How do I turn on the sound for incoming text messages?

What are text message sounds and why enable them?

Text message sounds refer to audio notifications that play when you receive a new text message on your phone. These sounds serve as alerts to let you know a new message has arrived, especially if you don’t have your phone screen in view.

There are a few key reasons why people enable text message sounds:

Convenience – Sounds allow you to know you have a new message without having to constantly check your phone.

Accessibility – For those with visual impairments, sounds and vibrations provide a notification that a text has arrived.
Prevention of missing messages – Sounds make it less likely you’ll miss an important message if you don’t have your phone right in front of you.

In many cases, text message sounds are enabled by default on smartphones. However, you may wish to enable them if they were previously disabled, or customize the type of sound for your own preferences.

Check your phone’s default text message settings

The default messaging app on iPhones is the Messages app. To check your current text message notification settings:

Open the Settings app on your iPhone
Tap on “Notifications”

Scroll down and select “Messages”
Under “Messages,” you will see options for enabling or disabling sound notifications for regular text messages and iMessages. Check that “Sounds” is turned on if you want audible alerts for new incoming texts.

You can also customize additional notification settings for Messages here, like whether to show message previews on the lock screen and notification badges for unread messages. For instructions on enabling sounds specifically, continue to the next section.

Citing the source:
https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/set-up-messages-iph3d039b67/ios

Enable sound notifications

To enable sound notifications for new text messages on your Android device:

Open the Messages app on your phone and tap the overflow icon or “Settings” option

Tap “Notifications” and check “Sound”
Under Sound, choose from the available notification sounds (e.g. Default sound, Hangouts message, etc.)
Use the slider to set the volume for the sound as desired

On the iPhone, sounds for text message notifications are typically enabled by default. But you can customize the sound that plays in your iPhone Notification settings.

This ensures you’ll hear an audible alert when a new text message arrives on your device.

Choose a sound

Most Android and iOS devices come with built-in notification sounds that you can choose from. To select a sound for incoming text message alerts:

Open your phone’s Settings app
Go to Sounds & Haptics (iOS) or Sounds & vibration (Android)
Tap Text Tone (iOS) or Default notification sound (Android)

Browse the available sounds and select the one you want
Tap Back or Home to save your changes

You can also choose from a wide variety of free custom tones online and download them to your device. Popular options include sounds from movies, TV shows, video games, and other media. Some phones also allow you to record your own custom alert sounds.

Once downloaded to your device, the custom tones will appear alongside your built-in options for you to choose from.

Set sound volume

Once you have enabled sound notifications for incoming text messages, you can change the volume level of these sounds. On an iPhone, adjust the volume in the Sounds settings.

Go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics

Use the “Ringer and alerts” volume slider to control the text message sound volume. Move the slider left to make the sounds quieter or right to make them louder.

As this article notes, you can also use the volume buttons on the side of your iPhone to adjust the sound volume at any time.
Using these steps, you can customize the volume of text message sounds to your desired loudness.

Customize sounds for individual contacts

You can set a unique text tone for individual contacts on your iPhone. Here are the steps:

Open the Contacts app
Select the contact you want to customize
Tap Edit in the top right corner

Tap Text Tone
Browse the available tones and select the one you want for that contact
Tap Done to save the unique text tone

Now when that contact texts you, your iPhone will play the unique tone you selected so you know it’s them. You can repeat these steps to set custom text tones for other important contacts as well. This lets you identify who is texting without having to check your phone.

According to MacRumors, this feature works for both individual contacts and contact groups in iOS. It’s useful for priorities contacts you frequently communicate with via text.

Use a third-party messaging app

Many popular third party messaging apps like WhatsApp, Viber, and Telegram have customizable sound and notification options for incoming text messages. These apps can provide more flexibility than your phone’s default messaging app.

For example, WhatsApp allows you to set different notification sounds and vibration patterns for individual chats or contacts. You can also control notification and sound behavior when WhatsApp is in the background. Other third party apps like Viber and Telegram have similar capabilities.

The advantage of using a third party app is taking more control over notification sounds and customizing them to your preferences. If your phone’s default text messaging app lacks certain sound options, exploring popular alternative messaging apps can provide the flexibility you need.

Customize Notification Settings

There are options to fine-tune when and where notification sounds play for text messages.

On iPhones, go to Settings > Notifications > Messages and tap Sounds. From here, you can customize the sound, select None to mute the sounds, and set vibration settings (See source).

On Android, settings vary slightly by device but generally you can long press a messaging notification, choose Details, and customize aspects like the sound, vibrate setting, priority level, etc. You may need to go into Settings > Apps & Notifications for additional controls.

Most phones also allow setting “Quiet Hours” or “Do Not Disturb”, where you can mute notifications during certain nighttime hours or events. Check Settings on your specific device to see available options.

Troubleshooting issues

If you have enabled text message sounds but are still not getting notifications, there are some troubleshooting steps to try:

Check your phone’s ringer/silent mode – Make sure your phone is not set to silent or vibrate only. You can toggle these quick settings in your notification tray.
Restart your device – A simple restart can often resolve temporary sound issues. Power your phone off completely and turn it back on.

Update your device software and messaging app – Having the latest OS and app updates can fix bugs causing missing notifications.
Reset app preferences – Go to Settings > Apps/Applications > Select your messaging app > Storage > Clear Data/Cache. This resets the app.
Check app notification settings – Open your messaging app’s settings and confirm Allow Notifications is enabled and message sounds are selected.

Test with the default Messages app – See if sound works with your phone’s built-in SMS/MMS app instead of third-party apps.

If you still can’t get text sounds after trying the above, it’s best to contact your mobile carrier or device manufacturer for further troubleshooting. There may be an underlying issue needing their technical support.

Final summary

Enabling sound notifications for incoming text messages can be very useful to alert you whenever a new message comes in. We covered some key steps to get those sounds activated on either your phone’s built-in messaging app or a third-party app:

Check your phone’s default message app sound settings and enable notifications
Choose a notification sound you like to use for new messages
Adjust the notification volume to your desired level

Use the app’s settings to assign custom notification sounds for individual contacts if desired
Consider downloading a third-party messaging app that offers additional customization options for notifications and sounds
Double check the app’s notification settings to confirm sounds are turned on

Try troubleshooting tips if you’re still not hearing message sounds

Following these steps should successfully activate sounds for your incoming text messages. This will make it much easier to notice new messages as they come in quickly, so you don’t miss important conversations.