I had exactly the same problem with my iphone. Tried everything - air compressor, Change with Buttons setting, cotton bud cleaning, dropped on a carpeted floor (!!) - and nothing worked. Basically my side buttons are broken. So, a way around this is to go into Settings, General, Accessibility, AssistiveTouch, and turn it to ON. This brings a little white dot onto the main screen which can be used instead. Then tap on the white dot, go into Device, then make sure the Mute/Unmute says Mute (as in, you have to press it to Mute it - if it says Unmute it means it is muted!!). You can also adjust the volume settings from this spot. I hope this helps someone!
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I had exactly the same problem with my iPhone. I tried everything—an air compressor, the "Change with Buttons" setting, cotton bud cleaning, dropping it on a carpeted floor—and nothing worked. Basically, my side buttons are broken. One way around this is to go to Settings, General, Accessibility, AssistiveTouch, and turn AssistiveTouch on. This brings a little white dot onto the main screen, which can be used to change various settings. Tap on the white dot, then go to Device and make sure the Mute/Unmute toggle says "Mute" (as in, you have to press it to mute the phone). If it says "Unmute," that means your phone is muted. You can also adjust the volume settings from here. I hope this helps someone!
I had exactly the same problem with my iphone. Tried everything - air compressor, Change with Buttons setting, cotton bud cleaning, dropped on a carpeted floor (!!) - and nothing worked. Basically my side buttons are broken. So, a way around this is to go into Settings, General, Accessibility, AssistiveTouch, and turn it to ON. This brings a little white dot onto the main screen which can be used instead. Then tap on the white dot, go into Device, then make sure the Mute/Unmute says Mute (as in, you have to press it to Mute it - if it says Unmute it means it is muted!!). You can also adjust the volume settings from this spot. I hope this helps someone!