Sound ducking during notifications

I also have this issue, but on the iPhone XS. I don't want to mute my sounds, i want them on so muting my phone is a workaround, not a fix. The sound ducking lingers after a notification. If you search other posts, this has been an issue as far back as the iPhone 6 and I've unable to find a post that suggests there has ever been work on it.

Yes! This. And it is new as in the last few days it has started. The volume dips when i get a notification but before, the program would resume at the previous volume. Now, I have to totally exit what I’m watching and go back to it. It is insanely annoying. I have no idea how to fix it and reading this thread doesn’t give me hope.

I have noticed this annoying behavior also. It seems every iOS update makes the phone less functional and Siri stupider. In previous versions the text notification would play and then the music would return to original volume, now I have to touch the text to read it -actually open the phone with my code (fingerprint unlock sucks too) before it will behave properly. And just to make things more interesting my iPhone 8 button does not respond to a gloved finger through the otter box button film, and of course no one is wearing exam gloves these days...

I suspect that it has never been worked on because Apple believes it is working the way it is designed to work. Each alert sound has a length, and the volume will be lower for the duration of that length. You might try notification sounds that have less “buffering” around the sound.

Turn the Mute switch to the mute position. It will disable the notification sounds, but not interfere with content playing from apps.