Bell configuration on iOS 15 and higher

This help page was last revised on September 29, 2023.

If you are using iOS 15 (or iPadOS 15) or higher, we recommend configuring notification in the Settings app for optimal behavior of the Bell of Mindfulness.

By default, notifications show as a “banner” alert over the app you are currently using, like this:

The banner stays for a few seconds and then disappears. You may or may not like to see this banner, however, the sound also stops as soon as the banner disappears, which means that the Bell of Mindfulness sound is cut off early. If you would like to hear the full sound of the bell, please follow the instructions below.

On the Bell of Mindfulness screen, tap the Settings link:

You will be taken to the app settings for Plum Village within the Settings app. Next, tap Notifications:

Finally, tap Banners to disabled banners:

Once you have tapped it, there should be no check mark under Banners on this screen.

You can now use the Bell of Mindfulness in the normal way, and will no longer see banner alerts when the Bell of Mindfulness rings. As a consequence, you will now hear the full sound of the bell 🙂

We recommend you always leave Notification Center enabled. This is particularly important on iOS 17 or higher, as the Bell of Mindfulness will produce no sound if Lock Screen, Notification Center, and Banners are all disabled.

Some Apple Watch users have reported that they also need to disable Lock Screen for the bell to work with their Apple Watch connected.

If you have other concerns with the bell, the following posts may be helpful:

Comments

  1. Hello dear friends,

    I followed the instructions in this post and the mindfulness bell is still not working for me in iOS 15.1. Is an update of the Plum Village App being planned with a fix for this issue?

    Thank you and be well,

    Christopher

    1. Hi Christopher, thanks for reaching out. We have submitted an update wit ha fix and should be in the app stores in the next couple of days 😇 🙏

  2. I have found that Banners, Notification Centre, and Lock Screen need to be unchecked if you are wearing an Apple Watch. Thank you

    1. Would it be possible for someone to show how to do this? I have the Apple Watch and the notification comes on but I don’t hear the full bell. Many thanks
      PS I am so grateful to be able to use technology to aid my practice.

  3. I did it🙏
    It’s bell now🙏
    It stopped about when I updated iOS 15.1
    Now I updated iOS 15.1.1
    Today I tried again and it worked 🙏
    I really love and miss the bell every 15 minutes a day
    Thank you for the information 🙏🙏🙏

  4. Updated to iOs 15.1. There are times when I need to disable the bell. When I reactivate I need to reset my preferred time range and interval. It would be great if the bell automatically reset to the last configuration. It’s not a big issue but might be a good upgrade. I saw mention of an iOs 15.1.1 in another message but my se2 is telling me I am up to date with 15.1. 🙏

  5. Hello dear friends it is my great fortune to have found a PlumVillage app and I have been enjoying the meditations and talks immensely.
    i have noticed improved concentration and calm already.
    I love the bell however I am having some problems my phone is an SE iPhone iOS 15.
    I had set my bell to start at five every morning with timelapse of 15 minutes.
    This was working well and starting every morning as set until recently there was an update on my phone, then I had problems.
    I went to settings and into the PlumVillage app and there I disabled banners in notifications and also the locked screen notification because previously even when the phone was locked I could still hear the bell, after the update I could no longer hear the bell in the locked screen but had a text notification only.
    After these adjustments the bell was working as set for a full day however next morning it didn’t start even though it was set to go everyday.
    I tried a few different changes and the only way I could get to the bell to start again was to set a time to start at the next hour, So at 5:30 I set the bell to start at six and that got the bell going. However I was unable to set the lapse time to 15 minutes that option was not coming up on the scroll only from 17 minutes was available.
    I am hoping there is something I can do to ensure this beautiful bell will continue to start its reminder at five every morning and finish at 10 every night, set at 15 minute intervals.
    At the moment i can only have 17 minute intervals fir the bell, and i don’t know if it will start again in the morning.
    Also during the night i turn off my wifi however the bell continues to ring up until 2200 as set
    and when i am away from the wifi during the day the bell continues with my phone internet service. So i am perplexed as to why if working fine and as set all day, and set to repeat every day, why it does not resume in the mornings.
    I ask for your kind attention with my dilemma.
    🙇🏻‍♀️

    1. Dear Susan, thank you for reaching out to us 🙏. We’re very happy that you have found the Plum Village App and that you enjoy it so much! We would love to help you with the Bell of Mindfulness and therefore invite you to please send a message to our technical team at hello@plumvillage.app, describing the situation as you have here.

      With much appreciation and care,

      The Plum Village App team

  6. How can I adjust the volume of the bell? It’s always much louder than the volume of my iPhone. Even if the volume of my phone is low the bell volume is always the same.

  7. Hi – I love this app! I have the most current version on my iphone. when i set the
    bell of mindfulness to chime every 30 min and save it, when I leave that part of the menu and come back it asks me to enable it – it does not save my settings, or even keep it on! help! thanks

  8. Bonjour. J ai paramètré la cloche sur mon iPhone SE et connecté l iPhone à une petite enceinte Bluetooth . Quand je déclenche moi même la cloche ou le bol , les sons sortent bien de l enceinte . Par contre quand je programme des temps de cloche et que je sauvegarde mon parametrage, le son n est plus pris en compte par l enceinte . Y a t il un réglage à faire ? Merci 🙏Stephane .

  9. I have downloaded the application to my MAC and have downloaded several of the sound applications. When I click the button to listen, the entire application disappears. Clearly this is some sort of operator error.

    also I have downloaded the bell to sound while I am working on it. I tried following the directions to get the full sound, but I appear to get any response when I try to modify Banners.

    please advise on these matters.
    with a bow
    Lucy Kingsley

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