Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Disable annoying physical Do Not Disturb switch

petekjohnson

petekjohnson

macrumors member
Original poster
May 24, 2012
67
29
Springfield, MO
This is a problem I've been having for a while now that is both ridiculously trivial and insanely annoying, and where so far I'm not having much luck finding any real fixes for it. I'm referring to the tiny “Silent Mode” / “Do-Not-Disturb” (“Focus”) switch that has been on the left side of most iPhones for some time now, just above the Volume Up and Down buttons (the switch that slides and which shows a sliver of orange when engaged). I've had lots of problems with accidentally, inadvertently switching into Silent/Do-Not-Disturb mode without intending to, and aside from a tiny little HUD alert that disappears after a few seconds, there's really nothing that lets me know when I've done this. When this happens, I suddenly don’t get alert sounds when I have new messages, whether it's “Messages”, or Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or Signal, etc. (I also stop hearing various other things, but I only care right now about the message notification sounds for purposes of this post.) I don’t get a lot of incoming phone calls most of the time, but I have occasionally also missed some due to my phone never having rung, even when I was sitting right next to it, which I am going to chalk up to being just another symptom of this switch having been engaged by accident.

I chatted with an agent with Apple Support, and she was very friendly and tried to he helpful, but as I am basically going to define this issue as a hardware design flaw, there wasn’t a lot she could really suggest. She had me verify what certain settings were in Settings > Sounds & Haptics and Do Not Disturb (or Focus, as is my case since I am on iOS 15 beta) but all of my sound and volume settings were exactly where I wanted them to be and expected them to be.

What I was hoping the Apple Support person I chatted with could help me with, and now what I’m hoping someone reading this can help me with, is just some kind of down-and-dirty hack (for example, a device profile I could install) that would simply disable the Silent Mode/Do-Not-Disturb switch on the side of the phone entirely. There are 55 different ways to turn it on and off without using the physical switch at all, either in iOS or using Siri (and probably others I don’t know about), but I personally just do not have a lifestyle where I even NEED to have an affirmatively activated Do-Not-Disturb mode at all, let alone a need to toggle between depending on what I’m doing. I just want to make it STOP getting switched into Do Not Disturb, ever.

I have iMazing, which has an included Profile Editor for creating your own device profiles (not only for iOS but also tvOS and macOS) but I haven't been able to find any templates that include anything that would let you disable a button or switch or something of that sort. I haven't looked into Apple Configurator 2 yet, but my guess is that it probably has the same sort of features and templates and areas it lets you configure, and others it does not.

So, does anyone out there know of the existence of a iPhone device profile that allows one to disable a specific hardware switch or button, specifically the Do-Not-Disturb / Silent Mode switch? Of of any particular app that can generate such a profile? or any snippet of text that could be inserted into a text file and saved as a profile? Or, any apps or utilities from anywhere that would let me disable this stupid switch???

As I said at the start, this is very trivial but also extremely annoying. Much help is greatly appreciated.

Best wishes and warmest regards,
Pete
 
Just to be clear, it's the "ringer". It has absolutely nothing to do with Do Not Disturb or Focus. You can toggle it and observe that no Do Not Disturb or Focus mode is changed. It simply toggles between additive alerts and vibrate only and is a hardware feature of basically any and all phones ever.

Anyway, there is no way of disabling the ringer switch like that. The best you can do is a hardware hack; Either a case that doesn't expose it, tape/glue - something along those lines, though I'd personally not do that, there isn't really any other solution for you.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Runs For Fun, SirAnthonyHopkins, 0128672 and 1 other person
Perhaps a drop of super glue would fix your issue. I wouldn’t call it a hardware flaw because it’s a feature that many people including myself use on a daily basis. When I’m in a meeting or out someplace where I don’t want my phone to ring I can quickly switch it over to vibrate. As the poster above me said this isn’t do not disturb or related to that feature. I’ve never had it accidentally switch. Is it possible you’re switching it then forgetting about it later?
 
I'm assuming you don't use a case on your phone because I have never had that switch move without my input and my case makes it difficult to move the switch unless you do it purposely.
 
