Learn how to set up the Emergency Bypass feature for a specific person to hear their call ringtone or text message tone when your iPhone is in silent mode.
The iPhone’s silent mode mutes all ringtones, text tones, and notification sounds from apps. Wouldn’t it be great if your phone could ring when special people such as your spouse or kids call while the silent mode is on, notifying you about their messages? That’s exactly what the built-in Emergency Bypass feature is for.
Emergency Bypass overrides silent mode and Focus modes like Do Not Disturb, ensuring you’ll never miss important alerts from close people again. This is very handy if you’re the type who keeps silent mode on all the time.
Per-contact iPhone ringtones and alerts in silent mode
1) Open the Contacts app or select the Contacts tab in the Phone app and pick the person whose calls and texts you want to come through no matter what, then hit Edit in the top-right corner.
2) You’ll see two fields, each separately configurable: Ringtone and Text Tone. Choose Ringtone first, then turn on the Emergency Bypass switch at the top, and hit Done.
3) Now choose the Text Tone option and turn on Emergency Bypass for the same contact as well.
4) Tap Done to save all these changes.
Now, when this specific person calls you or sends you a text, you’ll hear the ringtone or text tone even if your iPhone is on mute or in Focus mode like Do Not Disturb.
You can always turn off Emergency Bypass in the contact details, as explained above, if you no longer want their sounds and vibrations to come through.
Also, check out: Why and how to block a range of thousands of phone numbers on your iPhone