iOS has an accessibility feature that allows people with hearing problems to be alerted when a sound requiring attention is recognized. The option can also be useful for breaking out of your bubble when listening to music through headphones.
Since the release of iOS 14, iPhones have been able to recognize the sounds around you. Apple has indeed integrated an accessibility option allowing deaf and hard of hearing people to be alerted to a potential danger, a problem, or a situation requiring their attention, thanks to the sounds emitted around them.
The iPhone is thus able to detect and recognize a fire alarm, a siren, the alert of a smoke detector, the meowing of a cat or the barking of a dog, the noises of household appliances, the knocks horn, the doorbell ringing or someone knocking on the door, the sounds of flowing water, baby crying, screaming or even a person coughing.
But this option can also benefit (tele) workers who seek to isolate themselves from the world around them by listening to music with the headphones screwed on. Because as soon as a sound mentioned above is recognized by the iPhone, it activates and instantly displays a notification on the screen of the device.
Also to discover in video:
1. Add Sound Recognition to Control Center
The iOS Sound Recognition feature can be enabled and managed by going into Settings and then going to the Accessibility menu where the option is available in the Hearing section.
If you have to use this function frequently, going through the various menus of iOS can quickly become painful. Fortunately, it is possible to add it directly to the iOS Control Center for easier and above all faster access.
To do this, open Settings and enter the Control Center menu. Look for the Sound Recognition option and, if it’s not already built into the Control Center, press the + button to add it.
2. Activate sound recognition
When you need to activate the function, deploy the iOS Control Center and tap the dedicated icon to activate it. Then scroll through the list of sounds that iPhone is able to recognize, and select the ones you want to be alerted to.
An alert is displayed as soon as you choose the first sound. It indicates that when sound recognition is activated, the function Say Siri is not available.
Tap Enable sound recognition to continue and finish choosing which sounds you want to be alerted to. Then close the Control Center.
Note that you will need to return to the Control Center and press this button again to deactivate the function.
3. Consult the alerts
When you do not listen to the sounds around you, the iPhone is able, thanks to this option, to detect some of them. When this is the case, a notification will appear on the iPhone screen to let you know which sound has been detected.
4. Add additional sounds
To add other sounds to recognize, or on the contrary to remove some, open the control center, and keep your finger pressed on the Sound recognition button to bring up the sound selection pane.
You can also enter the detailed menu of the Sound recognition function by pressing the Settings menu.