How to set alerts on your phone for those who are deaf or hard of hearing

Despite being attached to our phones, it is easy to miss an alert or notification of incoming calls or messages. For those who are hearing impaired or deaf, the risk of missing alerts or notifications is increased. 

Michael wrote in with the following question to highlight this important issue:

“My wife is deaf. Is there a Bluetooth device that will light a flasher or vibrator when her phone rings in her pocket?” — Michael, Sugar Land, Texas

Depending on her specific device, several setting options are likely already available on her phone that can increase the chances of her getting alerts or notifications by flashing or vibrating.

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How to set up your iPhone to flash an LED light for calls or notifications

If you have an iPhone, you can use one of its settings to make it flash a bright LED light every time an alert or call comes in. This is a visible indicator, which can help those who are hard of hearing or deaf have a better chance of knowing they received an alert or call. Here’s how to enable LED flashes for alerts and calls:

• Unlock your iPhone and tap Settings
• Scroll down and tap Accessibility

• Scroll down and tap Audio & Visuals
• Scroll down and tap LED Flash for Alerts

• Toggle on each desired setting, such as LED Flash for Alerts, Flash While Unlocked, Flash in Silent Mode

Now, when you receive a call or alert on your iPhone, you will not just be dependent on sound or vibrations. You will see a very bright LED light flashing from your iPhone’s camera flash.

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How to set up your Apple Watch to vibrate when your iPhone rings

If you already own an Apple Watch, you can set it up so it alerts you with vibrations when your iPhone rings. Here’s how to pair your Apple Watch with your iPhone:

1. Pair your Apple Watch with your iPhone

• Turn on your Apple Watch by pressing and holding the side button until the Apple logo appears.
• Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, ensuring your iPhone is updated to the latest version of iOS, connected to Wi-Fi or cellular and has Bluetooth turned on.
• Hold your iPhone close to your Apple Watch. A pairing screen should appear on your iPhone. Tap Start Pairing.
• Tap Set Up for Myself on your iPhone
• Use your iPhone’s camera to scan the animation on your Apple Watch screen.
• Tap Set Up Apple Watch on your iPhone and follow the remaining on-screen instructions to complete the setup, including choosing your wrist preference and accepting terms and conditions.
• Your Apple Watch will begin syncing with your iPhone. Keep both devices close together until the process is complete.

2. Enable notifications for calls

In order to receive call notifications on your Apple Watch, follow the steps below:

• On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app
• Tap on the My Watch tab
• Scroll down and tap on Phone
• Select Mirror my iPhone if it isn’t already selected

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This setting mirrors the call notifications from your iPhone to your Apple Watch.

3. Customize haptic alerts

To make sure you get a strong vibration alert on your Apple Watch:

• Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch
• Tap on Sounds & Haptics
• Under the Haptics section, turn on Haptic Alerts

You can choose Default or Prominent. The Prominent setting provides an additional haptic tap to pre-announce some common alerts.

4. Testing

In order to ensure that the iPhone and Apple Watch are set up properly, make a test call to see if your Apple Watch vibrates as expected when a call is received. When set correctly, you will be able to get the vibrational notifications on your Apple Watch when you receive a call on your iPhone.

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How to set up your Android to flash an LED light for calls or notifications

Setting up your Android device to use the LED light for calls or notifications can significantly enhance your alert system, especially if you prefer visual cues over sound or vibration. Here are some steps to help you enable this feature:

Using built-in Android settings

Settings may vary depending on your Android phone’s manufacturer. 

• Open Settings
• Scroll down and tap on Accessibility
• Choose Advanced settings
• Tap Flash notification 
• Toggle on Camera flash notification for LED flash

Using built-in Google Pixel settings

• Open Settings
• Scroll to Notifications and tap it 
• Toggle on Flash Notifications and choose between camera flash or screen flash

By following these steps, you can effectively set up your Android or Google Pixel device to use the LED light for calls and notifications, ensuring you never miss an important alert.

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LED light notifications apps for Android users

Not all devices come equipped with a built-in app to manage this feature. Fortunately, numerous LED notification apps are available that allow you to customize your notification experience. Regardless of whether your phone has an LED light, these apps provide solutions to enhance your alerts and keep you informed.

Flash Alert: The Flash Alert app is designed to enhance notification visibility on Android devices by utilizing the camera flash or screen flash as an alert mechanism. Users can customize their settings to receive visual notifications for calls, alarms and messages, even when the device is on silent or in “Do Not Disturb” mode. The app allows for color customization of the screen flash and provides a preview feature to test settings before finalizing them. This functionality is particularly beneficial for users who may have hearing impairments or prefer visual alerts over auditory notifications.

Front Flash: The Front Flash app uses your phone’s camera flash to notify you about incoming notifications. While it may not offer the same versatility as LED notifications, you can customize the delay, blink rates and frequency to suit your needs.

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LED Flashlight Alerts: LED Flashlight Alerts is another app that allows you to customize LED notifications for incoming calls and messages. It also supports third-party apps, making it a versatile option. Although the app is free to use, it is ad-supported, and the ads can be a bit annoying.

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How to set up your phone and watch to vibrate when your Android phone rings

Settings may vary depending on your Android phone’s manufacturer. 

• Open the Settings app on your Android device
• Scroll down and tap Sounds and vibration
• Tap Vibrate
• Then scroll down and click Vibration intensity and adjust the Touch interaction slider
• Next, check the notification settings for the app managing your watch notifications, confirming that notifications are set to vibrate.
• On your watch, access the settings menu and navigate to Sound settings to ensure the alarm volume is set to vibrate.
• Make a test call to your phone to verify that your watch vibrates when your phone rings.

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Kurt’s key takeaways

Whether you are hearing impaired, hard of hearing or deaf, it is easy to miss important calls and notifications from your phone. While smartwatches like the Apple Watch can be a wearable option so that you can get vibrational alerts when you receive a call or alert on your mobile phone, the other option is to turn on an accessibility feature that’s already native to your iPhone: LED Flashes. It’s vital that users of all abilities can maximize the convenience and features of their phones to stay truly connected.

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Do you have any issues hearing calls and alerts from your phone? What devices or features have you used to help solve this issue? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.

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