Apple has added a new audio control in iOS 26 that lets you dampen overly loud sounds coming from your iPhone speaker without sacrificing audio quality. The "Reduce Loud Sounds" toggle compresses your iPhone's volume range, making loud sounds softer while preserving quieter details.

If you frequently switch between apps with wildly different volume levels, watch videos with inconsistent audio mixing, or simply want to protect your hearing without constantly adjusting the volume slider, it could be worth turning on the setting. Here's how:

How to Enable Reduce Loud Sounds

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Sounds & Haptics.
3. Under the "Built-In Speaker" section, toggle on Reduce Loud Sounds.

Once enabled, your iPhone will automatically apply dynamic range compression to audio played through the built-in speaker. This means explosions in movies won't suddenly blast at full volume, but you'll still hear whispered dialogue clearly.

The setting only affects the iPhone's internal speaker and doesn't apply to audio played through headphones, AirPods, or external speakers. If you want similar protection for headphone listening, enable the separate Reduce Loud Audio toggle in Settings ➝ Sounds & Haptics ➝ Headphone Safety.