- Locked screen: fine. A monitor app keeps listening with the screen off as long as the system lets it run. Mamoon keeps listening on a locked iPhone or Android, and alerts land on the Lock Screen.
- Muted app: fine. Turning the nursery sound down in the app doesn't stop cry alerts. The alert is a separate notification with its own sound.
- Muted phone: not fine. With the ringer switch on silent or the volume at zero, iPhone plays no notification sounds. Only apps with Apple's Critical Alerts entitlement break through.
- Do Not Disturb or Sleep Focus: only if the app is allowed. Add it under Focus → Sleep → Apps → Allow Notifications From on iPhone, or Modes → Do Not Disturb → Apps on Android. Otherwise the alert shows silently.
- Android battery savers are the biggest killer. Set the app's battery use to Unrestricted; on Samsung and Xiaomi also fix sleeping apps and autostart. Test on a 20-minute nap before you trust it overnight.
What "muted" means: the app, the phone, or a Focus
Three different things get called "muted", and at night they behave very differently.
| Situation | Does the cry alert make a sound? | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Screen locked, phone on the nightstand | yes, if the app is allowed to run in the background | Nothing on iPhone. On Android, set the app's battery use to Unrestricted (below). |
| Nursery sound turned down in the app | yes, the alert is a separate notification | Nothing. In Mamoon the mute button silences the live sound only; the cry alert has its own tone. |
| Ringer switch on silent, or volume at zero | no, it shows and vibrates only | Flip the switch back before bed; Apple confirms notification sounds don't play on a silenced phone. |
| Do Not Disturb, Sleep Focus, Android Bedtime mode | no, unless the app is on the allowed list | Allow the app in the Focus or Mode. The "Time Sensitive" toggle alone doesn't help ordinary alerts. |
| App put to sleep by the system (Android) | no, the app isn't listening at all | Battery: Unrestricted. Samsung: remove from Sleeping apps. Xiaomi: allow Autostart, no battery restrictions. |
Checked against Apple's and Google's documentation on September 29, 2026; see sources. Menu names vary a little by model and system version.
Before the first night: a checklist
Ten minutes, once. Steps 1 and 2 are for any phone, then iPhone and Android separately.
- Allow notifications for the app. If you tapped "Don't allow" on first launch, turn them on with sound under Settings → Notifications (iPhone) or Settings → Notifications → App notifications (Android).
- Decide how you sleep with the phone. Either keep the ringer on and skip Do Not Disturb, or keep your Sleep Focus and add the monitor app to its allowed apps. A silent phone with a Focus on and the app not allowed is the one setup that fails.
- iPhone: allow the app in Sleep Focus. Settings → Focus → Sleep → Apps → Allow Notifications From, then add the monitor app. Do the same under Do Not Disturb if you use that instead.
- iPhone: check the ringer switch and Scheduled Summary. Silent mode overrides every ordinary notification sound, so the switch (or Action button) must be on ring and the volume up. If you use Scheduled Summary, keep the monitor app out of it, or its alert waits until morning.
- Android: set battery use to Unrestricted. Settings → Apps → the monitor app → App battery usage → Allow background usage → Unrestricted. This removes the background limits that would otherwise stop an all-night listener.
- Android: allow the app through Do Not Disturb. Settings → Modes (or Sound → Do Not Disturb on older versions) → choose which apps can send notifications, and add the monitor app. Or open the app's notification settings and turn on Override Do Not Disturb.
- Samsung and Xiaomi: switch off the extra killers. Samsung: Settings → Battery → Background usage limits, take the app out of Sleeping apps and Deep sleeping apps, add it to Never sleeping apps. Xiaomi: Security app → Permissions → Autostart, allow; then Battery saver → No restrictions. dontkillmyapp.com keeps current paths for every brand.
- Test it with a nap, not the night. Lock the phone, put it face down for 20 minutes and have someone cry near the camera. If the alert rings, you're set; if it only lights up, go back to step 2.
Does the phone have to stay unlocked or on the app?
No. Locking the screen saves battery and keeps notifications where you'll see them.
iPhone. iOS stops most apps seconds after the screen locks, but lets apps that play audio keep running. Mamoon uses that: the nursery sound plays in the background, so it keeps listening with the screen off and while you use another app. A Live Activity on the Lock Screen shows Mamoon is still watching, and if iOS ever stops it, a notification tells you the monitor is off.
