Now that I know the solution this is head-slappingly obvious, but prior to that it was driving me nuts for most of a week so I am going to share this here for people searching for a solution.
The behavior I experienced was suddenly most, but not all, apps on the iPad had no sound and I couldn’t get it to come back. The volume rocker switch did not function in most apps. Apps that did work correctly included YouTube and other native apps.
I tried restoring it multiple different ways, no dice. Even restoring to default, like a new iPad, did not correct this problem. Stunning.
The cause (and suddenly obvious solution) is when you mute using the hardware switch, then go to settings and change the behavior of the switch to rotation lock without undoing the mute. You are now permanently muted, though apparently not in Apple built apps, just 3rd party. The simple solution is to change the switch behavior back to mute and toggle it.
It really amazes me that a full restore did not correct this problem, it suggests that there is a toggle for audio that is handled outside of iOS?
Double-tap home button, slide to the left (i.e. move your finger to right) — the speaker icon will let you toggle mute.
I had this problem too and filed a bug report with crapple. tons of bugs in their app store recently. makes me angry i gave them so much of my money when i did.
A full restore would’ve fixed it if you had not performed a *Restore* wherein your settings are restored rather than being set to default.
An reinstall in DFU on the other hand would’ve cleared that setting
Goshhhhhh !!
i’ve been restoring my iPad for god knows how many times, till I found your post here.
thank you so very much !!!!!!!!!
now i have my audio back!
thank you