Sound Recognition

Overview

Sound Recognition turns audio events into notifications. Apple's iPhone guide shows the setup path: Settings -> Accessibility -> Sound & Name Recognition -> Sound Recognition, then select sounds or add custom alarms and doorbells. The inclusion benefit is time-sensitive awareness for Deaf and hard-of-hearing users without relying on another person. Lesson: treat safety cues as multimodal signals and make setup discoverable.

Why it matters

If key sounds are inaccessible, users can miss urgent cues like alarms, sirens, and doorbells, which can increase safety risk and dependence. Hearing loss affects many adults, so this gap is not edge-case. The upside of addressing it is simple: more independence in everyday environments. Call to action: inventory critical sounds in your product context and provide configurable, privacy-respecting alerts.