This article explains how to stop your other devices from ringing when you get a call on your iPhone. To do this, you’ll need to turn off the Continuity feature, which allows your devices to be aware of and interact with one another. Instructions apply to devices with iOS 14 through iOS 8, and Macs with macOS Catalina through OS X Yosemite.

What to Know

  • iPhone: Tap Settings > Phone > Calls on Other Devices and toggle off Allow Calls on Other Devices.iPad: Go to Settings > FaceTime and toggle off Calls from iPhone. Apple Watch: Go to Phone > Custom and toggle off Sound/Haptic.Mac: Launch FaceTime and click the FaceTime menu. Click Preferences and clear the Calls From iPhone check box.

Change Your iPhone Settings

You can turn off the Continuity feature that causes your incoming iPhone calls to ring elsewhere. The best way is to change the settings on your iPhone:

  • Open the Settings app on your iPhone and tap Phone.
  • Tap Calls on Other Devices.
  • Disable your calls from ringing on all your other devices by moving the Allow Calls on Other Devices toggle switch to the Off/white position. To allow calls on some devices but not others, leave the Allow Calls on Other Devices toggle switch in the On/green position and use the toggle switches next to each device in the Allow Calls On section to make your choices as to which ones can and cannot acknowledge calls.

Stop Calls on iPad and Other iOS Devices

Changing the settings on your iPhone should take care of things, but if you want to be sure, do the following on your other iOS devices:

Open the Settings app on your iPhone and tap Phone.

Tap Calls on Other Devices.

Disable your calls from ringing on all your other devices by moving the Allow Calls on Other Devices toggle switch to the Off/white position. To allow calls on some devices but not others, leave the Allow Calls on Other Devices toggle switch in the On/green position and use the toggle switches next to each device in the Allow Calls On section to make your choices as to which ones can and cannot acknowledge calls.

  • Launch the Settings app.
  • Tap FaceTime.
  • Move the Calls from iPhone toggle switch to the Off/white position.

Stop Macs From Ringing for iPhone Calls

The change of the iPhone setting should have done the job, but you can be double sure by doing the following on your Mac:

Launch the Settings app.

Tap FaceTime.

Move the Calls from iPhone toggle switch to the Off/white position.

  • Launch the FaceTime program.
  • Click the FaceTime menu.
  • Click Preferences in the drop-down menu.
  • Clear the Calls From iPhone check box.

Stop Apple Watch From Ringing

The whole point of the Apple Watch is to have it notify you of things like phone calls, but if you want to turn off the ability for the Apple Watch to ring when calls come in:

Launch the FaceTime program.

Click the FaceTime menu.

Click Preferences in the drop-down menu. 

Clear the Calls From iPhone check box.

  • Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone. Then, scroll down and tap Phone.
  • Tap Custom.
  • In the Ringtone section, move both the Sound and Haptic toggle switches to the Off/white position. If you want to turn off the ringtone, but want vibrations when calls come in, leave the Haptic toggle switch turned on.

More on Continuity

Incoming calls show up on multiple devices due to a feature called Continuity. Apple introduced Continuity with iOS 8 and Mac OS X 10.10 and continues to support it in later versions of both operating systems.

Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone. Then, scroll down and tap Phone.

Tap Custom.

In the Ringtone section, move both the Sound and Haptic toggle switches to the Off/white position. If you want to turn off the ringtone, but want vibrations when calls come in, leave the Haptic toggle switch turned on.

Continuity allows your devices to be aware of and interact with one another. The idea is you should be able to access all your data and do the same things on any device. One well-known example of this is Handoff, in which you start writing an email on your Mac and continue writing the same email on your iPhone.

For Continuity to work, all the devices must be near one another, connected to Wi-Fi, and signed in to iCloud.

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