[Closed] iPhone headphone volume nanny

The sound limit on iphone has done my head in for years. A few pairs of bose wireless headphones are useless on the train etc. Just won't go loud enough. Can't even listen to an audio book on the underground etc.

Definitely can’t be turned off as I checked. Now it’s winter I often walk with a thick knitted hat on and my Bose over the top so have to turn the volume up. Only annoyed me twice so far and I just turned it up manually.

Oh joy. So now, in order to hear my headset I’ll have to ride without earplugs and be deafened by wind noise instead!? At least it’s not Apple making me deaf. Box ticked, Apple!

I really don't understand why people use Apple phones

Yeah it’s a bit annoying, it’s got me a few times this week on the turbo trainer...

I really don’t understand why people use Apple phones

Because they prefer them?

Tinnitus and hearing loss are shit. I’m fully in favour of volume limits and wish my Walkman as a kid had had it.

Because they prefer them?

Ok, I really don't understand why people prefer Apple phones

Funny, I’ve never had an issue cranking up the volume to louder than I can listen to comfortably. Will have to test this and see if anything’s changed.

Ok, I really don’t understand why people prefer Apple phones

Are you similarly confused when other people prefer different food, clothes, music, cars etc?

we might be on a different iOS but If I go

settings> sounds and haptics> headphone alert> reduce loud sounds

I can turn on/off a limiter function.. might be there.. you might have already done this!!!

@martyns no, it’s different after the latest update (although the change apparently not showing for some people immediately?)

Haven’t experienced it turning the volume down yet, apparently does it if you exceed the “7-day limit” although not sure exactly what that is... potential workaround by deleting Hearing data in Health app every 7 days?

It does indeed cut the volume using some analysis over time based on your listening history, and in the latest update - can't be turned off.

My last non hacked Android phone also did this, which is very annoying as I use my phone for a music player going into a BT speaker that has it's own remote volume control.

To keep quality at it's highest, the signal from the phone is usually at full as it doesn't clip, but the phone then decides you're listening too loudly and drops the volume.

It has now become very annoying and I'll not be using the phone like this any longer.

I accept it is probably part of a legislation and in the main a good thing - if it can differentiate between headphones and a connected audio amplifier over BT - which I suspect is difficult to do.

Because Android is clunky, and my battery actually lasts all day?

The volume thing is annoying though

Ok, I really don’t understand why people prefer Apple phones

You don’t need to as it’s a personal preference.

Ok, I really don’t understand why people prefer Apple phones

Because the Android phones I have to use at work are universally crap, as is the OS, and I’ve been using Apple phones from when Android was a third-rate knock-off; in fact it started as a second-rate knock-off of the Blackberry OS, until the boss of Google saw Steve Jobs’ ‘One more thing’ introduction of the iPhone and decided to rip that off instead.
There isn’t a single thing I can think of where using an Android phone would offer a single advantage to my day to day usage.

There isn’t a single thing I can think of where using an Android phone would offer a single advantage to my day to day usage

Having more cash in your pocket? 😄

Jokes aside, I have android but have to sir Apple at work. Latter is a pita. It's about what you are used to.

Don't know about other Android phones but my S10 only does the volume limiting thing when you use headphones plugged in for 2 hrs or more, over bluetooth it has never done it. Don't know why i's like that as I can't remember the last time I saw someone using wired headphones with their phone, only discovered mine does it when I had it plugged in via a cable in a friend's car on a long journey!

I think this is what swings things in favour of android in my view; Android lets me configure the phone how I want, not how Apple thinks I want it.

My Samsung phones even talk to my MBP better than my last iPhone....

Anyway, horses for courses, but I'll continue to enjoy the freedom Android offers me for now.

@mikertroid are you a teenage girl who wants everything about her phone to be sparkly unicorns? 🤣 I have no idea what “configuring” a phone means... iPhones work out of the box just fine, lucky as I don’t have time to waste buggering about to make my phone useable like you have to with an Android apparently 😂

I have no idea what you're on about as my iPhone was painful... I find them frustratingly restrictive in terms of Apps, user interface, file saving and hardware to a degree.

I spent about 5 minutes sorting my new S10 when I got it; it also allows me to play music at full whack 24/7. Or until someone complains!! 😎

The one area which iPhones are better is security. I can, however, live with the reduced security of Android for the better day-to-day user experience.

But please continue with whatever phone works for you. As I said earlier, without resorting to insults: horses for courses.

This is great. We're FINALLY going to get to the bottom of which is best out of Android and iOS.

