How to quickly mute all sound on iPhone

LD150 wrote:

IdrisSeabright wrote:

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I am running iOS 26.2, have my Action button set to "Silent" and it works just fine.

Does it silence media and alarms though? If it does then I'll apologise and back off.

My point was that it works exactly the way the old slider worked. If that wasn't clear, I apologize.

The slider never silenced alarms or media.

rjohnson_8ball wrote:

You aren’t on the latest iOS version. They now call the button on the left an “Action” button. It lets you silence incoming calls and notifications so you can watch YouTube videos without interruption. But today my only way to mute the YouTube video or some advertisement is to use the volume +/- buttons.

In any case the mute switch/action switch does not mute media or alarms.

You can press and hold Vol Down.

Or you can pay Youtube for premium which should be ad-free.

See if you can create a short cut to reduce volume and link it to the action button

"How to quickly mute all sound on iPhone: Sometimes an advertisement is too annoying, so I want to toggle all sound off until it completes, then toggle it back. The old mute button handled that problem easily. But now, there are only options to silence calls and notifications. The new 'mute' button only serves as a 'Focus' option, so it’s redundant. Is my only recourse to slide the volume down and up?"

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Muting your iPhone to Avoid Ads:

There are Web browsers in the App Store that can block it all out like a charm --free of charge. But, seeing these ads is something your are agreeing to when using a Web site's Terms & Conditions, such as those of YouTube.

rjohnson_8ball wrote:

My iPhone 16 plus has a side button. It will not mute. Is your iPhone older with a sliding switch that allows it to mute?

Did you read the article I linked to?

Your 16 Plus has an "Action Button." It's a programmable button just above the volume buttons. One of the options you can set it to is "Silent" which functions exactly the same as the old slider switch.

Here's another article:

Use the Action button, side button, and other controls on your iPhone - Apple Support

rjohnson_8ball wrote:

There is the “Silent” Action but it silences calls and notifications. It doesn’t toggle sound off and on.

That is correct. The Silent action mutes the ringer and alerts. It does not, and never has, muted alarms or media.

The reason should be obvious; if you are watching or listening to media, or have an alarm set, you might want everything else muted so you can enjoy your media without interruption, or so you can hear the alarm to take your meds or pick up your child.

If you are in a game the game designer can choose whether or not the mute function should be recognized in the game.

rjohnson_8ball wrote:

You’re not on a recent version of iOS. The side button lost its mute behavior.

No, it hasn't. However, you may not have set it up properly.

Use and customize the Action button on iPhone - Apple Support

I am running iOS 26.2, have my Action button set to "Silent" and it works just fine.

rjohnson_8ball wrote:

My iPhone 16 plus has a side button. It will not mute. Is your iPhone older with a sliding switch that allows it to mute?

Silent/Mute function, whether by old switch or new action button, does not and never has silenced Media or alarms .

rjohnson_8ball wrote:

You’re not on a recent version of iOS. The side button lost its mute

The presence of an action button is hardware dependant.

The mute function still exists as it always was, either toggle switch, or action button. You are correct that it does not mute media but it never has since introduction, Both switch types control software not hardware.

rjohnson_8ball wrote:

I bought Premium for the YouTube app a while back to eliminate advertisements in that app. But I have plenty of games that rely on ads in order to stay in business. Pushing volume down or up to mute or unmute is not quick enough. It’s strange they provide customized ways to silence notifications and calls but not a simple mute.

Why is it strange, Apple made the customization for their device, their not responsible for 3rd party app and their ads, and it only take second to put your phone silent.

And yes my phone has the latest ios 26.1

rjohnson_8ball wrote:

SOMETIMES IT WORKS, SOMETIMES NOT. If I watch a YouTube video (using the app) the “Silent” action button has absolutely NO effect. But if I am in a game and an ad comes on, the button seems to mute/unmute correctly at this moment. I could have sworn it didn’t the last times I tried. The documentation says its purpose is to silence calls and notifications but doesn’t mention muting. I might be able to live with this but it’s odd it cannot always mute/unmute in all situations.

See this article from 2012:

https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/13/2704853/philharmonic-iphone-alarm-silence-phone

rjohnson_8ball wrote:

Sometimes an advertisement is too annoying, so I want to toggle all sound off until it completes, then toggle it back. The old mute button handled that problem easily. But now, there are only options to silence calls and notifications. The new “mute” button only serves as a “Focus” option, so it’s redundant. Is my only recourse to slide the volume down and up?

took me a second to flip the switch down for silent on my phone.

rjohnson_8ball wrote:

Pushing volume down or up to mute or unmute is not quick enough. It’s strange they provide customized ways to silence notifications and calls but not a simple mute.

It is the way it has always worked.