step by step on my iPhone 13 standard. I have used the apps you mentioned. 2 circles as you wrote. And my phone rings just fine ;D

Then I took my girlfriend's iPhone 14 Pro and did the same thing on her phone. The only difference is she don't have twitter and anything like Netflix, HBO, Apple TV. And her phone also rings fine.

Can you check below things in your account?
1. Settings > [your iCloud user] > Name, Phone Numbers, Email > "Contactable AT" - how many number and emails do you have here configured? When I click "Edit" and i click "i" button next to my number it says "Deregister Number to Remove" - it means my number is registered. Do you have the same thing?
2. Settings > Phone > My Number - do you have 1 correct number here?
3. Messages > Send & Recieve > how many numbers here? Are they correct here? You know that if you add more numbers here your account is probably "watched" by someone else? They receive same calls and messages as you.
4. Also, maybe you're connected to some device via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi ?

Let me know about these and we will check further.

Well, so far I checked all these settings on my old iPhone 7 and everything is correct. I mean I use only one number and have no connected devices to it.

The problem first time occured on iPhone 12 pro. It happened suddenly and after nearly 1 year that I had that device (could be after update). I was removing apps one by one trying to figure out what is causing this (that my phone is not ringing).

Later I bought iPhone 14 PM and the problem continued there also. Unfortunatelly I was the one with faulty LG display so I returned the phone and they gave me the brand new 14 PM. And the problem occured once again.

I thought the problem must be on iCloud that's why I visited store and they completely erased my phone and suggested to start from the scratch (not to download anything from iCloud). I set the phone as new and within two days the problem occured once again. So I visited the store again and we made another test (we actually reset my phone 5 times overally).

When we could not find the culprit I started testing it myself. I even created a new Apple ID, started again from the scratch and I was opening apps one by one and constantly calling myself. It took me days until I finally found out that no apps are faulty. It just something that is stacking behind. Just like cache. And when a ringtone is about to start those cache will prevent it from ringing (or they will cut off the ringtone within two seconds).

That's how I found out you need to close all apps after you use them. YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Safari, it all keeps stacking in the background and once you exceed some limit your phone will stop ringing.

I really spent days of testing and long hours on phone will Apple Support.

As I love iOS and iPhone (I am a long time user) this was a breaking point for me to try android.

I see myself buying Apple Watch in the end. And yet I hope they will ring.

Edit: iPhone 7 will ring everytime I call myself. No matter what app I install on it, no matter what I open. I tried so much to reproduce the problem there and I have never been successful. But I reproduced it on 4 different devices (12 pro and 3x 14 pro max)... which makes me think it could be an update related issue. iPhone 7 is running on 15.7.

 

[jaworq]

I see you have much more problems with iPhones that just ringing xD

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...es-across-screen-when-phone-wakes-up.2373974/

 

[Infernoqt]

I see you have much more problems with iPhones that just ringing xD

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...es-across-screen-when-phone-wakes-up.2373974/

Yeah, that was the first one I returned. But it wasn't ringing either.

To be totally honest, iPhone 14 pro (max) series had more issues than I ever seen with Apple. Iphone was randomly restarting when plugged to wireless charging, LG based display had screen issues (there are two types of display with about 85 % from Samsung and 15 % from LG), many people reported a screen burning issue (especially around a dynamic island) and also notifications and ringtone sound issues. I am glad I can say I went throught all of it.

 

[Infernoqt]

I see you have much more problems with iPhones that just ringing xD

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...es-across-screen-when-phone-wakes-up.2373974/

My new iPhone 14 PM just arrived. It's the 4th already. And gotta say this one feels different. Don't know if that's just me but it definitelly feels smoother than the previous 3 models.

But! This one has a pink/red tint on the right side. It's noticeable only at low brightness. If that won't change I am ok with it.

I am not gonna start calling myself again and again like an idiot. I just ordered Apple Watch and that's hopefully end of my worries.