Why Your iPhone Is Making A Noise Without Sending You Notifications

Everyone knows the Apple iPhone alert sound, however, if your iPhone or iPad is making the notification sound without any notification coming in, it can get annoying.

I have always been a big Apple device enthusiast ever since the first iPhone model came out back in 2007. Since that time, I’ve owned countless iPhone models,  and I’ve had plenty of time to get used to how all the notification settings work. 

Though this problem can be quite confusing at first, as soon as you know a little bit more about your iPhone’s notification settings and how they work, you’ll be able to identify a possible solution and fix this issue in no time.

Reasons Why Your iPhone Is Making Noises Without Notifications

If you’re iPhone is making a noise, and you don’t see any notification pop up, it is most likely because of a problem with your notification settings that isn’t allowing you to see the notifications that come in. 

While this is not normally the default setting for any application, there are settings available that would cause the sounds from the notification to come through without any other visible signals.

While you may not remember messing around in your notification settings, because the Settings menu is so easily accessible from your home screen, it’s possible that you may have changed the setting unknowingly.  

In my experience, I am a lot more prone to doing this when I am sleeping. I oftentimes fall asleep with my phone next to me on the bed.

If I roll over the wrong way or attempt to use my phone while I am half asleep, there’s a good chance that I might inadvertently end up changing some random setting. 

This can also happen if you have your iPhone in your pocket or purse.

All it takes is a few well-placed touches and your phone can end up unlocked and in the settings menu ready to change whatever setting happens to be unknowingly pressed.

Still, if you end up in this situation, it is very easy to change the setting back so that your iPhone no longer makes noises without you being able to see what notifications are coming in.

What Are Banners And Badges?

When you receive a notification, there are three separate ways that your iPhone lets you know that you have something new to look at. These three things are sounds, banners, and badges. 

Sounds are the most self-explanatory of the three. Basically, anytime you receive a notification, your iPhone will let you know by playing a sound, or vibrating if in silent mode, as soon as the notification comes in. 

This sound is usually the first way of knowing you have received something, however, once you are aware of the notification, you have to know what it is and what app you need to open to see and respond to it. That’s where banners and badges come in.

Banners are what appear at the top of the screen when the notification comes in. 

They pop up at the top of the screen and tell you what app the notification is from, and what the notification is about. 

Also, if the notification is a message, the banner will tell you who the message is from as well. They then disappear after a few seconds after the notification comes in. 

After the fact, these banners appear in the Notification Center so that you can view all of the notifications you’ve received at once.

Badges are different in that they don’t give you much information about what the notification is, just about what app it came from. 

Badges are basically the number that appears on the actual app icon that tells you how many notifications you have from a particular app.

All three of these things play an important part in notifying you that have something new to look at or respond to, and if your iPhone is making noises without being able to see a notification come in, it is because banners and badges are turned off.

How Can I Fix The Issue?

If you are experiencing this problem, there’s no need to worry as it is really easy to fix from the Settings menu. 

All you’ll need to do to get started is navigate to and click on your iPhone’s Settings menu.

From the Settings menu, look for the option that says Notifications. It should be located at the top of the second big group of options, right below where you can adjust the WiFi, Bluetooth, and Cellular settings.

Once you enter the Notifications settings menu, you’ll be able to see a list of every single app that you have installed as well as what notification settings are enabled. 

All of your apps should list Banners, Sounds, and Badges right below the name. 

Simply scroll through all your apps and find the ones that only have sounds enabled. These are the apps that are causing your iPhone to make noises without visible notifications coming in. 

Click on these apps and make sure that all three options for Banners, Sounds, and Badges are turned on. This will allow the banners and badges to show up every time you receive a notification and fix the problem.

Key Takeaways

• If your iPhone is making the notification sound it is because it has received a notification.
• If there are no other visible signs that a notification has come in it is because one or more of your apps have banners and badges disabled in your notification settings.
• Banners appear at the top of the screen and tell you more information about the notification, while badges are the little numbers that appear on the actual app icon.
• You can adjust these settings by opening up your iPhone’s Settings menu, going to Notifications, and clicking on each app to enable banners, sounds, and badges.