If you have the new iOS 14 software installed on your iPhone, you may have noticed that in Settings
iPhone turns down music volume
You see, Apple implemented a rather interestingand a thoughtful function — notification in headphones. iPhone can detect if you've been listening to music too loud for a long period of time, and if so, it will lower the volume and send you a warning notification. Of course, you can turn the volume up again, but it will automatically drop after the next song or so, just to dissuade you from destroying your eardrums.
In some countries around the world, this feature cannot be disabled. For example, if you live in the US, you still have the option to turn off headphone notifications as of this writing.
This is where the problem comes in.When listening to music through a Bluetooth device ... any Bluetooth device, the iPhone will treat it like a headphone. That is, if you turned on music through a bluetooth speaker (column) for a party, Welp, you are about to be stopped by the friendly apple police.
How to disable the «Headphone safety feature»
As mentioned above, in some countries this feature can be disabled. Follow these steps to see if you can turn off headphone security on your iPhone.
- Go to settings, then to the Sound section, then to the «Headphone Security» function.
- If you see the same thing on the display as in the screenshot on the left, you cannot turn it off, sorry. If what's on the right — turn off the slider.
The fact that you can turn off the function insome regions of the world, but not others, leads us to think that it was mandatory according to local regulations. But the question still arises as to why Android phones don't follow such rules. Yes, we've seen plenty of warnings when trying to increase the headphone volume on, say, a Samsung Galaxy, but they can be easily ignored. So far, we haven't seen mandatory automatic volume reduction.
As far as I can tell, Apple complies with IEC 62368-1: 2018 (3rd edition), which was published in late 2018, has since been adopted in the EU and will soon be adopted in the US.
Plus, the main problem is that the iPhone is notcares which bluetooth device you connect. You see, the safety rules are drawn up specifically for headphones. I could use a bluetooth speaker, but my volume will still drop. Sounds like a minor inconvenience, right? Well ... there are other use cases too!
Humans have Bluetooth receivers in their cars. What will you do if iPhone volume drops in this situation? I'll tell you that it is better not to pick up the phone in traffic!
Or how about this — there are real onesguitar amps made for the bedroom guitarist whose only advantage is the fact that you can stream music from your iPhone to the guitar amp and jam with it at the same time. Well, 15 minutes into your weekend jam session, iOS 14 will cut the volume in half.
This is definitely annoying, but brings me to a more important point. Apple doesn't want you to use your iPhone this way.
I'm absolutely sure that Apple has very smart people. And this is not a situation where no one has come up with a solution.
Almost any complaint this feature raises can be answered with an Apple product.
— Oh, your iPhone isn't working properly with your Bluetooth speaker? Well, get a HomePod and listen to music that way, yes.
— Are you experiencing volume drops through your Bluetooth car stereo? Well, take CarPlay, what's wrong with you?
— Well, I don't have the answer to your guitar amp problem, but listen — just buy an iPad I guess. iPad is free from this limitation
Oh yes, if you need extraproof that the iPhone is designed for headphones, and the iPad — no— iPadOS 14.3 doesn't have a headphone notification toggle, but it does have an additional Volume Down slider.
It's a little confusing, and I feel like it may not have been thought through to the end.