What app can I download to make my phone louder?

Many people find that their phone’s speaker volume is too low, making it difficult to hear music, videos, phone calls, and notifications. There are several potential reasons your phone’s sound may be quieter than expected, including hardware limitations, incorrectly configured settings, or even faulty software. The goal of increasing your phone’s sound output is simple: to enable you to clearly hear everything even in noisy environments. With louder volume, you’ll no longer struggle to understand conversations, podcasts, and media. This article will explore various solutions to boost your phone’s speaker and headphone volume to address common low volume problems.

Assess Your Current Volume

Before downloading a volume booster app, it’s important to check your phone’s current maximum volume level. This will help you determine if your phone’s native volume is sufficient or if you need an app to push the levels higher.

To check your iPhone’s current max volume, go to Settings > Music > Volume Limit. The slider allows you to set the maximum volume allowed on your device. Drag the slider all the way to the right to set it to the highest level.

You can also check volume levels over time through the Health app. Open the Health app and tap Browse at the bottom right, then tap Hearing. Select Headphone Audio Levels to view a graph of your headphone usage history and peak volume levels.¹

The maximum volume on an iPhone ranges from 100 to 115 decibels, which is about as loud as a leaf blower.² This level of volume can damage hearing over time, so use caution when listening at full volume.

Understand Volume Limitations

Phone speakers have inherent hardware limitations that restrict how loud they can get. Phone manufacturers have to balance volume capabilities with other design factors.

For example, phones need to be compact and portable, which limits the size of the built-in speakers. Smaller speakers mean less ability to amplify volume and produce robust audio [1]. Thinner phones also restrict space for quality speakers.

Additionally, phone speakers are designed to be used for short, personal listening at close distances, not to blast audio loudly. Pushing them to extremes can risk distorting or damaging the speakers.

While software like volume boosters can help, they too have their limits based on the phone’s construction. Ultimately the physical speaker hardware puts a cap on maximum volume potential.

Understanding these hardware restrictions can help set realistic expectations for your phone’s volume capabilities.

Adjust Settings

One way to increase your iPhone’s maximum volume is by adjusting the settings. Go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Headphone Safety, and turn off “Reduce Loud Sounds.” This disables the default volume limiter that prevents your phone from going above a certain decibel level. You can then drag the slider to set your desired maximum volume limit higher (https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/iphone/iphb71f9b54d/ios).

Similarly, you can go to Settings > Music and turn off Sound Check. This normalization feature evens out the volume across songs and videos, which may result in your music feeling quieter. Turning it off allows maximum volume variability (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251853097).

Adjusting these volume limiters and normalizers in Settings is an easy way to increase the max loudness your iPhone can produce. Just be cautious of potential hearing damage from excessive exposure to loud sounds.

Use a Speaker or Headphones

Connecting your iPhone to external speakers like Bluetooth speakers or wired headphones is an easy way to boost the volume. Quality Bluetooth speakers like the Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 3 allow you to play audio loudly and clearly. High-end headphones from brands like Bose and Sony also excel at producing robust, detailed sound for music, movies, and calls. Just make sure your Bluetooth speaker or headphones are fully charged before connecting for optimal performance. Pairing only takes a few seconds, and then you can pump up the volume as loud as the external speakers allow.

Volume Booster Apps

There are a few popular volume booster apps you can download for iPhone that aim to increase your maximum volume beyond the normal limit:

Louder Volume Booster is a simple, free app that provides a volume slider to boost your audio up to 200% louder. It works for music, videos, games, and other media.

Volume Booster – Equalizer FX combines a volume booster with a 10-band equalizer for $3.99. It lets you customize the sound profile and push the volume higher than your phone’s built-in limit.

These apps override the maximum volume set by Apple to increase loudness. They essentially amplify the audio signal before it reaches your speakers. However, there are some limitations to be aware of when using these apps, which we’ll cover next.

EQ and Amplifier Apps

There are a number of apps available that can boost the volume on your iPhone by optimizing the EQ (equalization) and amplifying the audio output. Some popular options include:

Equalizer – Volume Booster EQ (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/equalizer-volume-booster-eq/id1550086698): This app lets you customize the EQ with bass, treble and 10-band graphic equalizer controls. It also includes a volume amplifier to boost the overall output volume.

Boom: Bass Booster & Equalizer (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/boom-bass-booster-equalizer/id1065511007): Boom provides a 5-band equalizer, volume booster and virtual 3D surround sound effects to enhance the audio experience.

Equalizer Fx: Bass Booster App (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/equalizer-fx-bass-booster-app/id1084228340): This app features a 7-band graphic EQ, bass booster, virtualizer effects and volume amplifier.

These types of apps can help make the audio louder and richer by optimizing the frequency response and boosting the gain. However, they are limited by the iPhone’s hardware capabilities, so the maximum volume increase may be modest.

Considerations and Limitations

While volume booster apps may seem like an easy solution, there are some potential downsides to be aware of:

Using these apps can sometimes lead to audio quality issues. By amplifying the volume beyond your phone’s normal maximum level, the sound may become distorted or clipped. This is especially noticeable at higher volumes. The boosted audio may sound fuzzy, unclear, or lose some depth and richness.

According to one Reddit user, volume boosting caused audio quality problems on their Samsung Galaxy Note 9: “I use a speaker at work that needs a little help from a third party volume booster app. I have been using it for a year+ with no problem. Lately, even after factory resetting my phone, I cannot get any volume booster app to actually boost volume without horrible distortion.”

It’s a good idea to test volume booster apps at different levels to find the highest volume you can use before quality degrades too much. However, you may be limited to subtle volume increases before running into issues.

Extra Accessibility Options

Apple has built-in accessibility features on iOS to help further increase maximum volume and audio clarity for those who need it. These include audio accommodations like Mono Audio, which combines stereo left and right channels into one mono signal played through both sides. This can help maximize volume and clarity for listeners with hearing impairments. There is also a feature to adjust left/right Headphone Audio Balance, allowing you to customize relative volumes on each side (source).

For users with hearing aids, Apple devices have direct integration called Live Listen. This uses your iPhone’s microphone to stream audio directly to hearing aids. The accessibility shortcut (triple click home button by default) can toggle Live Listen mode on and off for temporary volume boosts when needed (source). Apple’s Made for iPhone (MFi) program also ensures hearing aids and audio devices provide consistent integration and volume control.

Summary

There are a few different ways to make your iPhone louder if you are having trouble hearing it:

Go into Settings and turn the volume all the way up and disable any volume limit restrictions.
Use wired headphones or external speakers which can often play louder than an iPhone’s built-in speakers.
Download a volume booster app from the App Store which can amplify your iPhone’s volume beyond the normal maximum.

Try an EQ app to optimize the sound frequency for maximum loudness.

While these tips can help in many situations, there are some limitations. Hardware restrictions prevent the iPhone from reaching dangerously high volume levels. Additionally, excessive loudness can damage hearing over time. But adjusting settings, using headphones, and downloading volume apps can provide a safe loudness boost in most cases.