Listening to music at high volume can certainly get the adrenaline pumping when you’re at the gym or out and about, as your favourite songs fill your head. But doing this regularly has been shown to cause damage to your hearing that could become permanent.
There’s an easy way to overcome this temptation, as iOS provide a setting for the maximum volume on an iPhone. In this article we show you the simple way to be kind to your ears, or your kids’ ears.
Protecting children who use iPhones
It’s a time-honoured tradition for kids to listen to their music or favourite TV shows very loudly indeed. We’ve all done it, but now with clever devices like iPhones it’s possible to prevent this from being a damaging behaviour. You’ll need to have access to their device to set the volume, but we recommend doing so, as their ears will thank you in the long run.
Another option is to buy a set of child-specific headphones as these are not only designed to fit smaller heads, but most also have the added bonus of limiting the output levels to prevent damaging the little ones’ hearing.
Our current favourite is the JLab Audio JBuddies that cost £11.99/$29.99 but you’ll find many more in our Best headphones for kids chart.
How to set a maximum volume on iPhone
To limit how loud your iPhone will play through headphones, there are just a few quick steps that you need to take.
On your device, open Settings > Music > Volume Limit and you’ll see a slider that represents the maximum volume, which at the moment will most likely be completely to the right. Now, you can either move the slider to choose your own preferred limit or use the EU Volume Limit control beneath which ensures that any output will not exceed 85 decibels.
It’s also worth switching on the Sound Check feature if you’re an Apple Music user, as this will act in a similar way to a studio compressor by making quieter songs louder and lowering louder ones so that they all sit around the same level. This prevents you from turning up the volume on one song that’s barely audible, only to be deafened when the next one kicks in.
To find the control, go to Settings > Music > Sound Check and turn it on.
For more ways to get the most out of your Apple device, read Best iPhone tips & tricks. And if you’d rather get audio to play louder, you may like to read our guide to making AirPods louder.
Author: Martyn Casserly, Contributor
Martyn has been involved with tech ever since the arrival of his ZX Spectrum back in the early 80s. He covers iOS, Android, Windows and macOS, writing tutorials, buying guides and reviews for Macworld and its sister site Tech Advisor.