Changing app alert tones is a great way to distinguish between apps on your iPhone. That way you can know when you get a text, as opposed to an email, without taking your iPhone out of your pocket. And while you could always change tones for certain iPhone apps and alerts, you couldn’t change the general alert notification until Apple released iOS 17.2 in 2023.

After the release of iOS 17 in 2023, some iPhone users complained online about Apple changing the default alert tone. Some people said the new alert tone wasn’t loud enough to wake them up if their security system went off, and one person said they relied on an older tone to alert them about care responsibilities for their parents. Now, you can change the default tone to better suit your needs.

Here’s how to change your iPhone’s default notification tone.

Easily change your default alert tone

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Sounds & Haptics.
3. Tap Default Alerts.

From Default Alerts, you can preview and select familiar-sounding alerts, like Tri-tone, or explore older tones (like Bell) by tapping Classic near the bottom of the menu. You can also choose None, which will silence your alert tone but leave your haptic alert (the vibration pattern for an alert) on. 

You can also change your haptic alerts if you want. 

How to change your haptic alert tone

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Sounds & Haptics.
3. Tap Default Alerts.
4. Tap Haptics.

From this menu, you can choose vibration patterns like Accent (a short, single vibration) or SOS, which vibrates SOS in Morse code. If you choose Synchronized, your haptics and alert tone will work in tandem. If you don’t want a vibration, you can choose None. 

There’s also an option to create a custom vibration pattern. Tap Create New Vibration in the Haptics menu, and you’ll be taken to a screen that reads, “Tap to create a vibration pattern.” You can tap quickly on your screen to make a short vibration pattern or press and hold to make a longer, single vibration. When you’re finished, tap Save, then name your pattern and it automatically gets selected as your default alert haptic.

For more iOS news, here’s all the features included in iOS 18.5 and iOS 18.4. You can also check out our iOS 18 cheat sheet and what we hope to see in the upcoming iOS release.

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