How To fix Muffled Sound On iPhone

 

You’re trying to play your favorite playlist on your iPhone and you seem to get the feel of the bass because the sound is rather low and muffled, or you’re on a call and only barely able to hear what the person at the other end is saying. I must say this, this can be frustrating.

I’ve realized that we never truly know how we’re so dependent on our iPhone speakers until they develop an obvious issue. Maybe because its placement is not where your eye can see, I think this explains that.

A muffled sound coming off your iPhone speaker can indicate a lot of things, ranging from a software bug to a hardware issue that may need a quick fix.

Although when its concluded to be a hardware problem that only the expert technicians at your local Apple store can fix, there are some things you still are able to do to get your iPhone muffled sound resolved. And those are typically what you’ll be seeing in this article.

 

Why Does My iPhone Sound Muffled?

Every sound from your iPhone comes from the speakers, therefore the muffled sound you hear is an indication that something either a software or hardware component is not functioning right. There are a few reasons why your iPhone sound is muffled, the list below carefully explains them.

 

1. Your iPhone Is On Silent Mode

You very well know what purpose the silent mode serves. When silent mode is activated on your iPhone you don’t hear a sound even if it’s supposed to make any. Your iPhone may be producing a low sound because you have your phone on silent mode. This is where is where you start trouble shooting from first.

Verify if your phone is actively on silent mode by looking at the top of your phone screen. If you find the speaker icon that looks cancelled then that’s the problem, you have to deactivate silent mode.

To deactivate silent mode, locate the small switch by the side of your iPhone and toggle it the other way. Try to play a sound again to see if that solves the issue.

 

2. You Have A Low Volume

Your iPhone speakers only can play as much sound that you allow it to. If you have a low volume, your iPhone speakers will in turn play a low sound. Verify your iPhone volume is not tuned down by doing the following;

• Open settings
• Click on sound and haptics
• Locate the volume slider button
• If it’s low, turn it all the way up to the highest.

An easier way to get this done is by using the volume up button just by the side of your iPhone. Press and hold it until the volume is at its highest. Play any sound again to see if that resolves the issue.

 

2. Poor Network Signal

Your iPhone may produce a muffled sound when you’re on a call if the network signal strength is poor. You’ll notice that you can barely hear the other person as the sound is stuttering and low. A quick way to fix this issue is to turn on airplane mode. When it’s on, leave it that way for about a minute and turn it back on. This can allow your iPhone servers connect to another network tower that probably has a better signal. Try to initiate the call again, the issue should be fixed if it’s caused by a poor network signal.

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3. Your Phone Casing May Obstruct Sound

If you still remember anything from elementary physics you’ll know that sound waves can be obstructed. The phone casing that you may be trying to protect your phone with may actually be blocking off some sound coming off from the speaker making it sound muffled. Try to take off your iPhone casing and play any sound. If the sound produced is normal, then you may consider changing to a better fitted casing for your iPhone or go without a casing if that’s what you prefer.

 

4. Debris, Dust And Particles

The muffled sound you hear may be because of some foreign materials living in your speaker. Dirt and particles may collect in the speaker region overtime and block off some reasonable amount of sound that should have been produced. Cleaning the particles off is definitely a task you can do without breaking a sweat.

 

 

How Do You Fix A Muffled Speaker?

If you’ve paid close attention, you’ll notice I have already listed some useful tips to resolve your iPhone muffled speaker. I will list again the already mentioned solutions, make sure to try them first before moving on to the next.

1. Deactivate your iPhone from silent mode.
2. Turn your volume to its highest by using the button just by the side of your iPhone.
3. Turn on and off airplane mode if the muffled sound come when you try to make a call.

 

Clean off debris, dust and grime

There are several ways to do this, only choose the technique that you have the resources available.

• Make use of compressed air. Works best for dust and small particles especially.
• Use a brush to remove grime. An unused toothbrush will do the job just fine as it has small diameter bristles that can enter the speaker area.
• You can use a microfiber cloth to wipe off loose dirt from the mouth of the speaker region.

 

Although there are quality phone friendly cleaning agents that can aid this job, please note that you’re never to use water or alcohol as a cleaning agent, else you may be running the risk of getting your iPhone to a worse condition.

 

Try a DFU restore

DFU is short for device firmware update. Running a DFU update may be the solution you need to fix your muffled speaker. This mode erases and restore all software your iPhone runs on. You may ask, why do this? Well, your speaker only plays what the software says and it plays it in the manner the software says. If there’s a software bug and then it says to the speaker, ‘play it muffled’, the speaker has no choice but to dish you a muffled sound.

However to continue with this step, be sure to back up your device and follow the below steps.

• Open iTunes or Finder with your phone plugged to an Apple computer.
• Hold down together the home and sleep button.
• Release the sleep button but not the home button after eight seconds until the Apple logo appears on iTunes or finder.
• You now can release the home button and if you you’re successful, you should have a blank black screen. That’s the DFU mode.
• Now upload backup from iTunes to restore iPhone.

 

Visit an Apple Repair Store

If everything else fails, going to an expert could be your last resort. Your muffled speaker could even be repaired for no extra charge if your warranty is still active.

 

Effects of muffled sounds on iPhone

The inconveniences a muffled speaker can cause are obvious. They may include and not limited to;

1. Inaudible music.
2. Inaudible sound from movies.
3. Low ringtone. You may miss a lot of calls.
4. Scratchy sound when on call.

Video Guide

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Phone Repair Technician shows you how to clean your iPhones Microphone mesh or speaker mesh if it’s muffled. If your iPhone or Android’s microphone or speaker sounds muffled, this is how to fix it. First, we have to figure out why the speaker is muffled. Most of the time it’s just dirty, well practically all the time. One way to check if the speaker is muffled all the time is to play a video or music.

Conclusion

You rely on your speakers for your day to day activities without knowing and a muffled speaker can make your routine even more frustrating. Take extra in protecting your speaker and in the case where it’s broken, locate the nearest Apple repair center.