iOS 14 "Voice Recognition" function test: Can you know when the door is knocking even with headphones?

Apple has introduced a large number of new features in iOS/iPadOS 14. Among them, the "Sound Recognition" function, which was originally designed for some users with hearing impairments, has recently aroused discussion among many digital bloggers.

This feature allows the microphone in the iPhone and iPad to hear a sound and display it on the screen as a notification to inform the user.

For users with normal hearing, this seems to be a useless feature, because we don’t need to give the phone a reminder for the sounds we can recognize. But if we are wearing noise-canceling headphones or in some occasions where it is inconvenient to hear the sound, this feature may be very useful.

Well-known digital video creator MKBHD showed a notification bar full of "sound recognition" on social media, and called the feature "possibly the opening credits of a horror movie in 2020."

So is it really that magical? We briefly tested the feature and found some minor issues.

How to turn on "Voice Recognition"? (Only if iOS/iPadOS 14 Beta has been updated)

• Open Settings
• Click Accessibility
• Under the "Hearing" tab, find "Voice Recognition"

or

• Open Settings
• Click on Control Center
• Add "Voice Recognition" to "Included Controls" and you can open it directly in the Control Center.

Specific content

There are various options in the "Sound Recognition" menu, including 12 small options such as "Siren", "Animals", "Home" and "People". Users can freely turn on and off the reminders of each option. These include the more common sounds of cats and dogs, doorbells, knocks, etc. If there are children at home, you can also turn on "Baby Crying" or "Shouting".

In the "Sound Recognition" column, Apple says that the iPhone or iPad will continue to listen to certain sounds and use device-side intelligence to notify you when the sound may be recognized.

test

We found a relatively quiet office to conduct the test and searched for different types of audio files on the Internet, but the results were not as good as we expected.

From the test results, we can see that the recognition rates of knocking on the door, running water and baby crying are relatively high, and the recognition time is also relatively fast; while the recognition rates of some more ambiguous sounds such as "fire alarm" are relatively low, and the longest recognition time is about 15 seconds.

In addition, we also found several bugs and precautions during the testing process.

• "Voice recognition" can be performed when the sound is turned off.
• The "number" of voice recognitions is displayed incorrectly.

There are only 12 types of sounds but 14 are displayed

• After a "sound recognition" pops up, you can long press to turn off the sound reminder on a scheduled basis.

Summarize

Although foreign media reported that the recognition rate of this feature is quite good, according to our simple test, the recognition rate and speed of the "sound recognition" feature are still unsatisfactory. Given that it is still in the beta version, there will be room for further adjustments and repairs to this feature.

However, Apple also noted below the feature: This feature should not be relied upon in high-risk environments, emergencies, or for navigation where harm or injury may occur. Apple also included the word "may" in its notification for recognized sounds, proving that "Voice Recognition" is not intended for widespread use by the general public. Its original intention was for those with hearing impairments. However, as a new member of the "Accessibility feature," we would be very happy to see Apple improve this feature in subsequent versions.