Google Pixel now forcibly lowers your headphones’ volume to prevent hearing loss

Continued exposure to loud volumes is linked with potential permanent ear damage, and with the prevalence of in-ear wireless earbuds, concerns about hearing loss have been rising. Therefore, Google wants to prevent that from happening to you and is adding a feature that will frequently remind you to lower your earphones’ volume. If you don’t act, it will reduce the volume itself.

The new Hearing Wellness feature has been added under the Sound & vibration settings on all Pixel devices. It was originally introduced in Android 14 QPR beta 1 and is now rolling out to all Pixel phones running Android 15 and above. With the feature enabled, your Pixel will send you a notification when the output of your headphones exceeds a certain safe threshold.

According to a Google support page, this threshold is set to the sound pressure limit of 100 decibels over five minutes or 105dB per minute. When that happens, you will see an alert pop up on your Pixel phone, asking you to “Keep listening” or “Lower the volume.”

Google adds that these alert notifications are turned on by default on Pixel devices and cannot be turned off. Further, if you simply dismiss the notification, the feature will automatically lower the volume.

The latter feature is locked behind another toggle that may be disabled for some regions. It is because the alerts have been put in place following recommendations by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The specific guidelines for healthy sound pressure levels were added in the third edition of IEC 62368-1 safety standards published by the body, and adopted in regions including the US, Canada, and the EU.

Google says the settings are therefore locked as part of regulatory requirements, as seen in the images above. Despite that, it is bound to annoy users who like to blast audio at full volume, and we’ve already come across a few instances of criticism from users.