Apple Patent Details How Apple Watch Could Adjust iPhone Volume Based on Ambient Environment

Apple has filed a patent detailing how the Apple Watch could be used to automatically adjust the volume of an iPhone based on the ambient environment. The patent is entitled, "VOLUME CONTROL FOR MOBILE DEVICE USING A WIRELESS DEVICE".

Apple notes that mobile devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and media players are very popular and carried with users almost everywhere. The widespread use of these devices make it hard to determine the most pleasing audio settings. For example, the alert volume of a device might need to vary dramatically based on whether a user is in his/her office or in a crowded subway.

The company's solution is to use the Apple Watch to detect ambient noise and adjust the users mobile device volume accordingly.


Certain embodiments of the present invention relate to using a wearable device to facilitate automatic adjustment of a volume control and/or other settings of a host device based on properties of the ambient environment. For example, when a host device generates an audible alert (e.g., a ring tone indicating an incoming call), a wearable device that has a microphone can use its microphone to sample the ambient sound and attempt to detect a distinct contribution corresponding to the audible alert. If this contribution cannot be detected or is not sufficiently strong, the wearable device can notify the host device, and the host device can adjust the alert, e.g., by increasing the volume, adding or increasing the strength of a vibrational component of the alert, or the like. Similarly, if the contribution of the alert to the signal is too strong, the wearable device can notify the host device, and the host device can adjust the alert, e.g., by decreasing the volume.

More details in the full patent filing linked below...

Read More [via AppleInsider]