There are a number of different parts. Let’s address them one at a time.
Note: If anyone sees any errors below, please let me know and I’ll edit this.
Also note that this applies to iOS version 15 only. See elsewhere for other versions.
Silence Switch
When the Silence Switch is turned on, then no sounds are produced by your phone (except for alarms; see below). In other words, all ringers are silenced regardless of any other settings. If you want any ringers to work, do not turn the silence switch on.
Default Behaviors
The most basic settings are under Settings > Sounds and Haptics. The first two options are “Vibrate on Ring” and “Vibrate on Silent”. The first sets vibrate on/off when the silent switch is off and the second sets vibrate on/off when the silent switch is on. If both of these are turned off, then you will not get any vibration regardless of any other settings. If these are turned on, then you can override the behavior in various specific situations elsewhere as described below.
Also under Settings > Sounds and Haptics, you can scroll down to “Sounds and Vibration Patterns” where you can select the specific ringtone for various types of alerts (phone call. text, voicemail. email, etc). Selecting any of the listed alert types gives you the option to select the ringtone as well as a vibration pattern. Note that you can select None
as the option for either (or both) the ringtone or the vibration pattern, which would disable that for that specific alert type, with one exception: you cannot set the phone “Ringtone” to None
(you always have a ringtone).
Finally, note that you can also edit the ringtones and vibration patterns via Settings > Notifications > [app name] > Sounds for each installed app. You can also find the settings for apps through Settings > [app name] > Notifications > Sounds. For any third party apps, you must go through one of the “notifications” routes as only the built-in apps can be configured via “Sounds and Haptics”.
As I understand it, changing the settings for any app in any one of the above three locations changes it globally for that app in all three locations. They are all just different ways to get to the same set of options.
Custom Ringtones per Contact
You can also set a custom ringtone/vibration pattern and text tone/vibration pattern for an individual contact from within Contacts. Find the specific person, edit the contact and select “Ringtone” or “Text Tone” to edit. Again, you can set vibrate to None
or choose a pattern. While you can set the “text tone” ringer to None
, you cannot do so for a phone ringtone. This will override the systemwide behavior for that specific contact only.
Focus Modes/Do Not Disturb
Note: “Do not disturb” was a feature in older versions of iOS. As of version 15, “do not disturb” is simply one of many possible Focus Modes, which can be renamed/deleted/edited just like any other focus mode.
You can override many of the previously mentioned settings via a focus mode. To configure a focus mode, go to Settings > Focus > [mode name]. However, be aware that you can only disable an alert/ringer/vibration. You cannot enable one which is disabled elsewhere (for example in the “Notification” settings). It is also important to recognize that a focus mode disables everything except what you specifically enable within that mode.
For example, my “Sleep” focus mode has “Allowed Notifications” set to “People > None allowed” and “Apps > None allowed”. Therefore, when my phone is in sleep mode, my phone will never ring/vibrate. If I wanted to allow phone calls, I would open “Apps” and select the “Phone” app. However, if I only wanted to allow calls from three people, I would open “People” and select those three people from my list of contacts. Note that under “People” you also have options to allow calls from “Favorites” or specific groups of people (from your Contact Groups). There are also options for “Everyone” or “All Contacts”. “Everyone” literally means every person who calls you, while “All Contacts” restricts the calls to only those from numbers in your list of Contacts.
Finally, their is the “Allow Repeated Calls” option, which, when enabled, allows a person to call a second time within three minutes to override the silenced ringer. Unless you have problems with people abusing this feature, I recommend always leaving that option on so that your loved ones can always get ahold of you in an emergency.
Silence Unknown Callers
Under Settings > Phone there is also the “Silence Unknown Callers” option. If this option is enabled, then regardless of how any other settings are configured, your phone will not ring when you receive a call from a number which is not listed in your contacts. This makes for an easy way to screen your calls. However, if you expect to receive important business calls from people not listed in your contacts, you will want to make sure this option is turned off.
Blocked Contacts
You can add callers to a global list of blocked callers from various places (for example from the list of recent calls). If a number is listed on that list, then your phone will never ring when you receive a call from that number. If you need to remove a number from that list (or otherwise edit the list) you can get to if via Settings > Phone > Blocked Contacts.
Alarms
Note that alarms are not controlled by any of the settings mentioned here. They will still make noise regardless of any of these settings. You must control alarms from the clock app only (I don’t think you can disable them from Notifications). I simply mention them here for completeness.