QC & Sport Earbuds keep increasing my iPhone volume by themselves

[Grimley141]

When my QC buds or my wife’s Sport buds are connected to iPhone (iOS 14.0.1) but audio is not actively playing, when I receive an audio notification on my iPhone (e-mail, text message, etc) the volume slider pops up and the volume increases to near maximum levels (requiring me to manually reduce the volume slider back to where is was so as not to be excessively loud when I play audio again, which could be dangerous for my hearing if I don’t notice it).

Is this a firmware bug with 1.0.7 (both sets of Bose buds are on the latest firmware)?

This does NOT occur with other Bose products connected to the same iPhone, such as the SoundSport Wireless or the QC 35 II.

Here is a quick video that shows what I am referring to: https://youtu.be/NdvRbBNNAuY

Thank you

[Grimley141]

Anyone from Bose have a solution for this, or is this something that will have to be corrected with a firmware update?

[Tegan_M]

Hello Grimley141,

Welcome to the community, thanks for reaching out. Very sorry to hear of the experience you're having with your earbuds. 

Can you connect your headphones to an alternate device to see if this is an isolated issue to your iPhone or IOS14?

Do let us know so we can look into this further with you.

[bit_troupe]

Same issue happening with my Bose QC Earbuds.  (iPhone 11 Pro, latest iOS 14)

[Grimley141]

Does the exact same thing with my iPad Pro and my wife’s iPhone XS and iPad Pro (using a different set of Sport buds). All firmware and iOS is current.

[Jessie_O]

Thanks for giving this a try. 

Have you forced closed all the applications on your Apple devices? I have included the LINK HERE to assist you. 

Can you tell me if this is related to a specific source? Such as Spotify, Pandora, etc. Can you confirm that the ringer volume is down on the phone? Once we have this information we will better understand the issue. 

I look forward to hearing from you!

[Grimley141]

Not sure what else there is to understand? I've provided a detailed description and even a video of the problem. 

No I haven’t force closed all the apps on my devices because that’s not how iOS works. But just to satisfy your request, yes it does the same thing even after I force close all the apps and even after a forced reset of the phone.

It doesn’t matter where the ringer volume is set, as you can see in the video I posted. The Bose buds cause the volume to increase to near maximum when I receive a notification when they are connected - regardless of where the ringer is set - when there’s no other audio playing.

As I have said in my previous description and just now, this happens when there is no audio source playing, so there is no source.

This occurs on 4 different iOS devices with 3 different sets of new Bose earbuds but not with previous Bose earbuds or any other manufacturer earbuds. The only common item is the new Bose earbuds.

Sorry about my curt reply, but it seems like you either didn’t read my original post, didn’t watch the video, or are just looking for any reason to pass the blame rather than correct the issue.

If you read though posts over the last week here on these forums, you’ll see that I’m not the only one with this issue. For example, take a look at the thread for firmware 1.0.7.

[Sinubis]

@Tegan_M I'm having the same exact issue with my iPhone X running iOS14.

[Sinubis]

@Jessie_O it's literally every app, including the Bose Music App.  I've had several instances where I've turned the volume down in the Bose Music App and it increases itself right after I turned it down.  I might be able to do a screen recording as it happens often.  I've listed events that have caused volume increase, usually to max.  As for apps, it's basically everything I've used on my iPhone since I got the earbuds.    

What's also terrible is I'll have my navigation giving me direction at a set volume, I get an email sound notification, which turns the volume to max, now the navigation app is set to max volume.  This happen all the time.  I don't know how this got to market like this.

Events that adjust volume on their own:

Bose Music App - on initial connect, opening app, adjusting volume via app.

Text messages - received and sent. Even when you send a couple in a row without exiting the thread.

Phone calls - incoming and outgoing.

All email Apps - received and sent mail sounds.

All social media apps - anything involving sound.

All Music Apps

All Video Apps

All Navigation Apps

All Calendar Apps.

Delivery Tracking Apps - Shop, FedEx, UPS, etc.

[Sinubis]

This issue needs to be addressed ASAP or I'm going to have to return these.  I have hearing loss from my time in the Marine Corps and these things blast my ears at least once every time I use them.  This is actually hearing health issue.