Ambient sound can be very annoying in most cases, but we almost never know if we are at a dangerous noise threshold or not. This is where the Apple Watch can help us by allowing you to measure noise levels natively without installing any third-party applications. We tell you everything you should know about this functionality in this article, as well as the devices compatible with this tool.
Usefulness of measuring noise levels
A priori it may seem that measuring the levels of ambient sound is of no real use to us as users. But the reality is very different since this information can be very interesting to improve hearing health. Being exposed to extremely loud sounds for a long period of time can impair hearing in the long run. That is why it is interesting to have an almost constant measurement of the amount of dB in an environment in order to know if it can be harmful or not. In the event that it is harmful, we can make the decision to leave that room or use the necessary means to reduce the amount of noise.
Requirements and operation
In order to measure the amount of noise in the environment, a series of requirements must be met. The first one is having an Apple Watch Series 4 and being on watchOS 6 or later . This is because it is necessary to have a specific hardware that the older models do not have. Logically, the microphone provided by the equipment is used to carry out this measurement, and this is the same microphone used to answer telephone calls.
On privacy issues there is absolutely no problem. As Apple collects, the application takes different samples to measure noise levels but in no case records or saves anything. Once the measurement is taken, the software shows us the amount of dB that corresponds to what happens when a sound level meter is used, since the operation is very similar with a quite successful precision.
Measure noise with Apple Watch
Once all of the above has been taken into account, a measurement of the ambient noise can be arranged. To do this, you simply have to enter the application that is natively installed on the Apple Watch as follows:
- Just like when you access another application, click on the digital crown on the side to view all the installed applications.
- Look specifically for a yellow roundness that has the silhouette of an ear in black.
- When locating the icon, simply click on it to open the application called ‘Noise’.
- When accessing, you must click on ‘Activate’ to start taking the measurements.
At the moment you will see at the top of the screen a number followed by the dB unit. This is the amount of ambient noise that surrounds you, but if you do not understand where the danger limit is, a warning will appear at the bottom of the scale that goes from 30 dB to 120 dB, informing if it is high or is within normality. In the event that it is high, it is recommended not to stay too long in this environment in order to avoid hearing complications.
Also watchOS allows you to receive notifications as a vibration in the wrist in the event that it sees that you are in a noise environment even if the app is not open. To configure these notices you must follow the following steps:
- Open the Watch app on the iPhone.
- Go to the My Clock tab and then to Noise .
- Enter Noise Notifications “and then tap Noise Threshold .
- Choose the amount of noise that must exist for a notification to be sent.
At all times these records are kept in the Health application on the iPhone so that they can be consulted at all times. You can find them in the section dedicated to hearing health. If there is any type of alert about the noise level, it will be reflected with the day and time, as well as a history of all the measurements you are making.
DB measurement from a sphere
The spheres have been enriched over time thanks to the variety of complications that exist. This application was not going to be less and has a complication that will allow you to visualize the amount of noise in the environment in real time without having to access the specific application. To be able to place it on the screen you simply have to follow the following steps:
- Position yourself in the sphere where you want to change complications.
- Make a long press on it.
- Click on ‘Edit’.
- Swipe left with your finger.
- Click on the complication you want to edit.
- Look for the Noise complication.
Once you have searched for and selected this complication, simply click on the digital crown. From that moment you can always check the amount of noise in your environment from the face of your watch.