After updating to iOS 26.2, I’ve noticed some inconsistent behavior with VoiceOver and system sounds that might be worth discussing:
1. VoiceOver Volume Spikes:
Whenever an alarm goes off, a timer ends, or Siri is activated, the VoiceOver volume suddenly jumps to an unusually high level. Initially, I suspected this was related to the Audio Ducking feature, but the behavior doesn’t match what happens during calls. For example, when I’m on a call and need to enter numbers on the keypad, the audio ducking effect is much more subtle and doesn’t cause the same loud spike.
2. Passcode Click Sound Issue:
On the lock screen, when entering the passcode, the usual click sounds play as expected. However, when navigating to Settings > Face ID & Passcode and entering the passcode there, the click sounds are completely absent. This inconsistency feels odd and might indicate a bug.
Has anyone else experienced these issues? Is this a known bug in iOS 26.2, or could it be related to specific settings? Any insights or workarounds would be appreciated.
Comments
Lame audio implementation
The issue of sounds getting significantly louder right after dismissing Siri or other events that change system volume is a result of what seems to be a comparative lame implementation of the audio infrastructure on iOS compared to what exists on macOS.
On macOS, processes don't directly control any audio hardware by default, requiring specifically asking CoreAudio for that privilege when necessary to reduce the already pretty low latency normally introduced by routing and mixing in the audio infrastructure, and no process can take over any devices that the user selects as the system's default input or output. On iOS, however, it seems that the audio infrastructure is dumbed down possibly for performance or power consumption reasons, and one of the features in which Apple is cutting corners seems to be system-wide mixing, so when a service needs to play a loud sound, the main volume is just temporarily cranked all the way up and then returned to its previous value, with any unrelated audio caught in the mix also getting amplified as a result. In some cases these volume adjustments are also accompanied by a small delay during which no audio is actually played, and the missing passcode keyboard clicks are a result of that.
These issues were already manifesting on iOS 26.0 for me, and one factor that in my observation seems to contribute to this problem is having any kind of Bluetooth audio device paired with the device and active even if audio isn't even being routed through it. The issue with audio blasting at full value after certain services play loud sounds is likely as old as iOS itself, and also manifests a lot in different ways on tvOS.
RE: João Santos
That seems to be a really well researched, tried and tested comment, something which I wasn't expecting. I have reported both the issues on the Feedback portal of apple for iPhone as bugs and I am dead sure there is nothing that will be done about it in the near future. Apple accessibility also seems to be ignoring my mails to them, although I have identified some really realistic bugs with Voice Over and recorded them on my Youtube Channel you can find here, this playlist has all the recordings for all the accessibility issues with everything on Windows, my iPhone and the applications on it, so you might want to skip to the ones that say iPhone, IOS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8vG-Fmt9t_lLgPAxlA8qaKVksgc9b3y6
Please do not subscribe to the channel, it will add no value at all but you can use any of the videos in the playlist if you want to use them as demonstration to any of the accessibility issues you are also facing. Thank you once again for the comment and the insight, have a good one!
Click sounds
They are also missing when you need to do an update. On the original release of 26 they were also missing on the locked screen but that got fixed. I agree it is odd not having the sounds as you don't officially know you are entering numbers.
The Volume is spiking for me too...
Yes, I just took the plunge and upgraded from IOS18 right into this bug. it's annoying. Apart from that and the lock screen shutting while I'm reviewing notifications I quite like it.