This is an odd one. Not sure if bug or intentional (feels to me more like the former), but if you’re adjusting your preferences in ringtone settings, you should know about this before you get kicked out of the library.
Assume you have your AirPods connected to your iPhone and you know it’s otherwise playing all audio through them. But if you now go to Settings > Sound & Haptics > Ringtone, you should be aware that any ringtone audio will now be routed to your iPhone loudspeaker. The ringtone audio will not play through your AirPods.
You will bug anybody around you even though all (other) audio is properly going to your AirPods. In fact, Text Tone or Voicemail settings in that same Sound & Haptics section will play through your AirPods.
I’m assuming this is the way it is for any BT headphones, not just AirPods. I can also confirm that this happens (iPhone 15, iOS 18.6.2) with no focus mode, Shortcut, manual Call Audio Routing, or any other such setting active. It also seems to happen in Settings only. If the phone actually gets a call, the ringtone will properly go off only on the AirPods and the speaker will remain silent.
Unless I’m missing something, I’ll be filing this as a bug.
Not sure if it is related but I had to turn off having the phone ring in my hearing aids. The phone would ring and I couldn’t find it as I had no direction except my hear aids to look for it. At least the phone ringing would let me find it.
I’m not so sure this is a bug. I’ve been using Bluetooth hearing aids for five years now, and alert sounds have always sounded from the phone’s speaker as well as in my hearing aids, including when I’m choosing them in Settings; I know this because my spouse can always hear them too.
Also, phone ringtones (but not other types of notifications, even if they are set to use a “ringtone”) don’t actually sound in my hearing aids—I get a sort of “pre-notification” tone, specific to my hearing aids, about one second before the ringtone sounds from the phone speaker. This happens on my current iPhone 12 Pro Max (bought refurbished three years ago), and it happened on my previous iPhone 7 Plus, through five years of iOS updates.
Can’t say I’ve ever had this problem, because (1) as I mentioned, the phone call alert sounds both in my hearing aids and from the phone, with different sounds in each, and (2) I’m almost never more than 10 feet from my phone, and even that far is unusual, so being unable to find my phone is a situation I’ve never been in, in more than a decade of iPhone ownership.
I wonder if how the phone chooses which device to play the alert tones from depends on the brand of hearing aids. Mine are Phonak. What are yours?
I’m talking regular AirPods, not hearing aides and no hearing aide functionality chosen (or desired) for AirPods operation here.
Also, as I mentioned, this only shows in Settings. The actual ringtone when there’s an incoming call always plays through the AirPods (when connected). It’s only when in Settings that this one type of tone plays over the speaker instead through AirPods.
Also, this ONLY applies to the ringtone. Text tone or new voicemail tone play through AirPods just fine. It’s only the ringtone that shows this inconsistent behavior with no apparent setting to fix. As such, sure smells like a bug to me.
I get that, but how different Bluetooth audio devices are treated by the OS can provide clues to the source of an issue. My hearing aids aren’t MFi, and are primarily treated by iOS as regular Bluetooth headphones (there are a few differences, but not as many as with MFi hearing aids). So my comments aren’t necessarily as irrelevant to your issue as you appear to be asserting.
There is also a setting for making the LED light up when a call comes in, possibly in Accessibility. Just wanted to note that before I forget, need to rush off to other stuff…
This especially cool if you have a clear phone case. When the phone is sitting (screen-up) on a desk, the flashing light makes the whole case light up.
Rexton. I played with it in iOS 26 by turning on ring in hearing aids and I didn’t hear anything in my hearing aids but my phone rang and my watch tinkled.