Do you leave your Apple Watch on silent, all the time?

[The Cockney Rebel]

As per the title?

If you do leave your Apple Watch on silent, may I ask why?

I’m trying to get my Apple Watch alarm to only vibrate (no audible alarm) and from my research, it seems like the only way that will happen is if I put my watch in silent mode.

That got me thinking: I’m no doubt not going to remember to do that every night, so what about if I left it on silent permanently?

I can see benefits for this, but I can also see drawbacks. For instance, I know what each distinct alert sound, sounds like, so I don’t even have to look at my watch sometimes when it alerts me about something. If it was muted, I’d almost be forced to see what it’s trying to tell me.

So, do you leave your Apple Watch on silent? If so, please enlighten me why?

Many thanks.

 

[ndouglas]

Yes, basically because there’s no reason for me to have both noises _and_ vibrations. I used to think, why do I need/want a watch since I have a phone that tells the time? But after getting a Fitbit as a gift and enjoying the vibration instead of audio noises for calls, texts, alarms and calendar notifications, it became so convenient and enjoyable for me that way, to have my phone on silent 24/7, which continued after getting an Apple watch not long ago.

I would ask the same question for people who _don’t_ have their watch on vibrate only, why?

Once in a while I change the watch to non-silent just for the novelty, but I can’t usually keep it that way for more than a few hours. I get noises for completing this or that activity for example, and I think, ahh that’s neat, but the appeal wears off after a few hours, or less.

Also it’s more like a courtesy to others, I don’t need my watch, or phone, to be beeping a whole bunch when someone texts me 3 times in a row, or some other app sends me some frivolous notification.

 

[ndouglas]

I must admit though, that‘s a good point that you mention, to be able to know what the alert is based the sound.

 

[mollyc]

a lot of the vibrations are different anyway. probably more distinct sounds than vibrations but i can usually tell them apart

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

Yes, basically because there’s no reason for me to have both noises _and_ vibrations. I used to think, why do I need/want a watch since I have a phone that tells the time? But after getting a Fitbit as a gift and enjoying the vibration instead of audio noises for calls, texts, alarms and calendar notifications, it became so convenient and enjoyable for me that way, to have my phone on silent 24/7, which continued after getting an Apple watch not long ago.

I would ask the same question for people who _don’t_ have their watch on vibrate only, why?

Once in a while I change the watch to non-silent just for the novelty, but I can’t usually keep it that way for more than a few hours. I get noises for completing this or that activity for example, and I think, ahh that’s neat, but the appeal wears off after a few hours, or less.

Also it’s more like a courtesy to others, I don’t need my watch, or phone, to be beeping a whole bunch when someone texts me 3 times in a row, or some other app sends me some frivolous notification.

I just put my watch on silent mode, to see (or rather, hear!) if I like it or not.

Could never have my iPhone on silent, though.

Do you not miss any calls, or texts? Then again, I suppose your watch vibrating alerts you to things like that?

All I’m trying to do, basically, is to have an alarm that wakes me by vibrating my watch only, and no sound. Seems like there’s no workaround, other than to silence everything?

Thank you for your input.

 

[BenGoren]

I’m actually the exact opposite.

My phone is always on silent, and the watch is always making sounds except when I’m in a do-not-disturb mode.

I only need the one or the other to make noise, and, in general, I’m using the watch instead of the phone. It’s certainly more convenient to look at my wrist than to dig out the phone to know what the racket is about. Plus, it’s much faster to silence the watch than the phone if it’s some kind of spam.

b&

 

[scotsmandc]

I can’t remember the last time my devices have sound on. haptics notifications all I need. The only time I turn sound on is if I know I’m expecting an important call I don’t want to miss.

 

[ndouglas]

I just put my watch on silent mode, to see (or rather, hear!) if I like it or not.

Could never have my iPhone on silent, though.

Do you not miss any calls, or texts? Then again, I suppose your watch vibrating alerts you to things like that?

