Tired of Beeps, Chimes and Pings? How to Change or Silence Smartphone Notifications

Most of us have been there, distracted by annoying sounds coming from our devices

Edward C. Baig,

AARP

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Published March 25, 2026

a gif of a bell ringing on a smartphone with earmuffs

AARP (Getty Images, 2)

Key takeaways

Both iPhones and Android phones offer simple ways to silence or change the sounds that come from system alerts and individual apps.
Phone users can rely on Silent mode, Do Not Disturb and customizable sounds and haptics to reduce interruptions.
Users can also manage notification categories inside each app to control when and how updates appear.

AARP members and readers are invited to submit pressing technology questions they’d like me to tackle in my Tech Guru column, including issues around devices, security, social media and how all the puzzle pieces fit together. This week’s question, which I hear a lot from people in my circle, is about how to reduce noisy phone disturbances in or near our pockets.

I’m hearing that folks are opting out of news alerts rather than simply muting them. How can I turn off the sounds for these and other notifications?

Audible notifications serve an obvious purpose. They alert us to incoming texts, emails, voicemails and, yes, news that, in theory anyway, we’re supposed to want to know right then and there. The reality for many of us is something else: Relatively few such notifications rise to the level where immediacy counts.

If you’re one of those lucky people who is able to tune out the noise, good for you. But for everyone else, the beeps, chimes and other sounds can be distracting, and it’s even worse if they come rapid-fire when, say, you’re meeting with bosses and clients, or engaged in a serious discussion with the family.

Plus, you have to admit that you’re a little bit curious about who or what’s behind those alerts.

Fortunately, it is easy to silence or mute notifications on iPhones and Android devices, including specific system sounds and app alerts. Or at least change the sounds to something you consider less annoying.

Controlling notification sounds on iPhone

You might start by pressing the physical ring/silent switch or the Action button (depending on the model) to turn on Silent mode. In this mode, the phone won’t play alerts or even ring when a call comes in, so make sure you’re cool with that. Meanwhile, other notifications are silenced.

I should point out that what doesn’t remain mum in Silent mode are clock alarms or sound coming through Music or other audio apps. That’s probably the way it should be, anyway.

Next, consider turning on Do Not Disturb, one of iPhone’s designated Focus modes. Go to Settings | Focus | Do Not Disturb. In this mode, most notifications are silenced, though you can still allow some from specific people or apps to break through. You can also get there via a shortcut by swiping down from the upper right of the screen to surface Control Center.

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Then take a tour through what you might think of as the iPhone’s sound factory, found at Settings | Sounds & Haptics. This is where you can change the system sounds for calendar alerts, reminder alerts, new emails and so on. Or turn alerts off altogether for any of these.

For example, if you don’t want to hear a sound when a new text comes in, tap Settings | Sounds & Haptics | Text Tone. Under Alert Tones, you will see numerous sound options, including something called Note, which is the default, but also Antic, Cheers, Milestone, Rattle and other not-always-clear descriptors. If you tap Classic, you’re shown even more listings.

In most cases you won’t know what any of these, well, sound like, but tapping the name lets you hear it. If you want to go completely quiet, tap None at the top of the Alert Tones list.

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Follow the same drill for other notifications you want to silence altogether or change.

Now let’s see how you can change notification sounds for specific apps.

Head to Settings | Apps and choose the app(s) in question; I’ll use News as an example. Tap News on the apps list, then tap Notifications | Sounds, and tap the green switch to move it from On to Off (gray).

If you scroll down and tap News Notification Settings, you can choose which individual channels or publications you follow within the News app and modify the notification sounds associated with each, which will apply not only to your iPhone but to any other Apple iCloud devices you own. Again, toggle the On (green) and Off (gray) switches for each channel.

Controlling notification sounds on Samsung Galaxy

I’ll use a Samsung Galaxy as a rough example of how to modify notification sounds on Android, keeping in mind that Android devices differ.

You can enable the Galaxy version of Do Not Disturb in Settings | Notifications | Do Not Disturb, or by swiping down from the upper right to summon a shortcut icon.

But let’s focus on the sounds themselves. Tap Settings | Sounds and vibration | Notification sound. Among your numerous notification choices are listings with custom names that oftentimes only hint at what the sound sounds like, including Banjo, Chaos, Cassiopeia, Cosmic Radio, Red Dwarf, Coin, Harp, Old Camera and Retro Synth. Tap a name to hear a sample.

To go totally quiet, tap Silent at the top of the list. If you prefer, drag the Notification sound volume slider down to lower the volume without eliminating the alert sound altogether. At least other people may be less distracted.

Then again, you may be willing to tolerate alert sounds from certain apps but not others, so you can customize sounds for each.

Tap Settings | Apps and choose the app(s) for which you want to permit some type of notification sound.

Using the Samsung News app as an example, tap its name in the Apps list in Settings, then tap Notifications | Sound and vibration. Note that you will only see this option if Allow notifications, at the top of the screen, is enabled (switch is blue). Now tap the Sound and vibration switch to turn it off.

Some tedious steps. You will have to take additional steps, however, to change the custom sounds heard inside each app. First, go to Settings | Notifications | Advanced settings. Scroll down to Manage notification categories for each app and toggle the switch to on.

Back out again, then return to Settings | Apps, and tap the listing for your chosen app to open the App info page. Tap Notifications | Notifications categories, then tap the sound within the app you want to change, which, in the case of Samsung News, lets you turn notifications on or off for categories such as breaking news, top stories and sports. Tap a category | Sound, and choose the sound type that will alert you when news articles meet your criteria.

Bonus tip: Receive notifications quietly

You may still want to receive notifications and alerts for incoming texts and emails, or to know when breaking news happens, but you want to receive these alerts silently so as not to bug anyone else. That’s where haptics, or gentle vibrations, come in.

On iPhone, tap Settings | Sounds & Haptics | Haptics and select Play in Silent Mode under Haptics for Ringtones and Alerts.

On Galaxy, start at Settings | Sounds and vibration | Vibrate.

You can adjust the vibration type and intensity for calls, notifications and system events.

The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI.

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Edward C. Baig covers technology and other consumer topics. He previously worked for USA Today, BusinessWeek, U.S. News & World Report and Fortune, and is author of Macs for Dummies and coauthor of iPhone for Dummies and iPad for Dummies. Follow him on LinkedIn; Threads; and X, formerly known as Twitter.