Android. Mamoon runs as a foreground service with a permanent notification, Android's way of marking "this app is doing something you asked for". That is enough on a Pixel and most stock-Android phones. Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei and OnePlus add their own battery manager on top, which can stop even a foreground service, hence the extra steps above.
What happens when the connection drops
A monitor that goes quiet because the Wi-Fi dropped is worse than one that never worked, because you don't know. An app you trust should tell you when it isn't listening, and quickly.
In Mamoon: when the camera's sound stops, the app reconnects on its own. If that doesn't work within seconds, the screen turns gray with "Offline" and a notification goes out, under the same rules as a cry alert, so it too needs the phone unmuted or the app allowed in your Focus. Two iPhones can also connect directly with no router at all; see the guide to a monitor without Wi-Fi.
Why doesn't a baby monitor app just override Do Not Disturb?
Because the operating systems don't let ordinary apps do that.
- iPhone has four notification levels. Passive and active alerts respect Focus and the silent switch. Time Sensitive alerts can break through Focus and Scheduled Summary, though you can turn that off per app. Critical alerts, the only kind that sounds through the mute switch, need an entitlement Apple grants case by case on a request form. Mamoon's alerts are the active kind: immediate, with a sound whenever the phone allows sounds.
- Android puts every notification in a channel whose importance and sound you control; once created, the app can't raise the importance, only you can. Mamoon's alert channel starts as high importance with an alarm tone, adjustable in Settings → Notifications → App notifications → Mamoon.
What Mamoon does not do
Frequently asked questions
Will a baby monitor app wake me up if my phone is on silent?
On iPhone, no: Apple's notification guide says notification sounds don't play when the phone is silenced or the volume is all the way down, and only apps with the Critical Alerts entitlement are exempt. The alert still appears and vibrates. Keep the ringer on at night, or use a Sleep Focus with the app allowed instead of the silent switch.
Do cry alerts work with Sleep Focus on?
Only if the app is on the Focus's allowed apps list (Settings → Focus → Sleep → Apps). A Focus silences everything else. The "Time Sensitive Notifications" toggle in a Focus applies to apps that send time-sensitive alerts; it doesn't help with ordinary ones.
Why did my Android phone stop the monitor app after a few hours?
Almost always a battery manager. Set the app's battery use to Unrestricted, and on Samsung take it out of Sleeping apps and Deep sleeping apps; dontkillmyapp.com notes that Samsung's "Put unused apps to sleep" can switch itself back on after an update. On Xiaomi, allow Autostart and set the battery saver to No restrictions.
Sources
- Apple: Allow or silence notifications for a Focus on iPhone (Settings → Focus → Apps → Allow Notifications From; Time Sensitive toggle), opened September 29, 2026
- Apple: How to turn Do Not Disturb on or off (Allow Notifications from people or apps, schedules), opened September 29, 2026
- Apple: Use notifications on your iPhone or iPad ("If your phone is silenced or the volume is turned down completely, notification sounds will not play"; Scheduled Summary), opened September 29, 2026
- Apple: Set up sleep in Health on iPhone (Sleep Focus), opened September 29, 2026
- Apple Developer: UNNotificationInterruptionLevel (passive, active, time sensitive, critical), opened September 29, 2026
- Apple Developer: Critical Alerts entitlement ("play a sound even when the app is locked, muted, or a person uses Do Not Disturb"; request form), opened September 29, 2026
- Google: Limit interruptions with Do Not Disturb on Android (People, Apps, Alarms; Override Do Not Disturb; Modes), opened September 29, 2026
- Google: Keep Adaptive Battery and battery optimization on (App battery usage → Allow background usage; "may delay notifications"), opened September 29, 2026
- Google: Check and change an app's battery usage (Unrestricted, Optimized), opened September 29, 2026
- Android Developers: Notification channels (importance levels; the app can't change them after creation, the user can), opened September 29, 2026
- Don't kill my app: Samsung (Sleeping apps, Deep sleeping apps, Never sleeping apps, "Put unused apps to sleep"), opened September 29, 2026
- Don't kill my app: Xiaomi (Autostart, battery saver No restrictions, lock in recents), opened September 29, 2026
Spotted a mistake or an outdated figure? Write to [email protected].