A Warning to VoiceOver Users Regarding Volume Issues in watchOS 11.2

By AppleVis, 11 December, 2024

Update: A member of our community has shared a workaround for the volume issue discussed below. This involves using the new Volume item in the Control Center to raise the system's master volume. While this is a reliable workaround for those who are already on watchOS 11.2, we stand by our recommendations in the original post.

Original Post:

Apple announced that today they will be releasing iOS 18.2 to the public; It is expected that Apple will release the corresponding updates for its other platforms, including watchOS 11.2, as well. This post contains preliminary details about an issue that we believe VoiceOver users need to be aware of prior to installing watchOS 11.2. Because of the inability to downgrade Apple Watch software without sending the device to Apple, we strongly recommend that if you have not already installed watchOS 11.2, that you read this post in its entirety, as well as any comments, before doing so.

During the latter half of the watchOS 11.2 beta cycle, members of the community, as well as our team, identified an intermittent but significant issue with VoiceOver volume that occurs when using Siri or when an alarm activates.

At this point, we need to stress that our understanding of the below issue (and all of the ways it may manifest itself) is limited. It is very possible that we may not understand the full scope of the issue; and it is also entirely possible that there may be an effective workaround that we simply have not identified.

What we do know, both from our internal testing and from reading posts on our Apple Beta Software forum, is that in certain circumstances, VoiceOver volume will decrease significantly. In our own testing, our team encountered this issue mainly when using Siri; or after an alarm (such as the Wake Up Alarm in the Sleep app) is activated. Another member of our community has reported that this issue also occurs when receiving an incoming call.

While this issue most often presents as a decrease in volume, we have also observed an initial presentation of the bug where the volume actually increased after using Siri. We believe that the issue may be related to how the volume levels between VoiceOver and other system audio interact, though this is just an educated guess on our part.

At the time of posting, we are not aware of an effective workaround for this issue. Our testing suggests that if VoiceOver volume does become lowered, it is usually possible to raise VoiceOver volume by using Dictation in a text field. It may also be possible to raise VoiceOver's volume using the 'Volume' Rotor option, though our experience with this is limited and we make no claims that it is effective in all circumstances.

Due to the severity of the issue and the inability for end-users to downgrade watchOS software without sending their device back to Apple, we recommend that VoiceOver users do not update to watchOS 11.2 until a fix is released or an effective workaround is identified. If you do not wish to install watchOS 11.2 at this time, we recommend that you ensure that Automatic Software Update is disabled. To do this, in the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, go to General> Software Update> Automatic Updates, and toggle the 'Automatic Updates' option to 'Off'.

If you have any additional information about this issue or have identified an effective workaround, we would greatly appreciate it if you would please let us know by posting a comment.

Options

Comments

Suggested Workaround for VoiceOver Volume Issue in watchOS 11.2

I have been using the watchOS 11.2 developer beta throughout the entire beta cycle, and I have also noticed this annoying bug. However, I discovered something a release or two ago that might help, even though it’s not a direct workaround.

What happens is that the main volume for the entire watchOS decreases, while, for instance, VoiceOver’s specific volume remains at the level it is set to. Think of it like changing the volume on an iPhone using the volume buttons. This is a master volume that controls everything: media playback, sound effects, and VoiceOver. So, VoiceOver speech may still be set to, say, 100%, but the watch has lowered the master volume when this occurs. This volume can be adjusted directly with the digital crown during media playback or while in a phone call. If you have a newer watch that can play music from Apple Music or similar directly from the watch’s speaker, you can access this master volume while media is playing.

Now, to what I discovered: there is now a dedicated volume control in the Control Center on the watch. For me, it just appeared suddenly after one of the last beta updates, but it may be possible to add this control manually in the Control Center after updating to watchOS 11.2 if you don’t see it there. This is a direct control for the master volume, similar to the volume you access during calls or media playback, and it can easily be increased back to, for example, 100%. I’ve noticed that every time I use Siri now, it drops down to 44% on my Ultra 2 watch. I don’t see any correlation between this specific volume and the volume Siri is set to, or ringtones and alerts, but in any case, this provides a quicker way to adjust the master volume back up when the watch unexpectedly decides to lower it. I hope this makes some sense and helps a bit until Apple is able to address this bug! :)
Take care

re: Suggested Workaround for VoiceOver Volume Issue in

Thank you for this tip. I never thought to even look for that control in the control center. Low and behold, there it is! I can confirm that you can get the volume bak up this way.

Thank You, Post Updated

Hi Cliff,

Thank you so much for this! I have updated our post with a link to your comment and a brief description of the workaround.

No issues

At this time no issues, it is working well, watch 9 with current beta of watch OS.

@Holger Fiallo then you are…

@Holger Fiallo then you are one of the rare luckiest people out there.
@Cliff I thought this was already known, thank you for posting anyway. I was about to add this exact description for the bug too.
When I am in a crowded environment and am able to talk the easiest thing is still to just ask siri media volume 80%. When I am patient enough, and say watch volume is at 5% I can tolerate some amount of neck pain and go to the control centre and adjust the watch volume after having increased that of voiceover to the maximum beforehand to maximize its audibleness.
Depending on the context and users understanding of the still completely undocumented (as far as I know when I read apple watch support articles for this post) new volume control changes on watchos 11, this bug is a major one which could totally lead a person completely unable to use the watch.

Can Siri adjust the new master volume?

