iPhone users urged to check ‘headphone’ setting to protect their hearing

iPhone users have been urged to check one important setting to protect their hearing and health.

The Apple device includes protections aimed at ensuring that people are not listening to music too loudly, and damaging their hearing in the process.

But the feature might not be switched on – and many users could opt to ignore it if it is.

The iPhone includes a range of features that quiet louder sounds, as well as advising people to take proactive measures to protect their health.

The most obvious one is the “Headphone Notifications” tool, which is switched on by default – and cannot be turned off in some places. That measures audio levels through headphones, and tells people to turn down their volume if they are listening too loudly over a seven-day period.

The feature is only able to give out advice: it will tell you to turn down the volume, and then do it for you, but you can turn it back up again if you wish.

But another switch may not be turned on. That is the “reduce loud sounds” setting – when that is on, the iPhone will watch for loud sounds coming through the earphones, and reduce their volume.

A viral TikTok urges people to switch that setting on, and move the slider that chooses when it operates to the lowest comfortable setting.

Both of those options are found in the Settings app. They are most easily found by typing “Headphone Safety” in the search bar at the top, which should bring up the options.

In some posts on TikTok, users advise that if the safe volume is too quiet then it might be a result of loud sounds coming from elsewhere in the environment. In that case, users have been advised to look at noise-cancelling headphones, which can help reduce that environmental noise and so allow for more comfortable listening.

The Apple Watch measures not only how much volume is coming from media, but also “environmental sound levels”. That will check the intensity of sounds in the environment, using the Watch’s built-in microphone, and warn you if the exposure over seven days is too high.

The feature is not available on the iPhone, presumably because it is likely to spend much of its time inside people’s pockets and therefore unable to hear.