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Silent mode doesn't mean completely silent...

P

patin22

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 27, 2007
35
0
Las Vegas, NV
The timer feature on the iphone still plays the alarm even when the external mute switch is engaged. Found this out after pissing off a theater full of people when I couldn't get the Marimba alarm to stop. First of all it was in my coat pocket, which I couldn't reach easily. Then I tried flipping the mute switch off and back on and pressing all the buttons. I finally had to completely pull it out then slide the screen slider to get it to stop.

I don't know if this is a bug or something intentional, but I use my silent switch on a fairly regular basis - especially in meetings. Gotta watch it now! :cool:
 
A lot of phones set to silent will nevertheless sound an audible alarm that has been set. You just have to be careful that they will not go off during meetings or other embarrassing situations.
 
patin22 said:
The timer feature on the iphone still plays the alarm even when the external mute switch is engaged. Found this out after pissing off a theater full of people when I couldn't get the Marimba alarm to stop. First of all it was in my coat pocket, which I couldn't reach easily. Then I tried flipping the mute switch off and back on and pressing all the buttons. I finally had to completely pull it out then slide the screen slider to get it to stop.

I don't know if this is a bug or something intentional, but I use my silent switch on a fairly regular basis - especially in meetings. Gotta watch it now! :cool:
Click to expand...

This is described in the user guide:
When set to silent, iPhone doesn’t play any ring, alert, or effects sounds. It does, however, play alarms set using Clock.
 
Phil A. said:
This is described in the user guide:
When set to silent, iPhone doesn’t play any ring, alert, or effects sounds. It does, however, play alarms set using Clock.
Click to expand...

I also looked it up in the manual when I got home. I think that is a bad choice. The alarm should vibrate like the rest of the phone's features when it's in silent mode. At least have a switch in the settings to turn it off.
 
I understand how it could be frustrating, but I love this feature. It allows me to ignore calls and texts when I go to sleep, but still helps to wake me up with the alarm.

Now if they would just make it so calls from specific numbers would ring, but everything else would vibrate or even go straight to VM.
 
gotzero said:
I understand how it could be frustrating, but I love this feature. It allows me to ignore calls and texts when I go to sleep, but still helps to wake me up with the alarm.
Click to expand...
Fair point, particularly as the iPhone will not switch on and sound an alarm like some phones will when switched off.
 
gotzero said:
I understand how it could be frustrating, but I love this feature. It allows me to ignore calls and texts when I go to sleep, but still helps to wake me up with the alarm.
Click to expand...

Good point. A vibrating incoming call usually wakes me up, but not as well as an audible alarm. I still would like the ability to turn it off for meetings, quite meals and movies, however.

gotzero said:
Now if they would just make it so calls from specific numbers would ring, but everything else would vibrate or even go straight to VM.
Click to expand...

I would love to be able to filter calls like this. I'd send half of my contacts straight to VM! ;)
 
I don't like that you can't choose alarm sounds without them being heard, even on mute. I like to set my alarms before I go to bed and I'm always waking the GF up this way if she's already asleep.
 
gotzero said:
Now if they would just make it so calls from specific numbers would ring, but everything else would vibrate or even go straight to VM.
Click to expand...

Why not make a custom ringtone that's 10 seconds of silence and assign that to the contacts you want not to ring? Then if vibrate is on that's all you'll get for those contacts.
 
I use my phone (Sony Ericsson) as my wake up alarm, but I don't want to be woken up by texts or stupid phone sellers, so silent except alarm is ideal for me.
 
gekko513 said:
I use my phone (Sony Ericsson) as my wake up alarm, but I don't want to be woken up by texts or stupid phone sellers, so silent except alarm is ideal for me.
Click to expand...

hear hear. all those times i've taken a nap and set a timer... while on silent =)
 
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GuillaumeB said:
the irony is that the alarm clock will not ring when you're phone is turned off...my SE would nevertheless turn the phone on and ring
Click to expand...

I agree, this is a bit of a pain!
 
GuillaumeB said:
the irony is that the alarm clock will not ring when you're phone is turned off...my SE would nevertheless turn the phone on and ring
Click to expand...

Yeah this is the hardest thing for me to get used to as well....I loved the ability of turning the phone off so I would not be woken up with someone's drunk call or text but I could still make sure I got up in time to go to work...my Nokia had that feature...then again I would rather have this iphone than have my Nokia back..
 
CD3660 said:
So true, but perhaps vibrate would be a good compromise if the iPhone is set to silent.
Click to expand...
Then what good is the alarm?
patin22 said:
I also looked it up in the manual when I got home. I think that is a bad choice. The alarm should vibrate like the rest of the phone's features when it's in silent mode. At least have a switch in the settings to turn it off.
Click to expand...
It's not a bad choice, it's how most phones work.
gotzero said:
I understand how it could be frustrating, but I love this feature. It allows me to ignore calls and texts when I go to sleep, but still helps to wake me up with the alarm.

Now if they would just make it so calls from specific numbers would ring, but everything else would vibrate or even go straight to VM.
Click to expand...
And there we have it. :)
 
jessica. said:
Then what good is the alarm?
Click to expand...
There are phones on the market that will switch themselves on and sound an alarm that was previously set (see earlier posts in this very thread). That would be my preferred option, but failing that, vibrate is enough of an alarm for my purposes and should not disturb others.
 
You do realize you can set the sound on any given alarm to "none"? Unfortunately this doesn't make the alarm vibrate... it just pops up a nonspecific alert.

As mentioned before... the alarm doesn't switch to silent because it would be useless for what an alarm is intended to do... wake you up no matter what. It's nice to be able to have everything else not disturb you at all hours of the night and still be awakened while traveling so you don't miss a 7:30am meeting.

Also, a clock alarm is designed to wake you up. Why do you have alarms set in the middle of the day when you should be using calendar reminders which DO vibrate when the phone is set to mute?

Are you taking frequent naps or something? :D
 
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