Quick answer: If a timer finishes and you don’t hear or see anything, walk through the checklist below. In nearly every case the phone is silenced, Do Not Disturb is active, or the alert is being captured by another device (Apple Watch, Mac, etc.).
Timer-notification checklist
Volume
Make sure the Ringer/Media volume is above zero. Timers use the ringer channel on iOS and the media channel on most Android devices.
Silent / Ring switch (iPhone)
Flip the side switch to Ring. If it’s set to silent, you’ll only see a banner - no sound or vibration.
Do Not Disturb / Focus Mode
- iOS: Settings → Focus (or Control Centre) → turn off Do Not Disturb.
- Android: Settings → Notifications → Do Not Disturb → off.
- Allow CookBook notifications in the Focus exceptions list if you like using DND most of the day.
Notification permissions
Settings → Notifications → CookBook → ensure Allow Notifications is on and at least one alert style (Banner, Lock-screen) is enabled.
Apple Watch or Wear OS watch
- By default, iOS or Android routes an app’s notification to the watch if it’s on your wrist and unlocked.
- Glance at the watch’s Notification Centre - you may see the alert there.
- To force alerts to the phone, mute notification mirroring for CookBook in the Watch app.
Mac / Windows notification hand-off
- If you’re running the CookBook Web App in a browser with notifications enabled, the timer alert may pop up on your computer instead of the phone.
- Close the desktop browser tab or disable site notifications while cooking.
Bluetooth speakers / earbuds
Connected audio devices sometimes capture notification sounds. Disconnect or switch them to “headset” mode so alerts play through the phone speaker.
Battery Saver / Low-Power Mode
Extreme Battery Saver on Android or Low-Power Mode on iOS can delay non-critical notifications. Temporarily turn the mode off while timers are running.