All The Things You Should Know About The New Apple Watch Noise Warning App

The latest update for the Apple Watch, WatchOS 6 has been rolled out. Apple has added to its Apple Watch lineup a brand new feature called the Noise application. This brand new app could measure the level of ambient noise of your surrounding environment and send you a warning if the sound is loud enough to cause damage to your hearing or not and give you a warning.

It is the newest addition to the health tech suite of Apple after the EKG feature was launched back in 2018. This year, the iPhones and Apple Watch have also gained the function to track women's fertility and menstrual cycles.

Here are things you should know about this new Noise app of Apple.

What is this Noise app from Apple?

Available for the Apple Watch only, this new Noise app will detect loud sounds in the surrounding environment and warn you if it thinks there is a risk of hearing damage.

The Noise app uses the built-in microphone to measure the levels of decibels at construction zones, parades, theaters, concerts, and many other loud places, which are not good for our ears.

When opening the app, you would see a sound measurement in real-time in decibels. You will also see a message telling you if that sound level is "Loud" or "OK."

From 0 to 90 decibels, the sound is not loud enough to cause loss of hearing. However, above the threshold of 80 decibels, your hearing will be damaged, depending on the loudness and the duration of exposure.

On the app, there are also short descriptions of how long each day you can listen safely to beyond 80 decibels sounds.

From the app on your phone, you could also configure the Watch to tell when the surrounding sound has gone through a certain threshold, from 80 - 100 decibels.

According to Apple, they do not register or record any data from the new Noise app. But if it still concerned you, you could disable the app from your Apple Watch.

The causes of hearing loss

According to medical research, there are 3 hearing loss types:

• Sensorineural (from ear or nerve damage within our ear)
• Conductive (interferes with the traveling of the sound wave through our ear)
• Mixed (mix of the 2 above)

Some hearing loss's common causes are inner ear damage; buildup of dirt, earwax or other stuff; ruptured eardrums and ear infections. Long exposure to very loud environments could exacerbate the hearing loss. That's why Apple has developed this app to help to limit that exposure.

How this new app will help prevent hearing loss

Hearing loss's big problem is that usually, it occurs gradually in a long period. We usually do not notice the small changes in our hearing until it is too late.

People usually notice it when they find it difficult to even listen to the person right next to them. Then they would seek professional treatment, but that is already too late to do anything.

This new Noise app is really about proactive versus reactive. Instead of hoping that it does not happen to your hearing, you should actively monitor the environments to prevent hearing loss right from the beginning.

Take an example, if you are at a music concert and the app warns you, you could use some earplugs to protect your ear. As the environmental sound changes, the decibel meter will change too. You could actively protect your ear with this new Noise app.