In Summary
Apple offers a Ring/Silent switch on the iPhones to facilitate quick sound profile switching. However, since this is a physical switch, it can sometimes falter and stop working—perhaps because of accidental damage or because it collected some dirt/gunk over time—and make switching profiles difficult. Fortunately, there are a couple of ways to turn on/off silent mode on the iPhone without the switch, as we’ll check out in the following guide.
However, since this switch is a physical component, it can sometimes malfunction and prevent you from toggling sound profiles on your iPhone. Most of the time, this is probably due to some dirt/gunk getting trapped in the button, in which case, cleaning it up can restore the button’s functionality. Other times, it’s due to a hardware failure, and a visit to Apple’s authorized service partner is mandated. But while you reserve an appointment and head to your nearest service partner, here are a couple of ways to turn on/off silent mode on the iPhone without the silent button, which can help you in the meantime.
Method 1. Turn On/Off Silent Mode Using AssistiveTouch
AssistiveTouch is an iPhone accessibility feature that lets you use your iPhone if you’re facing trouble using its touchscreen or buttons. Here we’ll use it to toggle silent and ring modes on the iPhone.
Open Settings. Go to Accessibility > Touch > AssistiveTouch, and turn on AssistiveTouch.
Click on Customize Top Level Menu.
Tap on any action you want to replace with Mute, and select Mute on the following screen.
While you’re at it, head to Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut, and select AssistiveTouch under TRIPLE CLICK THE SIDE BUTTON FOR. This way, you can triple-press the power/side button to enable/disable AssistiveTouch on your iPhone. Once you set an action for Mute in AssistiveTouch, you can now toggle between ring and silent modes using this button. To do this, make sure AssistiveTouch is enabled. Click on it and select Mute from the menu. Depending on your iPhone’s current sound profile, you’ll either see Silent Mode or Ringer—with a bell icon—on your iPhone. Tap on the Mute option again, and your iPhone will switch to the other profile.
Alternatively, if you want to save yourself a few steps in this process, you can assign the Mute action directly to the AssistiveTouch button. For this, inside the AssistiveTouch settings, click on Single-Tap, Double-Tap, or Long Press and select Mute on the next screen. While you’re on the same page, click on Double-Tap Timeout to set the timeout for clicks.
Now, whenever you want to switch profiles on your iPhone, bring up the AssistiveTouch floating button and perform a single-tap, double-tap, or long-press action—depending on which gesture you assigned the Mute operation to—on this button.
Method 2. Turn On/Off Silent Mode Using Back Tap
Back Tap is one of the best iPhone features released in a while. As the name suggests, this feature allows you to tap the back of your iPhone to perform an action. Apple currently supports two Back Tap gestures: Double-Tap and Triple-Tap, and it has a wide range of actions that you can use with either of them. Switching between the ring and silent profile modes is one of many such actions, and here’s how to use it.
Open iPhone Settings. Go to Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap.
Select either Double Tap or Triple Tap based on your preference and choose Mute on the following screen.
With the Back Tap action set, when you want to toggle between the ring and silent modes, simply perform double-tap or triple-tap the back of your iPhone—depending on how you set it—and it will switch the sound profile. To switch to the other profile, perform the same gesture again.
Switch iPhone Sound Profiles Easily Without the Ring/Silent Switch Button
Hardware buttons on the iPhone simplify many trivial operations like switching sound profiles or locking the screen. However, if these buttons stop working for whatever reason, there are accessibility options in iOS to help you perform their equivalent actions via software. Hopefully, the methods listed above help you set up an alternative way to toggle silent and ring modes on your iPhone so you don’t have to rush to a service provider immediately and can continue using your device in the meantime.
Make sure the Ring/Silent switch is not in the ON position (i.e. the orange indicator isn’t showing). If you’re using AssistiveTouch or Back Tap to toggle sound profiles, make sure the silent mode isn’t turned on. Go to Settings > Phone and ensure that the Silence Unknown Callers option is disabled. If nothing works, try restarting your iPhone. Or if this doesn’t help either, try force restarting the device.
