5 ms·

I get it's not the same thing but I wish iOS had lower volume settings. As it is, if 100% is max volume then the difference between 0 and unit above 0 on iPhone

I get it's not the same thing but I wish iOS had lower volume settings. As it is, if 100% is max volume then the difference between 0 and unit above 0 on iPhones is about 30% volume. Like, in the middle of the night when everything is quiet, if I was the set it on the lowest setting and make some game sounds I could hear it 2 rooms away with doors open. But, Apple decided you don't need to set it below 30%. Maybe they're trying to force you to buy Airpods

shreddit 7mo ago
The same with brightness. I have a shortcut to lower the white point because the lowest brightness level is still far to bright in complete darkness.
- m463 7mo ago
  brightness should go the other way too. for example I read kindle books on my phone in dark mode (white text on a black background). Having the brightness all the way up isn't fully bright white text, it is more like brightish grey. To get bright text to read in bright environments, I set the kindle app to black text on white background, then use accessibility to invert colors. I get noticeably brighter text on a black background.
- hombre_fatal 7mo ago
  My gen1 kindle backlight is so bright at the lowest level that I angle it away from me to read at night. Just typing this out makes me realize I should get a different ereader than wait for it to die since it’s clearly never going to die. It’s been like 15 years
- bdavbdav 7mo ago
  There’s an accessibility option in iOS to reduce white point that can be mapped
reaperducer 7mo ago
the difference between 0 and unit above 0 on iPhones is about 30% volume. I have found that when playing audio to a HomePod, pressing Volume Up on the phone increases the volume by 1. But if you immediately press Volume Down, it goes down by 0.5. So, with two button presses you can get the half-step increase you wanted in the first place. It's like adding "a little" to a volume change command with Siri. "Siri, turn the volume up a little" turns the volume up 0.5. "Siri, turn the volume up" turns the volume up one. "Siri, turn the volume up a lot" turns the volume up two. In macOS, there used to be a modifier key to have the volume change in half-steps, too, but I've forgotten what it is. I think the only place that Apple has done a good job with volume controls is the AirPods Max. But even there, I'd like more granularity at the low end.
hedora 7mo ago
It definitely deserves a place on the list. In fact, it's the worst of the worst, since it's just plausible looking enough to be the only option on over a billion devices. On top of that, the EU passed a bill to make them fix it, and they... didn't. If you have headphones that are too loud at 'unit above zero', and use the volume limiter in the device safety section to set it to a reasonable level, it just completely mutes the headphones. This isn't a hardware issue. Bluetooth devices have an integer volume setting, and the "unit above zero" setting is definitely not '1' on iOS like it is on android. I've hit this problem with 100% of the non-apple headphones I've used.
userbinator 7mo ago
I experienced the same "muted, TOO LOUD" when I bought some very sensitive IEMs, but fortunately I have a rooted Android where I can customise the volume control curve, so I moved more of the steps down towards the lower end of the DAC range and made the loudest just a little beyond "threshold of pain".
dylan604 7mo ago
That would be interesting to have the volume bars logarithmic instead of linear. The focus ring on manual cinema camera lenses are like this where there is 270° or rotation from near to infinity giving a human plenty of room to move while AF lenses only have 90°. The distances are much smaller and harder to get smooth focus pulls and feels much more linear. So yeah, not the same, but similar-ish in that there's not enough action in the sweet spot and too much in extremes
IntrepidPig 7mo ago
If you long press the volume bar in control center then it opens a larger version you can drag to adjust more precisely.
- socalgal2 7mo ago
  You are my hero! Does this get added to the list of worst controls though since it's so buried?
  - ggsp 7mo ago
    It's already included in the list, between the pricing UI and the Windows XP disks
  - fgd135 7mo ago
    You can also just drag directly on the slider that appears on the side of the screen when you press the volume buttons
    - HelenePhisher 7mo ago
      Lovely. Never would have thought about that. Thank you!
- Obscurity4340 7mo ago
  Also if you pull down the today center or whatever it is on iOS, it has a music player interface you can drag the volume there too
oneeyedpigeon 7mo ago
I upvoted you - at least, I hope I did. HN's vote buttons have such poor UX that a) it's difficult to hit the right button b) it's impossible to know, after doing so, whether you even hit the right button!
- shric 7mo ago
  There is either an unvote or undown option once you’ve hit one
  - oneeyedpigeon 7mo ago
    Ah, thanks. That confirms I upvoted, but I think "vote" is a silly verb to use to convey the opposite of "down"!
    - rimbo789 7mo ago
      I’d say 60% of the time I go to vote I click a users name instead when I’m on mobile.
    - shric 7mo ago
      I agree, but I struggle to think of a cleaner way without sacrificing the minimalist and mostly accessible theme. I love that there are no images, not even Unicode emojis, no ads, no side bars, etc.
      - oneeyedpigeon 7mo ago
        "unup"? I know that sounds a bit weird, but I think the unambiguity still makes it better. "Unupvote" might be an alternative, if that's 'less weird'. There are alternatives to a simple word change. For example, instead of hiding both arrows, it could just keep the one you pressed, but in grey.
  - kibwen 7mo ago
    Nowadays there is. For the first ten years or so, you just had to shrug and apologize to the commenter for accidentally and irrevocably downvoting them.
kakacik 7mo ago
I face the same situation on Android, there is no way to play music really quiet on Sennheiser TW4. Isn't this also plugs manufacturer's fault? (not valid for apple obviously)
- soopypoos 7mo ago
  "Disable absolute volume" setting (in Developer options) might help. It separates the phone volume control from the headphones volume control so it's like a preamp.
roelschroeven 7mo ago
This is an issue in many audio players. Maybe not as bad as in iOS (I don't know, can't compare), but the steps when the volume is low are nearly always too large. I like to play audio on low volumes, especially in quiet environments, and it seems designers/developers don't cater to that use case. One step is too low are even complete silent, one step louder is too loud.
- hn_throwaway_99 7mo ago
  Yeah, the default Android volume control had (has?) the same problem. I remember when I got an early Pixel model that I thought there wasn't a low enough volume - this issue was filed in 2015 and is still marked as open: https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/37035441 https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/37035441

