iPhone Volume changing despite being dialed all the way up?

If the volume on your iPhone lowers automatically while listening to music, there are several possible causes and solutions:

1. Check for Sound Check: Sound Check is a feature in the Music app that normalizes the volume level of songs. Go to Settings > Music > Sound Check and turn it off. This may prevent the volume from changing automatically.
2. Check for EQ Settings: If you have customized EQ settings in the Music app, it may cause the volume to change automatically. Go to Settings > Music > EQ and select "Off" to turn off all equalizer settings.
3. Check for Restrictions: If you have enabled Restrictions on your iPhone, it may prevent the volume from going too high. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Allowed Apps and make sure that the Music app is not restricted.
4. Check for Software Updates: If the issue persists, check for any available software updates for your iPhone. Go to Settings > General > Software Update and see if there are any updates available.

If none of these solutions work, you may want to contact Apple Support for further assistance.

Hey! If you’re still having this problem

screen time > scroll to “content and privacy restrictions” > scroll down to “reduce loud sounds” should be all the way at the bottom. if everything is greyed out just turn the first option on!

I had the same problem with my iPhone 12 mini volume lowering on its own. I called Apple Support and the person I spoke with didn’t know how to stop this from happening.

This solution offered by SravanKrA in this discussion seemed to have worked for me:

1. Check for Sound Check: Sound Check is a feature in the Music app that normalizes the volume level of songs. Go to Settings > Music > Sound Check and turn it off. This may prevent the volume from changing automatically.

If people are having this issue while using Youtube, i gave the answer. While using Youtube and watching/listening go to the settings icon in Youtube and look for and click on “additional settings” Then look for “Stable Volume”, and turn it off. Afterwards, the volume was DRASTICALLY louder!! Hope this helps someone

This happens to me all the time. I will put the volume all the way up and it will literally go almost all the way down by itself right away. It’s really annoying cause at night I’ll put it all the way up for my alarm and I won’t be able to hear it in the morning cause it’ll be almost all the way down. You have to go to sound and haptics in settings, click headphone safety, and then turn off reduce loud audio. That’s helped me. It’s really annoying cause I liked this option for when I listen to music and shows through my earphones and it didn’t used to adjust by itself. I don’t know if it’s the new updates but it’s really inconvenient.

I had the same exact problem and it was stressing me out. I thought it was because I dropped my phone. It was a really simple fix for me, I just got this phone and finally went into settings to see what was up and under Sounds and Haptics I had Change Volume with Buttons toggled Off. I tuned it on and now the volume stays where I put it.

But I also noticed under sound settings there is info on how they now track our headphone volume and if it is too loud for too long according to the World Health Organization’s guidelines they send a notification and turn your volume down.

Just fixed it for myself. Go to the Apple Music app or whatever app you use for music, scroll down and turn off “Sound Check” & “EQ”

This was happening to me few days ago so I googled it came here reading all comments and followed all suggestions nothing helped. so now it's fixed for me, what I did different is I did a offload the app I'm using like music app then installed it back and it didn't do it again, hope this fix in your situation.

Hi there,

It took some digging through the settings, but I think I found the solution to this particular issue (i.e. having volume dialed to a given level, but for some reason, the media isn't nearly as loud as it usually is at that level).

Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual, then turn off the “Headphone Notifications” toggle.

Those notifications never used to cause an issue, but now they seem to automatically decrease the loudness at any given volume level.

I hope this is helpful to anyone dealing with this strange issue.

ITS A FACE ID SETTING CALLED ATTENTION AWARE FEATURES!!!!, my phone has been going quiet while staying max volume for a while now,

( sounds pretty much equivalent to when you use an app such as YouTube or instagram while on a FaceTime call)

the main culprit is this quite terribly working new awareness alert feature that straight up lowers the volume if it recognizes you’ve looked away from your phone *via Face ID* OR if it defects you in a public space with surrounding voices.

i am having the same problem. I have to close the app I’m listening to and reopen to get the volume back up.

I had a similar issue where media volume would turn up on its own despite being turned all the way down.

the issue was resolved after turning off equalizer on Spotify.

Hoping Spotify updates to fix the issue soon.

Normally when this happens to me it’s because my phone is about to die. I Plug it in and it’s normal

I had a problem like this and turned off the ‘Shake to undo’ option in the accessibility options. That seemed to do it.

I am facing the exact same problem. I think the reason behind is the battery aging. My battery health is 78%, which is extremely normal. I have been using this phone for 3 years now. So, the battery might not be powerful enough to sound in the maximum possible way due to aging.

Even when the phone is fully charged or plugged in, I don't think that it gets to the maximum level. For example, if I am listening/watching something, it reduces the sound when my battery is below 50% or so, and as soon as I plug it in, it gradually increases back. Or I have to turn the sound down and back up.

I am looking for a solution to fix this issue but changing the battery or cleaning the speakers.