I don't have the beta and the release isn't available to me yet but I'm wondering if Siri can adjust the master volume? Siri set volume to whatever percent might be an annoying but effective workaround. I also wonder if this is more prevalent on the newer watches that can play audio through their speakers, I wonder this as I never experienced volume issues described in previous posts on my Ultra.

Thanks for the heads up. On…

Thanks for the heads up. On 11.1 and turned off auto update.

Bless you brave souls for diving into the beta. I've done it on the iphone because I know I can drop back, but never dared on the watch.

@Steve Sawczyn

Yes, and that's what I do most of the time. Just asks media volume 80% (which is believed to be the default volume before watchOS11). This change is probably the most unpopular one because as far as I remember voiceover volume control on the watch was one of the smoothest thing ever before.

Would Adjusting the Volume from the Watch App Work?

I'm too chicken to try betas so I haven't been able to play with this bug. Just looked at the volume settings on the watch app on my iPhone, and noticed that the volume could be changed from within the settings, so wondering if this work-around could also work? Meantime I've told my friends not to update ☺️

delete update file

You can delete the update file. In the Watch app on the iPhone, go to General, and then, storage. You should see a WatchOS update. Click on it and you should be able to delete it. The only thing that I don't know is if the update will eventually download by itself again. Hopefully not. I hope this will prevent some accidental installs.
Best,
Olivier

Not sure how much this will…

Not sure how much this will be of use, but I found that, whenever I come to stop an alarm, the new media volume is always the same as VO's. So for example, if Voiceover volume is at 50%, then the media volume will become 50%. The reason I made the post about having no sound on my watch was because my VO volume was at 1%, and evidently the master volume also became 1%.

TheBllindGuy07

Notice that the alarms always were to low even before iOS 18. Maybe Apple need to rase the volume on their end. Changed alarm and when I play it was low. Recall the same thing from previous iOS.

Even without this bug, the…

Even without this bug, the volume control on watchOS 11 is just soo horrible and complicated now. Apple really need to revert this change back. We have to manage two volume controls for one thing (voiceover) now. Even macOS hasn't gone that far (yet) in term of overhead.

facing this issue on Iphone as well

Occasionally, if the phone plays a sound, either any device sound or media while Voiceover is simultaneously used, the device volume significantly dips. It takes a few seconds, maybe a minute, to come back to its original volume label. Most consistently I encounter this issue when I lock the phone and unlock it after a few seconds. The phone lock sound followed by the Voiceover unlock sound result in the volume dipping very low. Turning the sounds could be a workaround, but i don't want to turn them off for other reasons. Iphone 12 IOS 18.2, but encountering this since quite many updates prior., ,

Not just on the watch for volume of sound

I think I experienced this, updating to a series 10 soon. Anyway I don't know if it was me, flicking down by accident or not. However, I'll always want the sound effects on any Os you pick, please be able to be turned up again. As it is, the sounds changed when everyone complained when a text or email shattered their ears during a call, yeah it got to me a bit also. However, if you turn off voice over on any OS and try a sound, it will be at least 25% louder then it is using voice over. Please apple, fix this.

Apple doesn't read this…

Apple doesn't read this forum, as much as I wish they did. You need to send feedback either through the feedback app if you are on beta or to:

accessibility@apple.com

Outlining the problem and how to replicate it. They seem more responsive of late. Be patient though, they tend to take a few days to get back to me... Or maybe that's just me.

Question re apple os 11.2…

Question re apple os 11.2. Has the rearrangement of apps been fixed? I've been pulling my hair out trying to sort the homescreen in a way I like. Each time I do, 3rd party apps ping back to their original location. As there is no longer a dock, I thought this would be the solution. But no.

My Experience

I'm using an Apple Watch Series 9. In my experience, using Siri causes the master volume (the one in the control centre) to be matched to VoiceOver's volume.

Let's say for example that my watch volume dipped right down so I turn the VO volume up to 100% so that I can actually hear it! I adjust the master volume up to 80% and then turn the VO volume back down to 25%. The next time I use Siri, the master volume will drop back down to 25% same as VoiceOver.

I first discovered this because I wondered if I could keep VoiceOver's volume constantly at 100% so that when the master volume did get dropped to almost nothing, I'd still be able to hear VoiceOver. However, this actually has the opposite effect because no matter how low I turn the master volume down to, it will be raised back to 100% the next time Siri is invoked.

I haven't yet been able to do enough testing to say whether it's the same behaviour when alarms and timers go off, but I think it might be.

Hope this makes sense and is useful in some way.

The Volume Glitch

I wish I'd read this thread before I updated my Apple Watch Ultra to 11.2. I have been using the suggested fix with some success, but seem to have to repeatedly readjust the system and VoiceOver volumes to get things right.
In addition, I'm frustrated with another bug and wondering if others are experiencing it. On a regular but random basis, the speech becomes very gravelly or scratchy, I'm not sure what other word to use to describe it. It sounds like some feedback. It also seems to increase the volume slightly when this occurs.
All very annoying.

Think this is the speech…

Think this is the speech clarity option:

Settings > Accessibility > Speech > Improve speech clarity.

Turn that off.

Thanks for the speech clarity fix - it seems to work

Thanks! I've been mostly in quiet places when this occurred, so don't know what this option was doing. Your fix has worked so far. DOesn't make much sense to me, but I'll take success.

I'm ok with watchOS 11.2

I hardly prefer volume control in watchOS 11.2 than in 11.1; at least now I can increase and decrease volume anywhere and it does, no matter that yes, while playing music directly on my apple watch 10, voiceover changes its tone and volume, but it is not a real issue to me.

Search