How to turn off Headphone Safety on iPhone
Hi, does anybody know how to turn the headphone safety setting off on the new iso update???
cheers.
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
iPhone 11, iOS 14
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Hi, does anybody know how to turn the headphone safety setting off on the new iso update???
cheers.
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
iPhone 11, iOS 14
Some of us have been handed a nasty surprise from Apple after recently updating to IOS 14.2. Prior to iOS 14.2 our phones had a feature called headphone safety which notified us that the volume of our headphones was too high and lowered it back down autonomously. This feature was mandated for EU states but it was optional for everywhere else, essentially if you lived outside of Europe, you were able to turn this feature off.
Once you update your phone to iOS 14.2 there is no longer an option to disable this headphone safety feature, whether you live in the EU or outside of Europe (I live in Canada). Okay, so what’s the big deal? Well, first thing, ethically speaking, medical concerns such as hearing loss, which this feature is trying to prevent, are essentially a personal choice, which should not have any interference with a Tech company.
More importantly, the feature has been designed terribly. It cannot differentiate between Bluetooth headsets, Bluetooth speakers, and Bluetooth receivers for your car radio. We typically listen to music quite loud on Bluetooth speakers, since they are typically further away from us, however since the phone cannot differentiate between a Bluetooth speaker and Bluetooth headphones, it assumes your listening to headphones too loud and lowers the volume for you to 50%. If you higher the volume manually it will continue to lower it every 20-30 minutes. This experience becomes dangerous when driving as it forces you to either pull over or reach for your phone and fiddle with the buttons while driving, which can have dangerous consequences.
We have tried reaching out to apple, and we were met with disappointing results. The recommended help was to submit your feedback to apples feedback page: https://www.apple.com/feedback/ Upon accessing the feedback page, there isn’t even an option to report any feedback for iOS 14.2 bugs/ features.
Shockingly, posts submitted to the apple community boards/forums kept being deleted, and I was personally threatened to have my apple ID deleted and ISP blocked if I continued to raise awareness in regards to this issue. This is truly a first for Apple, in 13 years that I’ve been a customer, I never thought I would get threatened this way. So one must assume there is no help coming, no consideration, no willingness to engage in discourse by Apple in regards to this with the impacted users.
Apples mythological existence was largely propelled by the introduction of the iPod, a device that made it easy for us to enjoy music, how we wanted, where we wanted. Today, amongst so many limitations due to the global pandemic, all we really ask is to please, let us enjoy our music uninterrupted, un-convoluted, we need this right now, for some of us, music is the only thing we have left to keep us afloat.
Please allow those who are not within the EU the ability to turn this feature off; we are all conscientious adults able to manage our hearing.
This is not a smear campaign against Apple, we just want to be heard, much like we just want to hear our music.
[Edited by Moderator]
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
I'm in the USA. Have it here and can't get rid of it.
If that was true you would see a host of other phone manufacturers also forcing people’s volumes down in midst daily use. I have not heard or seen any complaints from Android users thus far.
The ‘reduce loud sounds’ doesn’t send notifications and reduce your sound mid listening pleasure.
It works with the caveat of Siri telling you that that is too loud and asking if you are sure... Apple’s nanny sensitivities shows thru Siri as well.
100% agree
Tried it. It doesnt work
It's based on production date of your phone. Should you restore your phone you'll be in the boat where you'll now be covered under the regulations.
It’s driving me insane! I connect my phone 2 my tv surround sound 2 listen 2 music & it keeps turning down half way through a song! So frustrating!
Thankyou, that is the most informed response to help me understand the background
👍🏼
My headphones are wireless & connect
via bluetooth. It’s so annoying. Im the same, just trying to keep myself going doing housework & constantly having to turn the volume back up on my phone.
My girlfriend has a Samsung Galaxy (Uk) and it does not dictate volume level.
Then that's a violation of EU rules and I'm not sure how they get around it except perhaps the rules no longer apply to UK phones thanks to Brexit.
You can’t anymore and tbh if this isn’t changed on my next upgrade I’ll be leaving apple. This is a joke they don’t enforce it on android they allow you to
choose.
Surprise surprise... as expected iOS 14.3 final was just released after so many betas and two release candidates and Apple has not bothered to even scratch the surface with regards to this annoyance.
How to turn off Headphone Safety on iPhone