Not too loud, not too low: Set your iPhone’s media and ringtone volumes separately so they sound just right. Fun trick: Click this link to add a custom command to your Shortcuts app. Now, open Shortcuts and search for Adjust Volume. Tap Share > Add to Home Screen > Home > Adjust Volume and set the levels how you’d like. Now your music won’t blast your eardrums and your ringtone will be loud enough to hear from down the block.
Hear your TV at whatever volume you want
Watching TV at home is supposed to be an easy stress reliever. But it’s hard to relax when your roommates or family tell you to turn it down. Sometimes, they make you turn it down so low you can barely hear anything.
Sure, you could mute it and turn on subtitles, but then you’re missing a ton of dialogue and music. If you want to listen to the TV without disturbing others, you know it’s not an easy task. That’s especially true if you’re hard of hearing.
Speaking of which, here’s a quick tech tip: Tap or click here for Google apps that can help the hard of hearing. Here’s another accessibility tip for your TV. Just follow these steps so that only you can hear the TV’s volume.
So you like the TV’s volume loud. Here’s how to silence the critics
You can pair your TV with a Bluetooth headset if your TV has Bluetooth. Tap or click here for 10 of the best Bluetooth speakers you can buy.
My roommates used to complain about my TV being too loud. Then I purchased these wireless headphones. Now I don’t have to tense up whenever the bedroom door opens in fear of chastisement.
To connect your TV to a Bluetooth device like the one above, follow these steps:
- Select Menu.
- Head to Settings.
- Select Network.
- Then, select Bluetooth and turn on Bluetooth.
This lets you choose whichever device you want to pair your TV’s audio with.
Or check your streaming device
The Roku app offers Private Listening to stream audio to your phone or tablet. From there, you can use your earbuds or headset. The Roku remote has a headphone jack on the side, so use that to connect.
Here’s another smart option. Wireless gaming headsets are affordable, comfortable and offer excellent sound. Tap or click here for 25 deals on the best headphones, speakers and other audio tech.
Careful, Android users: There's a sneaky reason your alarm might be muted tomorrow morning
What’s scarier than jolting out of bed with the dreaded feeling of oversleeping? While not thinking clearly, you are simultaneously trying to get your bearings together while figuring out what happened or why the alarm didn’t go off.
50% decline
In brain volume loss for folks trialing a drug similar to Ozempic. Liraglutide simulates the hormone GLP-1, which regulates appetite and blood sugar. It might be a tool to fight Alzheimer’s, too. Participants saw an 18% slower decline in cognitive function. Promising, right?
Android headphones not working? Here are 3 tips to troubleshoot
If your wireless or wired headphones aren’t working with your Android device, it could be a problem with the phone, the software or the headphones themselves. Before you toss the headphones and waste money replacing them, we have three quick and easy troubleshooting tips to try.
🔕 Respectfully, shut up: You’re in a meeting and your phone rings. Instead of hitting “Ignore,” press the volume down button to mute the ringer. Bonus: The person calling won’t get immediately sent to voicemail and think you’re ignoring them.
Quick Android refresh: Hold the power and volume-up buttons simultaneously to do a soft reboot. Think of it as a fast way to end processes and speed up your phone.
Instead of turning up the volume, turn on the closed captioning. My son, Ian, uses closed captioning and once asked me to turn it on when we were watching a movie. Now I can’t go back!
🔊 Low volume on iPhone calls? The culprit could be the noise-cancellation feature. Disable it: Go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Visual and toggle off Phone Noise Cancellation (green means it’s on). FYI: This only works with iPhone 12 models and older.
Didn’t want you to hear that: When you use Bluetooth to take a phone call in the car, the sound leaks like crazy. Before you say something really embarrassing while sitting in a parking lot (“Doctor, this rash is all over my …”), turn the volume way down.
Silence is golden (unless you have a toddler): Did you know you can instantly silence incoming calls on your smartphone by pressing the side button (volume up or volume down) once? Yup! It’s a tech secret the pros know — and now you do, too. You’re welcome!
Quick-change your settings: On a PC, press the Windows key + A to get to most commonly used settings, like volume, display brightness and Wi‑Fi. On a Mac, you’ve gotta click Apple menu > System Settings.
PSA: When you use Bluetooth to take a phone call in the car, the sound leaks like crazy. Before you say something really embarrassing while sitting in a parking lot (“Doctor, this rash is all over my …”), turn the volume way down.
Did you know you can instantly silence incoming calls on your smartphone by simply pressing the side button — typically, volume up or volume down — once? Yup, it’s a tech secret the pros know.