At Home with Tech

I’m embarrassed to report that my iPhone almost interrupted a video shoot at work recently. My device inexplicably projected a singular text ping during the recording. I was standing in the back of our studio, but it was loud enough for the video producer ten feet in front of me to notice.

He shot over a slightly concerned glance. (Yes, of all people, I’m supposed to know better.) I rolled my eyes in apology. Fortunately, we were between takes, and nobody else noticed. (We both smiled.) 

No real damage was done (other than to my tech ego). But how could I make this 101-tech-mistake that any kid can easily avoid?

Yes, of course, my producer had previously reminded everyone in the studio to silence their phones before we started. But I took no action, because I believed my iPhone was already muted. In fact, I had already taken steps to permanently silence it. So, I proudly thought I was way ahead of this moment.

And yet, I wasn’t.

Do You Really Know How to Silence Your iPhone?
So, how did I find myself in the center of this tech embarrassment? How does anyone for that matter? It’s not like it’s hard to mute your phone. 

But isn’t there’s always someone in the room who can’t seemingly do that? 
(present company included) 

Well, this kind of mistake is often less about tech failure (I mean… human failure) and more about good intentions.

As I mentioned, I had already set up my iPhone to operate in a totally muted state. I took those steps long ago… I just couldn’t handle all the disruptive sounds my phone projected (however cute or lyrical).

But more recently, I made one other iPhone setting change. I selectively activated the ‘Emergency Bypass’ mode for our teenage son’s texts to me.

What is that exactly? 

Text Tone: Emergency Bypass

This setting disables audio restrictions regarding how your phone reacts to certain people in your Contacts app. If you don’t want to miss an incoming text from someone, Emergency Bypass helps to ensure you’ll hear it, even if your iPhone is muted.

Our son doesn’t text us all that much, and when he does reach out, I want him to get through. It’s usually important, requiring a timely ‘parental’ response. 

Here’s how to set up Text Tone: Emergency Bypass on your iPhone:

• Open the Contacts app
• Select your important person
• Go to Text Tone
• Turn Emergency Bypass to ‘On’

This hack is amazing. I did the same for my wife’s phone number (more on this later). Now, whenever I hear a text come in from my otherwise silenced iPhone, I know it’s either from my wife or our son.

I think you can see where this is going.

Ringtone and Alerts – Change with Buttons

Yes, the Text Tone: Emergency Bypass setting is a powerful setting to help you stay connected to those who matter most. But it can still expose you to an embarrassing moment if you need to entirely lock down your phone’s sounds and forget that you really haven’t.

So, I realized after my little ‘ping-gate’ episode that I needed to adjust one more iPhone setting to quiet my phone further, even when my son or wife reach out. 

Here’s the fix to the fix:

• Go to Settings
• Sounds and Haptics
• Ringtone and Alerts
• Change with Buttons- Tap to Green

Now, with this ‘Change with Buttons’ setting activated for ‘Ringtone and Alerts,’ you can easily toggle down (and then back up) the volume from your iPhone’s pings and rings with the side buttons.

The manual control enables you to temporarily shut off the sounds from your emergency bypass list.

Only then can you be sure your iPhone will really behave in the quietest of moments. (Just don’t forget to turn up the volume again after your mandatory session of silence!)

One Ping Short
Yes, despite my advanced solutioning for how my iPhone’s little speakers operate, I had still fallen one ping short. But I’ve learned from my mistake and made the appropriate patch in my iPhone’s Settings.

I later texted my wife about my little audio incident at work. (It was, in fact, her own text to me that had broken through.) She wrote back and asked helpfully if I knew how to silence the notifications on my phone. 

I blinked a couple times as I took in the layers of irony surrounding this last chapter of my story. 

And then I smiled.

Silence is Golden
My cautionary tale is just another reminder that you can’t always set it and forget it when it comes to your tech. And maybe when someone tells you to mute your phone… you simply do that.

Still, with your iPhone running completely silent 24/7, that emergency-bypass sound setting can be essential. I still highly recommend trying it out. 

You just need to remember how to control it.