You can use the volume buttons to adjust the volume when you’re on a phone call, listening to music, playing games, or watching movies.
If you don’t ever want the volume buttons to affect the ringtone or notification sounds, you can open the Settings app, select Sounds & Haptics, and then toggle “Change with Buttons” to the Off position. If you do want to increase the volume of the ringtone and notification sounds, just go to the Home screen and make sure no audio is playing.
If you see a slider at the top-center that says “Ringer,” you’re actually adjusting the ringtone/notification volume and not the audio volume. Open an app that plays audio and then try again.
The EQ settings should work for any music-playing app, but are designed to be used with the Music app that came with your iPhone. If you’re using Spotify, you can adjust its EQ by tapping the gear icon at its top-right corner, selecting Playback, and then choosing Equalizer.
The EQ setting that makes the music the loudest is called Late Night. Oddly, it is not the one called “Loudness,” as that makes it quieter.
First, keep in mind that this setting exists to protect your hearing. Consider keeping it intact if you’re not having trouble hearing music through headphones. Tap the back button until you return to the Settings menu (tap it twice). Tap Sound & Haptics in the second group of settings. Tap Headphone Safety. Toggle the “Reduce Loud Sounds” switch to Off.
As long as you don’t have an app open that’s playing audio in the background, you can use the volume buttons on your iPhone to adjust the ringer and alert tone volume from the Home screen.
If you see a red bell icon with a line through it next to “Ringer,” your phone is in silent mode. Move the Mute switch (it’s at the top-left corner of your iPhone) toward your screen to enable sound alerts.
Check the “Sounds and Vibration Patterns” section below the slider to see which sounds this change will affect. You can change any of these sounds by tapping the one you want to change and selecting something different.
The volume slider in the Control Center works exactly the same as using the volume buttons, except you can also use it from the lock screen. If you’re currently listening to music or using an app that has audio, adjusting the volume with this method will adjust it in that app. Otherwise, it will adjust the ringtone and notification volume instead.