shreddit 7mo ago

The same with brightness. I have a shortcut to lower the white point because the lowest brightness level is still far to bright in complete darkness.

m463 7mo ago
brightness should go the other way too. for example I read kindle books on my phone in dark mode (white text on a black background). Having the brightness all the way up isn't fully bright white text, it is more like brightish grey. To get bright text to read in bright environments, I set the kindle app to black text on white background, then use accessibility to invert colors. I get noticeably brighter text on a black background.
hombre_fatal 7mo ago
My gen1 kindle backlight is so bright at the lowest level that I angle it away from me to read at night. Just typing this out makes me realize I should get a different ereader than wait for it to die since it’s clearly never going to die. It’s been like 15 years
bdavbdav 7mo ago
There’s an accessibility option in iOS to reduce white point that can be mapped

reaperducer 7mo ago

the difference between 0 and unit above 0 on iPhones is about 30% volume. I have found that when playing audio to a HomePod, pressing Volume Up on the phone increases the volume by 1. But if you immediately press Volume Down, it goes down by 0.5. So, with two button presses you can get the half-step increase you wanted in the first place. It's like adding "a little" to a volume change command with Siri. "Siri, turn the volume up a little" turns the volume up 0.5. "Siri, turn the volume up" turns the volume up one. "Siri, turn the volume up a lot" turns the volume up two. In macOS, there used to be a modifier key to have the volume change in half-steps, too, but I've forgotten what it is. I think the only place that Apple has done a good job with volume controls is the AirPods Max. But even there, I'd like more granularity at the low end.

