Why you shouldn't ignore this urgent iPhone warning

Young adults have been warned not to ignore alerts on their phones about listening to music at dangerous levels. The advice comes after a study showed that nearly half of people aged 18-44 are suffering from some form of hearing loss.

The study, carried out by Specsavers, spoke to 2,151 Brits and revealed 50% of participants admitted they had received the 'noise alert' on their phone, while 42% said they ignored the notification.

The loud music warning is a feature that is found on Apple devices, most commonly iPhones. It appears when the user has been listening to content at high volume levels on their phones for a large period of time.

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The message pops up as a notification and can be removed by either turning down the volume or dismissing the notification all together. According to WHO, an estimated 1.1 billion people across the world could be at risk of hearing loss, due to unsafe listening practices.

The Specsavers survey also asked questions about young people's lifestyle that sees them exposed to loud noises. In the report it was found that, one in eight (12%) young adults attend gigs or concerts at least once every three months.

Specsavers chief audiologist Gordon Harrison detailed three key ways that people can reduce the risk of hearing-loss in the future, as well as ways to protect yourself.

The 60/60 rule for headphones

“Headphones are useful, not just for music, but for taking calls, listening to podcasts and more. However, most phones these days have an alert that tells you when you’ve been listening to your music too loudly for a certain amount of time.

In the study, we found out that over two in five choose to ignore the warning and click ‘close’ rather than turning the volume down to an appropriate level.

Listening to your music through your headphones loudly can damage your hair cells in your inner ear. These hair cells recognise sounds and transfer those sounds to your brain.

Over time, this could do some serious damage to your overall hearing.

The general rule of thumb is to only use headphones for up to 60 minutes a day, while at a volume of up to 60%.”

Limit loud noises - not just through headphones

"If you’re out at a particularly loud event, such as a concert, you could look at where the speakers are when you enter the venue, and stand as far away from those speakers as you can.

It might sound obvious, but music is not the only source of loud noise. Places such as sporting events and cinemas are loud, or even watching films in your own front living room at a high volume, especially if you're using a sound bar."

Live gigs? Try hearing protection

“It might seem silly to go to an event that you’ve paid for, and block some of the sounds you are there to hear, but that isn’t what hearing protection does. Instead, it will allow you to listen to the gig or concert, while protecting the auditory system from damage to the hair cells when listening to extreme bass or drum noises.

By wearing hearing protection, not only are you reducing the risk of hearing damage for the future, but you’re also preventing that ringing sound in your ears that can occur after being exposed to loud noise.”