Apple has continually enhanced the iPhone and iPad with accessibility features designed to help people with certain disabilities. One unique tool introduced in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 is Sound Recognition. Geared for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, this new feature notifies you if your device detects a certain sound.
The Sound Recognition feature can detect a variety of noises, including a fire alarm, siren, smoke alarm, a cat or dog, an appliance, a car horn, a doorbell, a knock on the door, water running, and a baby crying. The idea is that even if you can’t hear the sound yourself, your device can. When it hears a specific sound, it will then display a visual notification to alert you.
Of course, there are also some limitations to this feature. For Sound Recognition to work, your device needs to be close enough to detect the sound. If you’re in the other room and there’s a knock on the door, your device probably won’t be sensitive enough to detect it. When Sound Recognition is turned on, you can’t activate Siri by saying “Hey Siri.” You will have to turn it off to activate Siri by voice.
Enable Sound Recognition
Before you can use Sound Recognition, update your device’s operating system to make sure you are running iOS 14/iPadOS 14 or higher. Go to Settings > General > Software Update to perform the update. You’ll be told that your software is up to date or prompted to install the latest update.
You can enable Sound Recognition by going to Settings > Accessibility > Sound Recognition and turning on the switch for Sound Recognition.
Sound Notifications
Next, tap the option for Sounds to choose which sounds you want your device to identify. Turn on the switch next to any sounds for which you want to receive a notification.
Test the feature first to make sure it works. Ring your own doorbell, honk your car’s horn, or even test your smoke alarm. If the sound is detected, a notification appears at the top of your screen.
If you’re satisfied that Sound Notifications is working, you can now position your device near any potential source of sound and wait for a notification to appear.
Keep in mind that a feature like Sound Notifications relies on artificial intelligence to detect certain noises, so it won’t always be perfect. The feature may fail to detect certain noises depending on your device’s location and the volume of the noise. It may even fail to correctly identify the right noise.
For those reasons, you don’t want to rely on Sound Notifications as your only form of aid, especially in the event of an emergency such as a smoke or fire alarm going off. You can, however, use this tool as a supplemental means of support if you have trouble hearing certain sounds on your own.