—Yes exactly, if it’s super important I can turn the phone sound on but that rarely happens and the watch is reliable enough to buzz my wrist when calls or texts arrive. I guess everyone has a different life situation, but every day or year people seem to use their phone less and less as phone, so the number of calls I gets dwindles constantly

All I’m trying to do, basically, is to have an alarm that wakes me by vibrating my watch only, and no sound. Seems like there’s no workaround, other than to silence everything?

—I could be wrong but, usually setting my alarm on the watch makes it reliably a vibrate-only alarm. I don’t know if that’s true if the watch isn’t on silent…. On the other hand I think if I set an alarm on my phone (sometimes I need the audio for something very early or important) then the phone makes an audible alarm.


Ultimately, it’s nice to have both options, for both devices.

 

[Significant1]

Yes, there is no reason to annoy my surroundings.

 

[JonnyBlaze]

Watch vibrates for alerts, watch and phone completely silent. To me, it seems obnoxious to have audible alerts now they’re not needed. When I get a phone call while I‘m with others, I can glance at my watch, and then excuse myself to take the call if needed.

 

[VampyricGentleman]

Yep always silent here, my watch is linked to my personal phone and when I’m in the office I’d feel rude having alert sounds on. Also it means if I hear a phone ring I know it’s my work one!

 

[shinigamii]

I put my watch on silent when I'm at work cause when someone calls on my phone the watch starts to make sound when I'm in a meeting!

 

[saintmac]

Always on silent and so is my phone.
The very few times my watch is not in silent mode is if I go running, want to hear the pace alerts and haven't brought an airpod (yes one) with me.
I personally feel like it's quite rude to have a phone or watch beeping in the office or at home.
The watch reliably alerts me of important notifications (calls, texts and the few whatsapp / signal groups that are not in silent by default).
All of the other notifications, while sometimes useful, are not actually urgent so I don't want them to disturb me. They can wait for the next time I pick up my phone.

 

[ledzepfan1981]

I have all my devices (iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch) on silent. I can't stand it when other people's devices go off. It drives me crazy! There's no need for it when they can vibrate.

 

[Lee_Bo]

Only at church and the few times I go to the movies. My phone stays on vibrate so no issues when my watch is charging.

 

[addamas]

Both phone and AW are in silent 24/7.
Vibration does it work (can be always increased).

It drives me now crazy when I hear people keyboard typing or multiple pings from messages 😅

 

[Mikeske]

I have the Watch set on the way I got from the box

 

[MBAir2010]

I have the Watch set on the way I got from the box

same here, I think I get alerts if I walk an inch further that the previous walk
the rings are another thing I need to learn.
I do have 10 Albums of Music on the watch now, cool!

 

[leslieg]

mine is always on silent mainly because I don't need the sound as I usually hear it vibrate, I find the sounds annoying, plus I'm usually wearing my apple watch anyway which will also notify me via vibration

 

[Matz]

My watch and phone are always on silent. I've found no need to have audible alerts for either. The watch handles notifications with haptics quite nicely.

 

[r_mack]

My Apple Watch is silent. My wife found the text tone (DING!!!!) to be offensive to her ears. Apple doesn’t allow the user to adjust the sound of the text tone, so I switched it to silent. I receive all my alerts by haptic feedback. And to be honest, I now prefer it.

 

[GlenK]

I only put mine on silent when in a place it needs to be quiet. Same as I've always muted my phone when needed.

 

[ericwn]

Yes, there is no reason to annoy my surroundings.

Exactly, folks with phone and alarm sounds on in public are annoying, almost as much as those people constantly on speakerphone (most hilarious those who continue to treat their iPhones as a walkie talkie and pushing it either against their ear or take it off to speak in the Mike).

 

[thefourthpope]

Same reason I keep my phone on silent — to not disturb others (or, a lot of times, myself). The vibrations are quite enough for me. The only thing I let my phone always make noise for is my morning alarm.

 

[circatee]

Both my AWU and iPhone are always on silent/vibrate. I cannot stand for those around me to always hear my devices going off. People are nosey