Accessibility - hearing and speech
Headphone Accommodations
Most people call this tuning headphone sound to your hearing.
Supported headphones can be tuned to amplify quiet sounds and adjust frequencies to match your hearing.
Available
This setting is present on your iPhone.
- We have this path on file but have not yet confirmed it against an official source.
Where to find it - iOS 14 and later
- Settings
- Accessibility
- Audio & Visual
- Headphone Accommodations
What it does
You can use a short listening test, or import a hearing test result from Health, to build a custom profile. Transparency mode on supported earbuds can also be tuned.
What changes
When it is on
Audio is adjusted to your profile.
When it is off
Headphones play the standard signal.
Should you turn it on?
Good reasons to turn it on
- Speech becomes clearer without raising the volume.
- Works with phone calls and media.
Good reasons to turn it off
- Music can sound unnatural with a strong profile.
- Only some headphones support it.
Battery
No real change
Privacy
No real change
Performance
No real change
Cellular data
No real change
Storage
No real change
Out of the box: Off.
What your iPhone needs
- Needs iOS 14 or later
Questions people actually ask
- Can I make speech clearer in my AirPods?
- Yes. Accessibility, then Audio and Visual, then Headphone Accommodations, and tune for vocal clarity.
If it is not working
- If the option is greyed out, your headphones do not support it.
- An audiogram stored in Health can be imported instead of taking the built in test.