hedora 7mo ago

It definitely deserves a place on the list. In fact, it's the worst of the worst, since it's just plausible looking enough to be the only option on over a billion devices. On top of that, the EU passed a bill to make them fix it, and they... didn't. If you have headphones that are too loud at 'unit above zero', and use the volume limiter in the device safety section to set it to a reasonable level, it just completely mutes the headphones. This isn't a hardware issue. Bluetooth devices have an integer volume setting, and the "unit above zero" setting is definitely not '1' on iOS like it is on android. I've hit this problem with 100% of the non-apple headphones I've used.

userbinator 7mo ago

I experienced the same "muted, TOO LOUD" when I bought some very sensitive IEMs, but fortunately I have a rooted Android where I can customise the volume control curve, so I moved more of the steps down towards the lower end of the DAC range and made the loudest just a little beyond "threshold of pain".

dylan604 7mo ago

That would be interesting to have the volume bars logarithmic instead of linear. The focus ring on manual cinema camera lenses are like this where there is 270° or rotation from near to infinity giving a human plenty of room to move while AF lenses only have 90°. The distances are much smaller and harder to get smooth focus pulls and feels much more linear. So yeah, not the same, but similar-ish in that there's not enough action in the sweet spot and too much in extremes

IntrepidPig 7mo ago

If you long press the volume bar in control center then it opens a larger version you can drag to adjust more precisely.

socalgal2 7mo ago
You are my hero! Does this get added to the list of worst controls though since it's so buried?
- ggsp 7mo ago
  It's already included in the list, between the pricing UI and the Windows XP disks
- fgd135 7mo ago
  You can also just drag directly on the slider that appears on the side of the screen when you press the volume buttons
  - HelenePhisher 7mo ago
    Lovely. Never would have thought about that. Thank you!
Obscurity4340 7mo ago
Also if you pull down the today center or whatever it is on iOS, it has a music player interface you can drag the volume there too

oneeyedpigeon 7mo ago

I upvoted you - at least, I hope I did. HN's vote buttons have such poor UX that a) it's difficult to hit the right button b) it's impossible to know, after doing so, whether you even hit the right button!

shric 7mo ago
There is either an unvote or undown option once you’ve hit one
- oneeyedpigeon 7mo ago
  Ah, thanks. That confirms I upvoted, but I think "vote" is a silly verb to use to convey the opposite of "down"!
  - rimbo789 7mo ago
    I’d say 60% of the time I go to vote I click a users name instead when I’m on mobile.
  - shric 7mo ago
    I agree, but I struggle to think of a cleaner way without sacrificing the minimalist and mostly accessible theme. I love that there are no images, not even Unicode emojis, no ads, no side bars, etc.
    - oneeyedpigeon 7mo ago
      "unup"? I know that sounds a bit weird, but I think the unambiguity still makes it better. "Unupvote" might be an alternative, if that's 'less weird'. There are alternatives to a simple word change. For example, instead of hiding both arrows, it could just keep the one you pressed, but in grey.
- kibwen 7mo ago
  Nowadays there is. For the first ten years or so, you just had to shrug and apologize to the commenter for accidentally and irrevocably downvoting them.

kakacik 7mo ago

I face the same situation on Android, there is no way to play music really quiet on Sennheiser TW4. Isn't this also plugs manufacturer's fault? (not valid for apple obviously)

soopypoos 7mo ago
"Disable absolute volume" setting (in Developer options) might help. It separates the phone volume control from the headphones volume control so it's like a preamp.

roelschroeven 7mo ago

This is an issue in many audio players. Maybe not as bad as in iOS (I don't know, can't compare), but the steps when the volume is low are nearly always too large. I like to play audio on low volumes, especially in quiet environments, and it seems designers/developers don't cater to that use case. One step is too low are even complete silent, one step louder is too loud.

hn_throwaway_99 7mo ago
Yeah, the default Android volume control had (has?) the same problem. I remember when I got an early Pixel model that I thought there wasn't a low enough volume - this issue was filed in 2015 and is still marked as open: https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/37035441 https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/37035441