As usual, Apple has left a nugget of a feature hidden away in the accessibility menu. Last year, Apple placed Sound Recognition on that menu. When your phone hears one of the sounds you toggle on from a list of 15 (including the two additional sounds added this year), you will see a notification. This is a great feature for the hard-of-hearing because the iPhone can inform a user when a fire alarm or a smoke alarm is set off.
- Cat
- Dog
- Appliances
- Car Horn
- Door Bell
- Door Knock
- Glass Breaking
- Kettle
- Water Running
- Baby Crying
- Coughing
- Shouting
To get to the feature, go to Settings > Accessibility > Sound Recognition >Toggle on Sound Recognition > Tap on Sounds on the same page.
This year, Apple added a feature called Background Sounds that will allow you to hear relaxing sounds like Rain, the Ocean, a Stream, Dark Noise, Bright Noise, and Balanced Noise. This is the sort of sleep aid that you might find at electronics stores. To turn it on go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Visual > Background Sounds. You can set the alarm using a volume slider, and have it play or refrain from playing when other media is running.
Background Sounds has been added to Accessibility in iOS 15
It’s possible that you haven’t gone to the Accessibility page in some time. There you will find many audio/visual features that make it easier to use the handset if you have issues with your sight and hearing.
