The first thing I do when I set up my phone is turn off all these emergency alerts. They've always scared the bananas out of me. They're insanely loud. I can't imagine how loud they would be with ear buds in.
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Apple Facing Lawsuit After AirPods Allegedly Ruptured Child's Eardrums With Amber Alert
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Amber alerts are super loud for no reason at all. I nearly crashed when it randomly went off at full volume
It is horrifyingly loud. I don't understand the point of the loudness.
Sigh……..
The courts are going to throw this case out right away. Apple CANNOT change the volume of the Wireless Emergency Alert, that’s set up by the FCC which has minimum requirement for volume. Same applies for Emergency Alert System on TVs. (Hence cable boxes and most newer tvs disable the volume controls when EAS comes on)
If the parents wants to sue, they can sue FCC in federal court, and the can take the case to SCOTUS if they want.
The courts are going to throw this case out right away. Apple CANNOT change the volume of the Wireless Emergency Alert, that’s set up by the FCC which has minimum requirement for volume. Same applies for Emergency Alert System on TVs. (Hence cable boxes and most newer tvs disable the volume controls when EAS comes on)
If the parents wants to sue, they can sue FCC in federal court, and the can take the case to SCOTUS if they want.
This may not be directly related, but I often use my AirPods Max just for the excellent noise cancellation, nothing else - no music or podcast playing. When the low battery sound goes off, it is literally like a jump-scare from a horror movie, it is so #$%ing loud. Doesn't matter how low I have the volume turned down, the alert sound BLASTS.
I think if I remember correctly, if the volume is completely turned all the way down, the alert does not play. But if the volume is at 1 out of 100, the alert sound comes in at 98 out of 100.
There probably aren't that many people that use these with nothing playing, so I'm an edge case. But coincidentally Apple sent me a feedback thing about the Max's and I made sure to list this under the "One thing you could change about" spot.
I think if I remember correctly, if the volume is completely turned all the way down, the alert does not play. But if the volume is at 1 out of 100, the alert sound comes in at 98 out of 100.
There probably aren't that many people that use these with nothing playing, so I'm an edge case. But coincidentally Apple sent me a feedback thing about the Max's and I made sure to list this under the "One thing you could change about" spot.
You're right, my math was based on 1/4" measurement distance which is probably in accurate in terms of SPL published for shotgun shells
I’ve had regular notifications come in really loud over my AirPods Pro.
Pretty annoying to be listing to music or a video at mid volume and the all of a sudden some notification blaring in my ears.
Pretty annoying to be listing to music or a video at mid volume and the all of a sudden some notification blaring in my ears.
I support the lawsuit. Apple needs to be held accountable for over sites and bugs they’ve yet to fix, after knowing for years now. Notifications volume is a mess. HomePods have literally one volume, despite volume setting
Why strive to play devil’s advocate when soft victim blaming is within such easy reach?
Per Reddit post
Is the decibel levels that high?
Yes, AirPods can damage your hearing. Here’s how to check.
Before you throw out your AirPods and delete your life’s work on Spotify, experts have some suggestions to make AirPod listening safer.
www.hearsoundly.com
I used the example of a jet engine, you used a example of a shotgun blast, either is impossible to achieve that audio intensity with AirPods. The article discusses every day examples that could lead to hearing loss over some duration of time.
Now whether this one occurrence of a amber alert damages a 12 years old eardrums has to be thought out, is it possible given what most people can tolerate for limited time with the above example, or is this a example of many occurrences that have occurred to the young boy, or something else unique?
From what I could find, it seems the "max" the Airpods Pro can deliever is 110 dB. If someone can find something otherwise please do and let me know. Now 110dB certainly is in the range of being "overly loud" prolonged dB over 85 is not recommended and if you don't think the Airpods Pro can get overly loud...then I have some bad news for you because that sounds like a degree of hearing loss to me.
I assume that range is an average, but we have to be mindful that eardrums are not standard parts and individuals will clearly lie outside that norm.
That's the average; however, as I stated earlier, there has to be more to this story. AirPods do not have the power requirements to reach even close to that.
hmmm. CDC says it takes over 120 DB to damage ears, right next to a siren, firecrackers, etc. Earphones probably don't get over 105 db. so, it sounds fishy, or the worst case of bad luck on a defective product ever, but yah, probably would have melted the AirPods to go this loud.
I must be deaf because I listen to my airpods full blast and it still ain't loud enough!
Apple's AirPods ruptured the eardrums of a 12-year-old boy in 2020 when a loud Amber Alert was issued, according to a lawsuit filed against Apple in California (via Law360).
The child, identified as B.G. in the filing, was watching a movie on Netflix on his iPhone in 2020 while wearing AirPods Pro. The AirPods Pro were allegedly set at a low volume, but an Amber Alert sounded without warning and the high-pitched noise damaged B.G.'s eardrums.
The lawsuit claims that the Amber Alert "tore apart" B.G.'s eardrum, damaged his cochlea, and caused injuries to his hearing. He has since suffered from bouts of dizziness, vertigo, tinnitus, and nausea, and there is permanent hearing loss in his right ear, requiring him to wear a hearing aid.
Apple is accused of producing "defective" AirPods that do not automatically reduce the volume of alerts or equalize notification and alert volumes. The lawsuit faults Apple for failing to include warnings about the potential issue, and claims that Apple was aware of the alleged design defects.
The lawsuit is seeking damages for B.G. and his parents, who are suffering from serious emotional stress caused by the AirPods incident. It asks for "punitive damages in amounts that would punish Defendants for their conduct and which would deter other technology companies from engaging in such misconduct in the future."
There have been other social media complaints about the noise of Amber Alerts when wearing AirPods. Amber Alerts are designed to catch the attention of iPhone owners, causing devices to play a loud sound and vibrate. Reports on the internet suggest that the Amber Alert sound is indeed very loud when played through AirPods, even when those AirPods are set at a reasonable volume.
Amber Alerts can be turned off in the Settings app by opening up the Notifications section, scrolling to the bottom, and tapping on the toggle to deactivate the alert. There are also options for turning off Emergency Alerts and Public Safety Alerts, though it is worth noting that alerts cannot be disabled in all countries.
The full AirPods complaint can be read on Scribd for those interested.
Article Link: Apple Facing Lawsuit After AirPods Allegedly Ruptured Child's Eardrums With Amber Alert
We sure are lucky to have an expert witness like you among our group, graduate of Google University.
I'm sure the rationale for the absurdly loud volume of these alerts is "we want to make sure it doesn't go unnoticed", but it's counterproductive, because how many people have outright disabled them because of this problem? Having a "quiet" option would be better than simply on or off.
Privileged applications such as Amber Alerts might be able to drive them louder than audio applications. Similar to how the iPhone and Apple Watch screens have a higher potential peak brightness than it seems - Wallet on iPhone and the flashlight on the Watch are allowed to push the brightness higher than normal.