I JUST earlier this week received an Apple brand silicon case (I never ordered one before because I'm generally opposed to phone cases due to ugliness and bulk, but Apple just released a new set of colors including one that matches my phone, so I thought "Why not?") and while I have had some problems with messaging app notification sounds suddenly deciding to be silent on my computer from time to time, the phone problems are pretty recent - quite likely it's the case. There are several forums on Apple Support about this and most people seem to think the case is doing this and suggesting using something like an X-Acto knife to cut just a teensy weensy itty bitty piece out of the case somewhere around the area where that switch is located. I haven't done it yet because I need to find something that sharp to use and also because there are apparently some YouTube videos that demonstrate precisely what area to cut and I want to be sure I do it right. KNOCK ON WOOD this will solve things.

(Well, I do still seem to have random, sporadic muted messenger app sounds on my Mac in spite of repeatedly going to System Preferences > Notifications and (1) confirming that the app is listed and that the notification settings are enabled properly, and (2) disabling them and then re-enabling them, and (3) going to the app-specific Preferences to confirm that sounds are enabled there as well. More often than not, everything seems configured the way it should be. Once I got Facebook Messenger working again (I think it was Facebook Messenger) by dragging it out of the Applications folder, then dragging it back in again. This somehow tripped the subsystem that manages notifications and got it working again. I can't do that with Apple's Messages app, obviously, and this has not worked on subsequent attempts so might have been a coincidence. Setting up the whitelist in the Focus settings to allow all notifications/sounds from those specific apps to always notify me regardless of what my Focus status is may have helped, but I'm not 100% sure due to the phone glitches and the fact that on the Mac it still happens a small bit and then just goes back to working again. )
 
I just double check mine every night to make sure it hasn’t inadvertently been switched. Good idea about gluing it I might do that myself.
 
planteater said:
I just double check mine every night to make sure it hasn’t inadvertently been switched. Good idea about gluing it I might do that myself.
Click to expand...
Do not use glue like what i did. Id recommend using bluetack or SUGRU instead. Using glue like me actually destroys the phone because it will be impossible to clear the glue and make the switch usable again.

i used a very strong glue. Something like Loctite but stronger. And i not only glued the rocker but i glued all the buttons too xD
 

Attachments

  • 7CE6E7D0-E2A6-42AD-A8AA-1531EF6A9FF8.jpeg
    7CE6E7D0-E2A6-42AD-A8AA-1531EF6A9FF8.jpeg
    94 KB · Views: 145
  • EDE6E6D7-6C3C-480A-88D1-734D89023FC5.jpeg
    EDE6E6D7-6C3C-480A-88D1-734D89023FC5.jpeg
    101.8 KB · Views: 150
Jailbreaking allows what you want, but you're on iOS 15 beta and probably don't have a jailbreakable device.

Activator would allow you to assign an action of "Do Nothing" to the ringer switch.
 
Spetsgruppa said:
Do not use glue like what i did. Id recommend using bluetack or SUGRU instead. Using glue like me actually destroys the phone because it will be impossible to clear the glue and make the switch usable again.

i used a very strong glue. Something like Loctite but stronger. And i not only glued the rocker but i glued all the buttons too xD
Click to expand...
Why?
 
Am I right in thinking that rocker used to have an option to disable landscape rotation instead of silent mode, or was that just on iPads?
 
SirAnthonyHopkins said:
Why?
Click to expand...
Because it will be very hard to replace. You would need a new set of bezel and back or lets say the frame. I was thinking of getting a whole new set of frame and buttons but i cant seem to get Original Parts. Id suggest using Sugru instead and save all the trouble.
 
So my research is telling me that this issue is most likely caused by the Apple brand Silicon cases (also some leather ones seem to be affected) and people who remove this case no longer have this problem. Other people are suggesting using a very precise and sharp cutting blade like an X-Acto knife to cut a teeny tiny little spot in the case which is where the switch is located. I haven't done this yet because I need to find something sharp enough, and I want to watch the YouTube videos that demonstrate exactly where to cut and how. But I am optimistic that this will end up being my fix. ANNOYING, Apple!
 
Spetsgruppa said:
Because it will be very hard to replace. You would need a new set of bezel and back or lets say the frame. I was thinking of getting a whole new set of frame and buttons but i cant seem to get Original Parts. Id suggest using Sugru instead and save all the trouble.
Click to expand...
I mean why did you superglue all the parts of your phone, not why should you not do it, which I obviously know the answer to.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back