How to Change Ringtone and Media Volume on Your IPhone Separately
When you press one of the volume buttons on your iPhone, you’ll notice that it changes the media volume and ringtone volume at the same time. If you want to reduce media volume while keeping ringtones loud, you won’t be able to do so easily unless you use a clever workaround. However, thanks to Redditor /u/DC5tine, we now have just that.
Set media volume and ringtones separately on your iPhone
To pull this off, you’ll need to use Apple’s Shortcuts app. First, add the /u/DC5tine volume shortcut to the app using this link . Next, open the Shortcuts app and either search for Volume Control or scroll down until you see it. Long press a shortcut, tap Share , and select Add to Home Screen . Now tap the Volume Control icon on your iPhone’s home screen and you will be presented with two options: Media and Ringtone . Select the one you want to configure, use the slider to set the desired volume level and click Done . That’s it!
For now, the shortcut’s only limitation is that it can’t read your iPhone’s current volume level. This is because iOS does not provide shortcuts with the ability to access this information. When you try to change the volume level using the shortcut, you will notice that the slider is always set to 50%. This is just the default value that appears on the slider and does not affect the actual volume of your iPhone.
The Volume Control shortcut will work for any type of media, including Instagram videos, TikTok videos, YouTube videos, or any other video or audio you want to play. As long as you use the shortcut to adjust media volume, the ringtone volume will remain the same. In some cases, you may even want to use a shortcut to set the ringtone volume lower or higher without affecting the media volume.
Either way, the shortcut finally allows you to change one setting without affecting another. Likewise, on a Mac, you’ll also need to use a third-party solution to set different volume levels for each app .