I really don’t understand why people use Apple phones

Because I hate Android with a passion, similar to how I feel about Windows.

This is annoying me too. I don’t listen through headphones either. My car Bluetooth setup keeps getting turned down as it thinks it’s headphones. Bloody infuriating as it’s only been since the latest update.

It exists to stop kids/teenagers/young adults suffering significant hearing loss by the time they are middle age.

It might be part of type approval so would be coming to Android too.

I’ve not had that issue.... then again I have an iPhone 8 like a pauper!

But please continue with whatever phone works for you. As I said earlier, without resorting to insults: horses for courses

au contraire...

then again I have an iPhone 8 like a pauper!

Luxury! I’m on a 7 and will use it until it dies or explodes. It does get rather warm sometimes so explosion might be the way it goes.

It might be part of type approval so would be coming to Android too.

I believe it is an Eu directive. So yes probably coming to an android phone soon (or maybe not considering how many android phones stop getting updates after 18 months)

We could of course legislate the right to ruin your hearing come the new year 😀

How does the phone know the headphone amp output and speaker sensitivity?

Try some of the Sure SE535 with the bluetooth adaptor replacing the cable connection. Not cheap but the flange tips do a cracking job or wind and noise reduction. They are quite isolating on the road bike and I stopped using them as they cut out too much noise.

This is great. We’re FINALLY going to get to the bottom of which is best out of Android and iOS.

I admire your optimism.

Elsewhere on the Internet some 35 years later, the Commodore 64 vs ZX Spectrum argument is still raging.

I’ve not been using earphones much recently, but have been using my phone with a BT speaker and in the car.

If I look in my health settings there are some entries but only my earphones are listed. So I guess it’s clever enough to know if it’s earphones or not. At least in some cases.

I quite like it and the reports you get on how much you've listened and at what volume. However in true apple style they've done it in their "we know best" style and don't allow you to override it so it doesn't work if you use external speakers with their own volume control or just have rubbish headphones and you're somewhere noisy.

@thebibbles It's probably Apple watching their liability through American courts for hearing loss that sops the override.

Resurrecting this thread on the back of iOS 14.4 upgrade. You can now categorise your Bluetooth connections so your helmet intercom will be considered by your phone as something other than headphones - such as a “car stereo” or “speaker” thus avoiding the iPhone nanny annoyingly turning you down mid ride.

Brilliant, thank you - as it happened I updated yesterday but never thought to revisit those settings.

Great, except it doesn’t let me change the setting for the Bluetooth unit I added to my old Bose sound dock. At least it shouldn’t happen anymore when using the TVs soundbar as a speaker.

This is great. We’re FINALLY going to get to the bottom of which is best out of Android and iOS.

🙂

This is what it says in Settings. It’s fairly clear that Apple are voluntarily implementing this before they’re forced to by legislation.
FWIW, when listening via my EarPods, or my Taotronics BT headphones, I’ve never found the need to run up against the setting limits, even when I’ve been wearing the EarPods in town, the volume is at a level that’s perfectly comfortable for long periods of time, so I can only imagine that some people just like to have music playing at a level that makes their ears ring, just like a live concert. As I have tinnitus as a result of a Phil Lynott Grand Slam concert many years ago, and wear proper hearing protection at gigs these days, I don’t feel the need to reproduce the effect any more.

What is more annoying is that the music volume is turned down but text noises and the phone ringer are still REALLY LOUD.

Folks saying ‘dumb Apple’ and so forth are mistaken. This is regulatory rather than company based. Expect similar on any device. If you thought brexit might help this it seems you’re mistaken.

I feel your pain. I use a Bluetooth headphone amp for my IEMs. With the iPhone volume at max I can reasonably control the music volume and I get audible text alerts and wotnot. If the volume nanny steps in and I up the gain on the Bluetooth amp without muting alerts it is painful.

if I remember correctly I saw some notes on this in the most recent iOS update (14.4). Unsure what they said.

Aha. Hadn’t noticed how old the origin of this thread was.

seems that you can tune device type in iOS 14.4 and avoid the volume nanny

settings->Bluetooth->[device name]->device type

high volumes can damage your hearing so it pays to be sensible.

Haven’t tried the Bluetooth settings post 14.4 yet but one work around I’ve been using is to delete the data on which the volume limiter function relies.

Settings - Health — data access and devices - select your phone from the devices list - headphone audio levels - select all - delete

If you do this every couple of days you can avoid the auto limiter turning your music down. Still annoying though