How-To

How to Make Silent Mode Vibrate on iPhone

By Adam Davidson

Updated January 19, 2024

Even when your iPhone is silenced, you can still be alerted to calls and notifications. Here’s what to do to make silent mode vibrate on your iPhone.

Ringtones used to be all the rage. There was a big market for companies to sell ringtones that you could use on your phone to stand out from the crowd. Some of these were great ringtones, and some of them were The Crazy Frog.

These days, it’s possible to create your own custom ringtones for your iPhone, so that you can have whatever sound you want play when you get a call or receive an alert. However, sometimes, you don’t want your iPhone to start blaring out the theme tune to Magnum, P.I. every time your significant other calls. Using Silent mode ensures that ringtones and other audible alerts are silenced, but you still need some way to be alerted when someone is trying to call you.

Thankfully, you can use the haptic vibrations on your iPhone to let you know when you have a call. By default, these are already on, but if you’ve turned them off at any point, you may be wondering how to get them back. Here’s how to make Silent mode vibrate on your iPhone.

How to Turn on Vibrations in Silent Mode on iPhone

By default, vibrations are turned on in Silent mode on your iPhone. If you’ve turned Silent mode on, and you receive a call, notification, or alert, your iPhone won’t play a sound, but you’ll still feel a vibration. However, it’s possible to turn off vibrations on iPhones. If you’ve done this in the past, you may want to know how to turn them back on again.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Select Sounds & Haptics.
   
3. Under Ringtone & Alerts tap Haptics.
   
4. Select Always Play or Play in Silent Mode to have vibrations play when your iPhone is in silent mode.
   
5. If you want to turn vibrations off in Silent Mode, select Don’t Play in Silent Mode or Never Play.
   
6. Your chosen setting is now active. If you change your mind, you can follow the instructions above and select a different option.

How to Fix Vibrations Not Working in Silent Mode

If you’ve followed the instructions above to turn on vibrations in Silent mode, but they’re still not working, it’s likely that System Haptics is turned off for your iPhone. You can turn this back on again within Settings; if System Haptics is off, you won’t feel any vibrations at all, including when you receive incoming calls or alerts.

1. Open Settings on your iPhone.
2. Tap Sounds & Haptics.
   
3. Scroll down to the System Sounds & Haptics section.
4. Ensure that System Haptics is toggled on.
   

How to Customize Vibrations in Silent Mode on iPhone

If you want to use vibrations when you turn on silent mode on your iPhone, you can select the type of vibration that will play when you receive calls, notifications, and alerts. You can choose a different style of vibration for each category, so that you can tell instantly whether you’re receiving a call or have received a new message, without even looking at your iPhone.

1. Launch the Settings
2. Select Sounds & Haptics.
   
3. In the Ringtones & Alerts section, select the option you want to customize, such as Ringtone, New Mail, or Reminder Alerts.
   
4. Tap Haptics at the top of the screen.
   
5. Select from one of the Standard vibration options.
   
6. Alternatively, you can create a custom vibration, as the section below explains.
7. Go back to the Sounds & Haptics settings and change the vibration options for any other notifications or alerts you wish.

How to Create a Custom Vibration on iPhone

If you’re not a huge fan of any of the standard vibration options, or they all feel too similar to one another, you can create your own custom vibration pattern.

1. Open Settings and tap Sound & Haptics.
   
2. Under Ringtones and Alerts select an option, such as Ringtone or New Voicemail.
   
3. Tap Haptics at the top of the screen.
   
4. Near the bottom of the screen, tap Create New Vibration.
   
5. Tap the screen in the pattern that you want for your new vibration.
6. You’ll see a visual representation of your vibration pattern at the bottom of the screen.
7. Tap Play to play your pattern again.
   
8. If you’re not happy with it, tap Record to record it again.
   
9. When you’re satisfied with your vibration pattern, tap Save in the top right of the screen.
   
10. Give your vibration pattern a name and tap Save.
    
11. You can now select your custom vibration pattern for any type of call, alert, or notification.

How to Select a Vibration Pattern for Specific Contacts

When you’re iPhone isn’t in Silent mode, you can use different ringtones for different contacts. This allows you to tell who is calling just by the ringtone that plays when they call. If you want to keep your iPhone in Silent mode, however, then it’s possible to assign different vibration patterns to different contacts, too, through the Contacts app.

1. Open the Contacts app on your iPhone.
2. Select a contact that you want to assign a specific vibration pattern to.
3. In the top right corner of the screen, tap Edit.
   
4. Scroll down and select either Ringtone or Text Tone.
   
5. Tap Haptics.
   
6. Select a Standard vibration pattern or select a Custom one if you have created any.
   
7. Return to the previous screen and tap Done to save your changes.
8. If you wish, you can set up different patterns for the ringtone and the text tone by choosing a different vibration for each.
9. Now when you receive a call or a text from the contact you’ve edited, your chosen vibration pattern will play.
10. You can repeat the process for as many contacts as you wish.

The Benefits of Making Silent Mode Vibrate on iPhone

By making Silent Mode vibrate on your iPhone, you can be alerted to calls, messages, or alerts without disturbing other people around you. The vibration is usually enough to alert you if your iPhone is next to you or in your pocket. By setting up custom vibrations you can even tell what type of notification you’re receiving, and even who it’s from. If you have an Apple Watch, haptic notifications can be even more useful, as the subtle tap on your wrist is hard to miss and will alert you even when your iPhone is in a bag or a different room.