iOS 27 can play alarms and timers at their own volume, but only after you change one setting. Go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics and turn off Match Ringtone Volume under Alarms and Timers, then drag the slider.
Apple’s iOS 27 iPhone User Guide states the starting point plainly: “By default, alarms, timers, alerts, and system sounds match your ringtone volume.” So after the September 14 update, a quiet ringer still means a quiet alarm until you split them.
Set a separate alarm volume
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Sounds & Haptics.
- Under Alarms and Timers, turn off Match Ringtone Volume.
- Drag the volume slider to the level you want.
To go back to the old behavior, turn Match Ringtone Volume on again.
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The same screen offers a second switch. Turn off Match Ringtone Volume under Alerts and System Sounds and those get their own slider as well. That leaves you with up to three levels: one for your ringtone, one for alarms and timers, and one for alerts and system sounds.
Alarms and timers share a single slider, so a loud wake-up alarm also means a loud kitchen timer. The guide offers no way to split those two.
Why you might want it
Until now, turning the ringer down at work also turned down the next morning’s alarm. With the settings split, you can keep calls quiet and the alarm loud, or keep notification sounds soft without touching either.
Silent mode was never the culprit for a quiet alarm. Apple’s alarm page says an alarm still sounds when Silent mode is on, when Do Not Disturb or another Focus is on, and when headphones are connected. In that last case, “the alarm plays at a set volume through both the built-in speakers on your iPhone as well as your headphones.”
Volume buttons and the wake up alarm
The alarm page adds a tip: “To use the volume buttons on your device to change the alarm volume, turn on Change with Buttons.” That switch is in Sounds & Haptics too. With it off, Apple says, “the volume buttons only control media playback,” so a level you set in Settings stays where you put it.
If you use a sleep schedule from the Health app, its wake up alarm has a separate control in the Clock app. Tap Alarms, tap Change, scroll to Alarm Options, then drag the Alarm volume slider.
One caution if you search Apple’s site. The support article “How to set and change alarms on your iPhone”, dated April 2, 2026, still points to a single slider under Ringtone and Alerts. The iOS 27 edition of the iPhone User Guide has the current steps. The setting applies to any iPhone that runs iOS 27, from iPhone 11 and iPhone SE (2nd generation) through the new iPhone 18 Pro.
