The silly mute button

[MastahRiz]

The OP does have a point. Yes it's great for most of us that alarms and some other things still go off when the phone is on Mute, but that doesn't mean it's perfect.

While I'm happy with the current design, it could be improved by adding an option in the Sounds menu that is a ON/OFF toggle for the Mute button to actually Mute everything. That really isn't a wild idea, even if aimed at a small group of people.

 

[mysterioustko]

It's amazing to me the attitudes on this site. Anytime anyone points out any flaw on the iphone, everyone rushes to it's defense and makes excuses for it operating the way it does. The OP expects his phone to be muted when he mutes it, I'd say that's a pretty reasonable expectation. For a phone that's supposed to be intuitive this is definitely counter intuitive and does need to be addressed. One caveat however is an alarm, alarms still should an audible alert when muted simply because many people forget about alarms they have set and still need the reminder even if the phone is on silent. That being said, there should at least be an option to turn off audible alarms when the phone is on silent for those people that don't want them. All in all, the OP's post is very valid. If I mute a phone I'd expect it to be muted, not partially kinda sort of muted. If it's not going to mute the phone then it isn't serving its purpose, simple as that.
How outlandish and ridiculous of the OP to expect the mute button to mute the phone.....

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Then you haven't owned many other phones, probably only a Blackberry - which "silent" mechanism borders on absurdity.

So name one smartphone that actually does what you want? I doubt you can name any.

Another victim:

New York Philharmonic cell phone offender speaks out

"The man, who described himself as a business executive between 60 and 70 who runs two companies, told the New York Times he had not slept in two days.

"You can imagine how devastating it is to know you had a hand in that," he said. "It's horrible, horrible."

He told the paper he had just switched from a Blackberry to an iPhone the day before the incident. He turned the phone to silent before the performance, but was not aware that an alarm on the device had accidently been set and would still ring.

Imagine how many stories you would hear if it were the other way around. People would complain of important alarms not going off cause they accidently flicked the mute switch.

IMO .... Alarms should override any mute. It's easy enough to toggle alarms on and off. We are talking about "smart"phones, not a stereo or tv.

 

[mysterioustko]

So name one smartphone that actually does what you want? I doubt you can name any.

Another victim:

New York Philharmonic cell phone offender speaks out

"The man, who described himself as a business executive between 60 and 70 who runs two companies, told the New York Times he had not slept in two days.

"You can imagine how devastating it is to know you had a hand in that," he said. "It's horrible, horrible."

He told the paper he had just switched from a Blackberry to an iPhone the day before the incident. He turned the phone to silent before the performance, but was not aware that an alarm on the device had accidently been set and would still ring.


Imagine how many stories you would hear if it were the other way around. People would complain of important alarms not going off cause they accidently flicked the mute switch.

IMO .... Alarms should override any mute. It's easy enough to toggle alarms on and off. Werd talking about "smart"phones, not a stereo or tv.

I agree with you that alarms should still sound an audible alert even if the phone is muted. However, there should be an option that allows you to set it so that audible alarms do not occur when the phone is on silent or vibrate. That being said, every smart phone I have ever owned (and I have owned quite a few, heck I had 7 different ones in 2011 alone) with the exception of the iphone turns off ALL SOUND when you turn the phone to silent or vibrate (alarms still sound though). Apps aren't able to play sound when the phone is on silent or vibrate, and there is an option in the clock that allows you to keep it from playing alarms if the phone is on silent or vibrate (for those that want that).

 

[karlth]

your wife is OK with you bringing your iPhone to bed?

he he! Nice one centurion.

Here's a true story for you: When I originally bought an iPhone I gave my wife my old mobile, which happened to be an HTC Windows Mobile.

Now that same evening we went to see a play and during a very hushed opening monologue I suddenly froze. I hadn't taught my wife how to set the mobile to silent. (Making a scene is for many, me included, a fate worse than death.)

I leaned towards her and as quietly as possibly whispered: "Did you turn of your new phone?"

"Yes" she whispered back. "I pressed the top button and it turned off."

That was when I felt cold sweat starting to form on my back. She wasn't used to smartphones and hadn't realized that pressing the power button on the top of the phone only turned off the screen. The phone was alive!!

At that exact moment an elderly actor was reciting a poem and you could have heard a mouse cough in the sold out theater.

Knowing well that my wife usually received two or three calls every evening from friends or family I grabbed her bag and retrieved the phone.

There it was, just staring at me in my hand, the gleaming HTC Diamond Windows Mobile phone with its display turned off but GSM radio active. I had to set it to silent before someone decided to give her a call.

I pressed the top button on the phone to turn on the display when instead of displaying the normal HTC home screen it pulsed a little and displayed the Windows boot up screen instead!

Dear god! It had been turned off after all and now I was restarting it!

My mind raced as I tried to remember what happens during a boot .....
Windows sign appears ... a waiting cursor ..... what then?? what then??

The boot up sound!! It will blare the Windows Login sound for everyone to hear and I'll have to kill myself!

Dear god!!! Noooooo!

I had only 7-10 seconds. My first thought was to throw the phone to the floor and slam the heal of my shoe on it and smash it to pieces .....

Wait! ...... Removeable battery!! ...... Bless you Bill Gates!!!!

I pulled the back cover off and with only 2 seconds remaining I managed to rip the battery out of the phone! (along with probably the CPU and the loudspeaker)

I was so proud! It felt like James Bond deactivating the nuclear bomb in Octopussy. What a hero!

I turned to my wife, who had watched with horror as I shredded the phone, and said: "Here you are my dear. I fixed it." and poured her new mobile phone into her bag.

Then during intermission I of course ordered a martini, shaken not stirred. A just reward for a job well done.