How to fix audio interference, no sound problems on your Apple iPhone XR [Troubleshooting Guide]

Seldom will you hear of a new device giving into early problems especially those attributed to the hardware. However, there are a lot of factors that can make this occur. For example, accidental drops or liquid exposure can result to early hardware symptoms and random bugs and malware could trigger software errors. That being said, any device can bump into some troubles regardless of its brand, built, and platform.

Tackled in this post is one of the inevitable issues that can occur on both old and new iPhones and it’s about audio or sound problems. Read on to learn what to do if all of a sudden, your new Apple iPhone XR handset is experiencing audio interferences, static noises, or no sound problem.

Before going further, if you found this post because you were trying to find a solution to your problem, then try to visit our troubleshooting page as we’ve already addressed most of the commonly reported issues with the phone. We’ve already provided solutions to some of the problems reported by our readers so try to find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you and if you need further assistance, fill up our iPhone issues questionnaire and hit submit.

First solution: Toggle the ringer switch.

The first obvious and possible solution for you to try is to work on the physical ringer switch on the side of your iPhone. The fact that this switch is installed on the side of your phone makes it possible to be flipped back and forth unknowingly. Thus, if your iPhone sound was working just fine and then suddenly it doesn’t, then you better start checking that switch and flip it back to ring mode if necessary. So here’s what you should do then:

To put your iPhone in ring mode, flip the switch upwards (with your phone display facing up). Doing so hides the orange bar on the switch.
To put your iPhone in silent mode, flip the switch downwards. The orange bar then becomes visible.

If the switch is still positioned to ring mode but no sound is coming out from your iPhone, try flipping the switch back and forth and then see if that makes any positive outcome. If it doesn’t, then continue to troubleshoot your device.

Second solution: Reboot your iPhone.

Minor software errors inflicted by random bugs and malware can also affect the phone’s audio system and may cause it to suddenly stop working. To rectify such errors, restarting the phone is recommended. Performing a system restart/soft reset on your iPhone XR helps clear errant caches and corrupted temporary files that might have caused the audio system to encounter errors. Here’s how to soft reset your iPhone XR:

First, press and hold the Power button /Side button and either Volume buttons of your iPhone for a few seconds.
Release the buttons when the Slide to Power Off command appears.
Drag the power off slider to the right. Doing so triggers the phone to power off.
After 30 seconds, press and hold the Power/Side button again until the Apple logo appears.

Wait until your phone completes its start-up routine and then open a sound-enabled app to test your iPhone XR sound functions and see if the problem is gone.

Third solution: Disable Do Not Disturb (DND) feature.

Do Not Disturb is a feature that you would want to use if you don’t want to be disturbed by any sound alerts for messages, calls, and random app notifications on your iPhone. Enabling this feature is another way of muting your iPhone unless you’ve set some exceptions to enable sound for certain applications. To make sure that this isn’t the reason why your iPhone is not making any sound even when it’s in ring mode, check the DND settings with these steps:

Tap Settings from the Home screen.
Select Do Not Disturb from the menu options.
Toggle the Do Not Disturb switch to turn the feature OFF completely.

Doing so re-enables notification sound for calls, texts, messages, and other alerts.

Fourth solution: Disable/forget Bluetooth connections.

Your iPhone XR sound can also be routed to another sound devices or accessories through Bluetooth. Thus it’s possible that your iPhone sound is bypassed because it is currently paired with or connected to a Bluetooth-enabled sound device. To rule this out, try to disable Bluetooth or forget Bluetooth connections on your iPhone XR with these steps:

Go to your iPhone Settings-> Bluetooth menu.
Then toggle the Bluetooth switch to turn the feature ON or OFF. To eliminate corrupted Bluetooth connections from the possible causes, turn Bluetooth OFF.
Or you can also forget all saved Bluetooth connections from your iPhone XR by heading to the same menu and then tap the information “i” icon next to the Bluetooth device(s). Then select the option to Forget this Device.

Give your iPhone another round of restart after modifying the Bluetooth settings and then try to launch a sound-enabled app to test and see if the sound problem is gone.

Fifth solution: Manage sound settings, reset all settings.

Sound outputs may not be as intended if your iPhone sound settings aren’t properly configured. If your iPhone started to experience audio problems or suddenly lost sound outputs after modifying some settings or installing new updates, then it’s probably due to some invalid settings override or incorrect configuration. In that case, you need to manage or reset all settings on your iPhone XR. Here’s how it works:

Go to your iPhone Settings.
Tap Notifications.
Select the app that you don’t hear notifications from.
Then tap the Lock Screen Banners and Sounds to turn them back on.

Doing so will deliver all notification alerts for the selected app loudly.

Alternatively, you can reset all settings on your iPhone XR to delete all customized settings including invalid options that caused troubles to your iPhone’s sound functions. Here’s how it’s done:

Tap Settings from your Home screen.
Select General.
Scroll down to and then tap on Reset.
Select the option to Reset all settings.
Enter your passcode if prompted.
Then confirm by tapping on the reset command/option.

Your device will then start clearing all customized settings and then restores the default or original values. When the reset is finished, the phone will restart automatically. By then you can start enabling individual features that you want to use on your phone again.

Other options

Update iOS. Installing new software update can also help fix sound problems on your iPhone especially those that are attributed to malwares and bugs. New updates usually embed some fixt patches to get rid of bug-inflicted errors and glitches on the device. You can check for OTA updates through Settings-> General-> Software Update menu on your iPhone. Just be sure to stay connected to your Wi-Fi internet to access the update server and install new update on your device wirelessly.
Factory reset. Among the last options and possible solutions to try if all else failed to resolve the issue is a factory reset. This wipes everything from your iPhone system including tough bugs that cause complex system errors and recurring symptoms. To prevent permanent data loss, backing up files to iCloud or iTunes is highly recommended beforehand. You can perform a factory reset through your iPhone settings or using the latest version of iTunes app on a Windows or Mac computer.
Service and warranties. To rule out hardware damage from the underlying cause, you can take your device to the nearest Apple-authorized service center in your place and ask an iPhone technician to run some hardware assessments to check all physical sound components. If service is needed, contact your iPhone carrier to prevent voiding warranties. Or you can also try availing for iPhone warranties either for service or new unit replacement. Talk to your carrier for further suggestions.

I hope that this how-to post has helped you one way or another. Please help us spread the word by sharing this post to your friends or people who may also have similar problems. Thanks for reading!

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