Audio & Visual balance adjustment is sensitive to adjustment on iPhone

Adjusting Balance under Audio & Visual in Accessibility Settings is not about increasing or decreasing the overall volume of your device—it specifically controls the distribution of sound between the left and right audio channels. In stereo audio, there are two separate channels that play simultaneously. The content in each channel is determined during the recording or mixing process—certain instruments, vocals, or effects may be placed more toward one side to create a spatial audio effect.

When you change the balance setting, you are fine-tuning how much you hear from one channel versus the other. For example, shifting the balance toward the left will make the left channel’s sounds more prominent while reducing the right channel’s contribution, and vice versa. The actual sounds you hear in each channel depend entirely on how the audio was originally recorded or mixed.