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Hardware·1 min read

Apple Watch 12 and Ultra 4 get sound recognition for noisy rooms

Apple's newest watches can now listen for sounds around you. The feature is meant for people with hearing loss and for places too loud to notice anything.

An Apple Watch on a wrist showing a notification, in a busy, noisy room.
Image: Mac & i
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Your wrist can now do some of the listening. Apple Watch 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 have received a sound recognition feature, and it is aimed at two groups: people with hearing impairments and anyone standing in a room too loud to pick up what is going on.

The feature arrives as part of what Apple calls its Audio Intelligence features, which are rolling out to the current generation of Apple's watches.

What does sound recognition on Apple Watch do?

In short, the watch listens to the environment and tells the wearer when it picks up a particular noise. That is useful if you cannot hear a doorbell or an alarm, or if background noise drowns it out.

The material available so far does not spell out which sounds the watch detects, how it alerts you, or whether older models are supported. Those details are best checked in the watch settings and in Apple's own documentation once you have the update.

For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, a watch that taps the wrist when something happens nearby is a practical addition. For everyone else, it is a small safety net in noisy places.

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Tags:appleapple watchapple watch ultra 4accessibilitysound recognition

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