# Must be an iPhone thing
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-an-iphone-thing/952775
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [October 19, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-an-iphone-thing/952775 "2021-10-19T17:41:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-an-iphone-thing/952775/1 "2021-10-19T17:41:44Z")
For a while now, at least a couple times a day, at random times, my phone will make an alert type sound. I used to grab the phone and look- no message or alert of any kind. I wrote the times down for a while to see if there was a pattern. None. It just makes noises. I’ve made peace with it.
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### Author:  [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-an-iphone-thing/952775/2 "2021-10-19T18:03:56Z")
[What a great time to be alive.](https://twitter.com/vineyille/status/715231437180518400)
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### Author:  [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-an-iphone-thing/952775/3 "2021-10-19T22:17:43Z")
If you continually keep your phone on silent mode, or do-not-disturb, occasionally if someone who is in your contacts list calls or texts repeatedly, it will give you a notification. This could be the source of your alerts.
If so, just turn off silent mode.
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### Author:  [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-an-iphone-thing/952775/4 "2021-10-19T22:27:09Z")
About eighteen months ago I finally joined the 21st century and upgraded from a flip phone to a smart phone. One of the things that drove me crazy about it was that it kept making noises, which made me think that I had an incoming text or some sort of alert that needed action. So I would look at the phone and have no idea why it had beeped. I finally figured out that it was telling me that I hadn’t looked at the notifications; once I changed the notifications settings (and uninstalled a few programs I never used) it stopped nudging me.
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### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-an-iphone-thing/952775/5 "2021-10-19T22:32:10Z")
Well, my iPhone 6 starts playing music at random times.
Apparently, this has been a thing for several years, but it only started happening last month for me.
My “I’m just asking questions here” theory is that Apple has a timer that releases bugs, a form of planned obsolescence, forcing you to upgrade. Since I use my phone less than many people, it took a couple extra years for me to reach the “activation point”.
I have an issue on my umpty-years-old Mac Mini that just started this summer. Why could it work fine for years, and all of a sudden it gets this bug that locks it up? What changed?
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### Author:  [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-an-iphone-thing/952775/6 "2021-10-19T22:59:35Z")
Nope, never on silent. The thing is, if it’s going to beep at me, it should do me the courtesy of telling me why.
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### Author:  [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-an-iphone-thing/952775/7 "2021-10-19T23:53:50Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#):
>
> Well, my iPhone 6 starts playing music at random times.
>
> Apparently, this has been a thing for several years, but it only started happening last month for me.
I’ve never heard of that and that has never happened to me. I’ve had an iPhone since 2012. Googling that, it seems to be something with Pandora? Do you use that as a music app?
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### Author:  [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-an-iphone-thing/952775/8 "2021-10-19T23:58:42Z")
For now it’s just a drill. They want to make sure you remain calm when the time comes.
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### Author:  [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)
#### Post date: [October 20, 2021, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-an-iphone-thing/952775/9 "2021-10-20T00:59:09Z")
A couple of things to check before you go all ‘black helicopter beaming down bugs’
( I kid, I’m 99% you’re just joking)
Smartphones, and iPhones in particular, are really, really bad about leaving browser windows and tabs open unless you manually close them. In many cases, random noises and music comes from some particularly vehement ad that pops up randomly on an open page that you haven’t checked in days/weeks/etc. Depending on your model, a fast double click on the home button should pull up all the open pages you have. Close any you aren’t actively using and see if you see an improvement.
Second, iPhones, _especially_ older models, tend to be storage starved. If your storage is near capacity (I always aim for 10% available or more, but YMMV) they can get very, very squirrely. Although more commonly they’ll just run slow, freeze, or restart without warning under those circumstances.
But otherwise, yeah, just carefully check what apps are allowed to send notifications, because something that can happen semi-frequently is if an app or the OS updates, those settings can change back to a default on/audible even if your previous selections were otherwise.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [October 20, 2021, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-an-iphone-thing/952775/10 "2021-10-20T03:34:46Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#):
>
> The thing is, if it’s going to beep at me, it should do me the courtesy of telling me why.
Are you sure you don’t have notifications set to do just what it’s doing? Check in settings. Also, from your home screen swipe down from the top. Do you see your notifications listed?
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### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [October 20, 2021, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/must-be-an-iphone-thing/952775/11 "2021-10-20T04:11:30Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#):
>
> Googling that, it seems to be something with Pandora? Do you use that as a music app?
Nope. It just starts playing itunes. Some of the Apple help threads suggested it was related to having headphones plugged in. But I’ve had them plugged in since March 2020 and never had a problem before now,