How to turn off Headphone Safety on iPhone

Thanks for reaching out to support about this.

Were they even aware of this issue? It makes no sense why I have two iPhones (XS Max and the new 12 Pro Max) made for the US region and purchased in the US (i.e., not subject to European regulations regarding audio limits) and only the new 12 Pro Max is missing the turn off notification (and auto volume reduction) option.

On the headphone notification screen of my 12 Pro Max that I can’t disable notifications on, it states “...in certain regions these notifications cannot be turned off due to regulations and safety standards”. The US has no such regulations and/or safety standards related to this that I’m aware of. And the fact that my XS Max has the turn off notification option makes me think that possibly a batch of the the new 12’s are somehow being interpreted as being non US models and subject to European regulations.

I already wrote an email to Apple about this. Please share any updates you receive from Apple support regarding this matter. Thanks in advance!

Please read comments here under this video. Particularly ones by Josh. This issue is now confirmed by Apple and is not region dependent as some like to think. This is quickly rolling out to US sold iPhones as well. If Apple decides to continue with this, this won’t end well.

https://youtu.be/nsDb6lL1AOc

I do understand your point of view. For whatever reason I can turn this feature off on my iPhone 12 Pro Max. I get you're not happy with it. I don't personally listen to music so loud that I would need to be warned to turn the volume down, which is possibly why I can still turn the feature off.

I think you're missing the point. This is a user to user ONLY forum. Apple doesn't participate here. Just users. So, to keep complaining about this feature, which whether I agree or don't agree with, is simply pointless. Apple won't hear you here.

You need to complain to Apple directly. Use the feedback link --> Feedback - iPhone - Apple

Or use the Contact Support button at the top of this page

Otherwise, there is NO ONE on this forum who has anything to do with Apple, thus no one on this forum can change anything for you, no matter how many times you post your dissatisfaction here.

I know it stinks. Just another thing to do but everyone should put their thoughts on

https://www.apple.com/feedback/

not saying it helps but really what can it hurt? Eventually with enough shouting and screaming; maybe they have to glance at the issue

Mungo57 wrote:

APPLE TAKE NOTE OF OUR PLIGHT AND SORT THIS ISSUE OUT

Apple is not here and does not read these forums.

Perhaps once Brexit is completed they can do something about it, but EU rules state that:

… all personal music players sold in the EU after February 2013 are expected to have a default sound limit of 85dB.

The user can choose to override the limit so that the sound level can be increased up to maximum 100dB. If the user overrides the limit, warnings about the risks must be repeated every 20 hours of listening time. 

I don't believe Canada ever passed anything but that doesn't mean they won't:

https://www.straight.com/article-580411/vancouver/canada-should-limit-volume-music-players-avoid-hearing-loss-experts-say

That only allows you to disable your own ability to turn “Reduce Loud Sounds” on and off. This issue has nothing to do with that. It has to do with Headphone Safety Notifications which are activated internally everytime you spend a certain amount of time listening to music at a certain decibel.

On the other hand Reduce Loud Sounds is OFF by default anyhow. You set it yourself so headphone volume is limited to whatever decibel you set it to. It’s NOT lowered to that volume. It’s maximum is SET to that volume.

Apple is not blocking the volume. It’s turning it down forcefully midway listening. That’s the only issue we have here. If it warned me day and night without interfering my listening midway I could care less. Also: volume limiting is not a new thing on Apple devices. It has been there for years but 14.2 takes it up a notch to the point of annoyance by interferinng with volume midway listening.

No you are not understanding me. You can say you don't like the feature. You can ask if anyone knows how to change the feature. That's fine. Threatening to sue Apple, claiming Apple is breaking the law, campaigning to publicize this, that's what you all should be careful about doing here.

The actual purpose of this forum is for users to ask for technical support from other users. This is not a chat site. It's not a complaint site. It's a site to ask a question like "How do you turn off the headphone safety setting on iOS 14.2?" To which the answer apparently for many of you is, you can't. To which we would provide the feedback link for you to tell Apple your thoughts. This link in fact --> Feedback - iPhone - Apple

Coming and continually complaining and expressing anger at Apple however, is not the purpose of this forum. Everyone who participates here are users like you. Users who have NOTHING to do with Apple or have any influence into Apple features.

That's my point. It's more a point than a stance.

Personally, I do think if you want to destroy your eardrums with loud sounds, that should be up to you. I think if you want to smoke cigarettes and coat your lungs with tar and clog your arteries, that's also your choice. If you want to drink your liver into oblivion, your choice as well.

To be honest, I doubt this is about the headphone jack. Sure, the headphone jack is affected, but if you (like me) are one to use wired headphones once in a while, you do have the workaround of inserting them with a Lightning adapter and lie to the iPhone that it is an "other device" you just inserted, not headphones - then there is no volume monitoring.

With Bluetooth devices on the other hand there is no such workaround. Hence I am most severely affected when I am using my low-powered Bluetooth earphones for exercising, because I need to turn them up quite a bit to get "normal" volume.

Your best bet if you wanna stick with Apple is to set your reduce loud sounds to 90dB and keep your listening to couple of hours a day and feel sorry for the $249 you spent on your “high end” 100dB+ AirPods Pro.

This need to be fixed or removed by Apple. If they want to promote safety, sure enable it by default, I support that. However, don’t restrict people from being able to use a device by making it not possible to be turned off. You need to consider factors of how far away people are from the phone and speaker, that they could be wearing hearing protection that is giving a false positive that they are being exposed (and yes this is a thing as I use Bluetooth hearing protection at work that has an external mic that lets you hear people talking around you but filters out everything high dB), in car audio systems, etc... The roots of the iPhone stemmed from the iPod original, which an integral part of its existence was the experience while enjoying music. Apple needs to stick to its principles. The choice to use this feature should be left up to the customer to disable.

Davebolton1966 wrote:

I’m hoping that people at apple are reading this and fix it in the next update so we can either leave it on or switch it off

They're NOT. This is a user to user only forum which Apple does not participate in.

Send your feedback to Apple via this link if you want them to hear your thoughts --> Feedback - iPhone - Apple

It is unclear whether EU regulations allow delineation between headphones and a generic BT audio connection; the regulations I have found just state "output" and seem to imply the limit applies to headphone jacks and Bluetooth in general.

In particular, that is the way limits are implemented on Android devices sold in the EU; the volume limits apply to any applicable headphone jack and to Bluetooth in general, whether headphones, speakers or an audio system.

Unfortunately like everyone is reporting I confirm nothing has changed in 14.3.

I put on my Aeroplex Aftershockz bone conductive headphones on and tested the earplug inbuilt EQ setting and got the notification around every 20 minutes. The outdoor EQ as always is not as bad as it can be lowered down to 75/70% volume which puts it in the 4 hour mark. Though I can see that no matter what EQ I switch on the headphones itself the iPhone is still reporting the same db levels.

It feels at this stage that I may have to go buy a new pair of in-ear headphones to get a more accurate volume but I would be very vigilant about what I am going to buy as I am sure power outputs varies for various wireless headphones.

I have resubmitted feedback on 14.3 like I did on 14.2.1 yet there is no 14.3 option or 14.2.1 still. Anyone that has not submitted should do so too.

https://www.apple.com/feedback

EU iPhones had a limit compliant with the EU rules for years until 14.2. There was no need to change it to the current state which drastically exceeds the requirements.

This is as if a car manufacturer restricted its vehicles to 70 km/h and blamed this on the legal national speed limit of 100 km/h. It misrepresents the law. There is no legal requirement for the iPhone limit to be this intrusive and annoying - it is Apple who wants it to be this way.