Your iPhone should automatically warn you of loud volumes, but how do you manage volume control on all devices?
(Picture: Apple)While you may be aware of the damage loud noise can have on your hearing, it can still be tempting to crank up the volume when listening through your headphones.
Exposure to loud noise is the second biggest cause of hearing loss after ageing, according to the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID). Worryingly, a new study found that more than one billion children and young adults are at risk of hearing loss due to their use of headphones, ear buds, and attendance at loud music venues.
Still, there are things you can do to prevent it, including limiting the volume on your iPhone or Android phone so you don’t have to change it all the time. All it takes is some quick tinkering with your setting for the most popular handsets. Here’s what you need to know.
How loud music causes hearing loss
Deep within our ear canal, there are thousands of sound-sensing hair cells. These help us to hear by picking up soundwaves and turning them into electrical signals that are sent to the brain and interpreted as sound. Constantly exposing these fragile structures to sound at 85 decibels or above can cause them to become permanently damaged and die. The issue is that many headphones can play music as loud as 110 decibels, which can lead to temporary or even permanent hearing loss.
How to limit the volume on an iPhone
It’s fairly straightforward to put a limit on your iPhone volume, which can be particularly useful when you’re on the go. In fact, iPhones can do this automatically by alerting you to turn the volume down when it is too high on your headphones. After you receive a notification, the next time you connect your headphones, your volume will automatically be set to a lower level. Of course, you can choose to turn it up again.
You can also take control over the volume limits yourself. Just head to settings, tap “sounds and haptics” and, at the top of the list, you should see “headphone safety”. Select it, then turn on the button next to “reduce loud sounds”. This will allow you to place a decibel limit on your audio, ranging from 75 decibels or as loud as a vacuum cleaner to 100 decibels or as loud as an ambulance siren. Upon turning the feature on, the level will be set to 85 decibels. But, as noted above by the RNID, staying below that level is advisable.
Above that setting is the “headphone notifcications” panel which shows you the amount of high-volume notifications you have received in the past six months. You can also view your headphone audio levels for the past week through the Health app, which will also show you all the times you received the warning if they were longer than six months ago.
How to limit the volume on Android
Seeing as Android tends to come in different shapes and sizes depending on the device maker, this can be a little trickier.
On a Samsung handset and some other Android phones, you can enable the option by going to settings, then Sound (or something similar), selecting volume, and then tapping the three-dot menu in the top right, selecting “more options” or “media volume limiter” or tapping the radio button to activate the feature. This should allow you to turn on the volume limiter, set a maximum percentage, and set a PIN to keep it locked.
