AirPods Pro, iOS 14 and 3A283 : headphone audio levels in the health app changed (+10 dB average) - did you experience the same ?

[MayaTlab]

Hi,

Since upgrading either to iOS 14 or 3A283 (I did it at roughly the same time so it's difficult for me to trace the cause), I noticed that in the health app or in the headphone levels interface in control centre, my AirPods Pro now measure around 10 dBs louder on average (it's only the measurement, not the actual volume output). This is what it looks like in the health app :



I'm very confident that I didn't suddenly become deaf or raised my own listening levels by 10 dBs, in fact I still listen to the same content at the same volume level I used to set them on my Mac (still on Catalina) or on my iPhone. I didn't change any settings in the accessibility settings (headphone accommodation is off for example), and sound check is off.

Have you experienced a similar change in how volume levels are displayed / measured in the health app with your AirPods Pro ? Is it just a bug or a change in measurement methodology ?

 

[KayEm6419]

Hello MayaTlab,

My readings are exactly the same.

AirPods Pro upgraded to 3A283; I'm still running iOS 13.7 on iPhone.

Best,
KM

 

[MayaTlab]

Thanks ! That should clear things up and suggests that it’s more likely to be related to iOS 14. I’ll contact Apple soon to see what they have to say about this.

 

[MayaTlab]

So I've contacted Apple's Support (here in France) which obviously didn't know about this issue. I'll wait until iOS 14.2 to see what happens and contact them again afterwards.

 

[KayEm6419]

Thanks for bringing this issue to light, MayaTlab.
Otherwise, do you find the APPs work properly well on iOS 14 / 3A283? ~KM

 

[MayaTlab]

My APPs have had connection issues since one got replaced so I’m not the best placed to judge that, but so far iOS 14 seems to work similarly well as iOS 13.

This may not be an issue, perhaps Apple simply realised that their previous algorithm was wrong and updated it, although being wrong by about 10 dB would be quite something.

 

[iMacDragon]

This may not be an issue, perhaps Apple simply realised that their previous algorithm was wrong and updated it, although being wrong by about 10 dB would be quite something.

Pretty sure that figure is entirely algorhythmically calculated by iOS, yes.

 

[KayEm6419]

Thanks, MayaTlab. This has me most curious. Almost enough to go ahead and update to iOS 14 to view my volume readings for the APPs, and for the couple of other headphones I use. Best, KM

 

[MayaTlab]

You can already do so with iOS 13 in the health app, can't you ?
The APPs or sealing / ANC Beats (Solo pro, PowerBeats Pro, etc.) should theoretically be more accurate than others. Which make the jump in dBs all the weirder to me (if it isn't a bug but a change in algorithm, why did Apple get it so wrong before ?).
I really love that feature though. I've frequently wondered how loud I was listening to headphones and if the usual volume I set them to was reasonably healthy.
Just another picture highlighting the "problem" :

You can see a pretty clear jump in average reported volume right after the iOS 14 update.

 

[KayEm6419]

Yes, all the headphones I've used (even once) are listed. Can't seem to be able to cull the long list, either.

I really like the Audiogram feature in the Health App as well. I was happily reassured by my hearing test results using the Mimi App. ~KM

 

[0194839]

I think apple boosted the audio output in iOS14 because I used to listen to music at max volume but after iOS14 update it’s became a little bit uncomfortable and now I listen at a 75% of max output. The change was quite noticeable.

 

[MayaTlab]

I think apple boosted the audio output in iOS14 because I used to listen to music at max volume but after iOS14 update it’s became a little bit uncomfortable and now I listen at a 75% of max output. The change was quite noticeable.

I haven't experienced such a change myself, and certainly not by 10 dBs.