One of the notable features in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 is sound recognition. This is an accessibility setting that allows your iPhone to continuously listen for specific sounds and notify you when it detects them. It can be incredibly helpful for those with hearing impairments but can also have other uses. So let’s learn how to use sound recognition feature on iPhone and iPad.

What is Sound Recognition and How It Works on iPhone and iPad? 

As the name suggests, sound recognition enables your iPhone to detect certain sounds and notify you when it hears them. You can choose to be notified about a range of sounds, including everything from fire and smoke alarms to the dings of household appliances and the sounds of pets and babies.

This can be of critical assistance to anyone with hearing impairment, alerting them about what is happening around them.

At the same time, it is a useful feature for almost anyone as you can be notified of individual sounds that you might otherwise miss when you’ve got headphones on. Moreover, it’s super simple to set up, so let’s have a look.

How to Turn On Sound Recognition in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14

  1. On your iPhone, go to Settings → Accessibility.

    open settings and tap on accessibility in ios 14 on iphone

  2. Scroll down and tap on “Sound Recognition.”
  3. Toggle ON “Sound Recognition.”

    enable sound recognition in ios 14 on iphone

  4. A “Sounds” option will appear on the same screen. Select it, and you’ll see many different sound options organized into categories. You can toggle ON the options that you want your iPhone to alert you about.

    tap on sound and then turn on different sounds on iphone

How to Add Sound Recognition to the Control Center

After enabling Sound Recognition on your iPhone, you can add it to the Control Center so that you can easily turn it on and off as you like. Here’s how:

  1. Go to the Settings → Control Center.

    open settings and tap on control center on iphone

  2. Under More Controls, find and tap green plus (+) icon next to Sound Recognition.
    This will add it to the list of Included Controls.

    tap on green plus button to add sound recognition to control center

    You can rearrange the items on the list using the hamburger handles on the right of each control.

    rearrange sound-recognition in control center on iphone running ios 14

  3. Once added, you can access it by launching Control Center on your iPhone.

    open control center to view sound recognition

Get Instant Sound Recognition Notification on iPhone and iPad

Once you’ve turned on sound recognition, you will receive an instant notification every time your iPhone detects the selected sounds.

get sound recognition notification on iphone running ios 14

We tested this feature, and it worked pretty well, but please bear in mind that it’s not foolproof, so you should still be cautious about your environment and not rely on this feature in critical situations.