Apple introduces 'decibel monitoring' on watchOS to tell you when it's too damn loud

Apple wants you to channel your inner crank and turn down that racket.

At Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) on Monday, it introduced a host of new features that come standard on watchOS 6. One that garnered somewhat self-conscious loud claps was 'Decibel Monitoring': an app that will notify the watch wearer when their environment is too dang noisy.

The idea is that hearing is an important aspect of one's health, and that being in a loud environment can damage your hearing. As humans, we can certainly tell when we're somewhere loud. But we don't intuitively know what level of "loud" crosses a threshold into potentially damaging. The watch will deliver a notification, telling you to get the heck outta there if you're in a place that's liable to blow (or, ok, just bother) your eardrums. Read more...