iphone thinks my bluetooth speaker is headphones

Hi,

I had the exact same problem until today when I've come across your post and tried the recommendations from the other replies with no success. I accidentally came across the solution:

1. Go to settings
2. Bluetooth
3. Press the 'i' symbol next to your cars Bluetooth connection (you don't have to be connected to it to do this)
4. Then press 'Device Type' and Select 'Car Stereo'
5. This should stop your phone thinking your car is a set of headphones and reducing the volume!

Hello zz9, 

Thanks for contacting us back.

Depending on your region, you can try and turn off headphone notifications. "1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPod touch. 2. Tap Sounds & Haptics, then tap Headphone Safety. 3. Turn Headphone Notifications on or off. You can also turn on Reduce Loud Sounds to automatically lower your headphone volume when it exceeds your set decibel level."

 You can also send feedback about this feature:

iPhone Feedback

Enjoy your weekend.

This is very helpful beause I have a Bluetooth-to-FM converter for my automobile. There was a device type setting for this particular device. Unfortunately, there was no device type selection for two Jensen CD-555 devices which I use as bluetooth speakers. Perhaps the devices are too old to have this feature.

Thanks again, it was nearly impossible to follow dialog in audio performances in my car because of this annoying volume-limiting feature. I am VERY careful about my hearing but a system that cannot distinguish headphones from speakers is helping no one.

Hello zz9,

Thanks for reaching out in Apple Support Communities. We understand that your iPhone 8 thinks your car's Bluetooth is a headphone and the volume gets limited. We're happy to help. Have you received any alerts about your volume? If you have, this may be caused by headphone notifications. "These notifications give you more awareness around your listening habits to help you protect your hearing. When you receive a notification, you’ll hear a chime, and your volume will turn down automatically."

Check out the following support articles:

Adjust the volume on iPhone

Headphone notifications on your iPhone, iPod touch, or Apple Watch

In some countries you can't disable this warning. See the section, "Turn headphone notifications on or off."

Cheers!

Hello, i have the same problem, I'm from poland and i can't disable those frustrating notifications, my speaker volume keeps getting turned down because my phone thinks the speaker is headphones (the little headphones logo appears). It is so annoying because just turning up speaker volume and not iphone volume decreases the quality of audio. You (apple) implemented the function to chooes wether the lighning adapter is headphones or speaker but you don't have this function for bluetooth when my phone missmatches speaker for headphones. Also I think that feature where you phone thinks is smarter than you and turns your volume down for you is just so mindbogglingly stupid I can't wrap my head around it. I have this problem with two bluetooth devices and practically i can't use them because of this "feature".

Update to iOS 14.4.

In Bluetooth settings:

Remove the troublesome devices

Re-pair the device

Select the device type on the (i)

Thanks.

It would have been nice to know this feature became available with iOS 14.4 but that you had to re-pair devices to take advantage of it.

We on the forum only discover these things later then pass the info on to users when we can.