Change iPhone's Default Notification Sound - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Change iPhone's Default Notification Sound

by

In iOS 17.2 and later, Apple lets you customize the alert tone used by your iPhone for default notifications. This is good news for anyone who does not like the "Rebound" tone that Apple introduced in iOS 17.

ios 17 default alert
In previous versions of iOS, Apple allowed users to choose a ring tone and a text tone, as well as custom alert sounds for email, calendar, and reminder alerts. Anything else that threw up notifications used a default sound, and there was no way to change it.

With iOS 17, Apple then changed the original default alert sound, from "Tri-tone" to "Rebound." Many users disliked the change, with some arguing that the new sound is harder to hear. So the ability in iOS 17.2 and later to change the default sound to whatever you like is a welcome addition.

To change the tone - as well as the haptic vibration – of notifications from apps that use the default sound, follow these steps.

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap Sounds & Haptics.
  3. Select Default Alerts.
  4. Choose a sound for the alert tone. You can use one from Apple's built-in options, buy a tone from the Tone Store, or opt for no sound (None) instead.
  5. To change the accompanying haptic vibration, tap through to Haptics. There you can choose a vibration from the pre-set options, make your own via Create New Vibration, or opt for None.

settings

After completing the steps above, any notification sound that uses the default alert tone will use the sound you selected. If you're not happy with your changes, you can use the same steps to revert to the original "Rebound" default alert.

Popular Stories

iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Wednesday March 18, 2026 7:39 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another six months or so, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component...
ios 26 4 yellow

Here Are Apple's Release Notes for iOS 26.4

Wednesday March 18, 2026 11:56 am PDT by
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4, which means we're going to see a public launch as soon as next week. The RC versions of the software include Apple's official release notes, giving us final details on what's included in the update. Apple Music - Playlist Playground (beta) generates a playlist from your...
Apple Logo Sketch Feature

Apple Has Now Unveiled Eight New Products This Month

Tuesday March 17, 2026 9:25 am PDT by
Apple has unveiled a whopping eight new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, and now the AirPods Max 2 this week. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as the iPhone 16e, but it gains Apple's...