Get System Volume iOS

Question

My case is simple: I need to play a warning signal and want to make sure the user will hear it, so I want to check the system volume.

How can I find out what the current system volume is?

score 50 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 11 '21 at 10:29

50

Update for Swift

let vol = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance().outputVolume

The audio session can provide output volume (iOS >= 6.0).

float vol = [[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] outputVolume];
NSLog(@"output volume: %1.2f dB", 20.f*log10f(vol+FLT_MIN));

edited Feb 11 '21 at 10:29

aturan23

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answered May 06 '13 at 19:20

papahabla

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I use in iOS 11 in today extension - sometimes it doesn't work – Vyachaslav Gerchicov May 21 '18 at 15:13
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24872409/avaudiosessions-outputvolume-never-changes/52284131#52284131 -try playing audio then checking. Had same proble, worked for me. – Tom Andersen Sep 12 '18 at 13:42
Make sure to also do `AVAudioSession.sharedInstance().setActive(true)` first or this value will not update when the volume is changed – rolling_codes Jan 10 '20 at 20:30
Just a little niggle: the value returned is not a ratio/gain which can be directly converted to decibels like this. The value directly reflects the position of the volume indicator, and Apple aren't advertising how that relates to an actual gain or decibel value. Most likely it's a scale mapped to a decibel range, but it's anyone's guess what the scale is. – Michael Tyson Apr 20 '20 at 23:40

score 16 · Answer 2 · answered May 08 '17 at 14:32

16

Swift 3.1

let audioSession = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance()
var volume: Float?
do {
    try audioSession.setActive(true)
    volume = audioSession.outputVolume
} catch {
    print("Error Setting Up Audio Session")
}

audioSession.setActive(true) - important

answered May 08 '17 at 14:32

Vasilii Muravev

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Can you share why setActive(true) is important? – Jayden Irwin Jul 17 '21 at 05:30

score 13 · Answer 3 · edited Feb 11 '21 at 10:29

13

Try this:

MPMusicPlayerController *iPod = [MPMusicPlayerController iPodMusicPlayer];
float volumeLevel = iPod.volume;

You need to import the MediaPlayer framework.

edited Feb 11 '21 at 10:29

aturan23

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answered Sep 19 '11 at 17:41

borked

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It is deprecated, use [[AVAudioSession sharedInstance] outputVolume] instead. – Borzh Feb 11 '15 at 13:40

score 12 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 29 '16 at 06:53

12

For Swift 2:

let volume = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance().outputVolume   
print("Output volume: \(volume)")

edited Apr 29 '16 at 06:53

Rudolf Adamkovič

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answered Mar 17 '16 at 00:35

Dasoga

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We also need `audioSession.setActive(true)` – Tai Le Oct 28 '18 at 08:29

score 12 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 17 '11 at 09:01

12

This works fine:

Float32 volume;
UInt32 dataSize = sizeof(Float32);

AudioSessionGetProperty (
                     kAudioSessionProperty_CurrentHardwareOutputVolume,
                     &dataSize,
                     &volume
                     );

answered Oct 17 '11 at 09:01

ziguli

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Even better in my case! Now I can ditch the MediaPlayer Framework. – Joris van Liempd iDeveloper Oct 17 '11 at 14:55
7

This is deprecated in iOS 7 - does anybody know the new way? – Michael Forrest Nov 26 '13 at 19:17

score 5 · Answer 6 · answered Nov 23 '12 at 02:26

5

You can use the default system's volume View and add to wherever you need it. In my case I required it in my own music player. It's easy and hassle free. Just add the view, and everything is done. This is explained in Apple's MPVolume Class Reference.

mpVolumeViewParentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
MPVolumeView *myVolumeView =
[[MPVolumeView alloc] initWithFrame: mpVolumeViewParentView.bounds];
[mpVolumeViewParentView addSubview: myVolumeView];
[myVolumeView release];

answered Nov 23 '12 at 02:26

Suraj Pathak

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The question was not how to provide the user with a way of changing the volume, but how to detect if the volume was high enough. How does this answer help? – Joris van Liempd iDeveloper Nov 23 '12 at 08:03
1

True not particularly relevant to the question but still useful within the greater context of how to adjust system volume. – Warren Burton Apr 19 '13 at 22:43

Suat KARAKUSOGLU · Answer 7 · 2016-02-03T15:46:59.297

I have prepared a class with static methods in order to deal with the volume of ios devices. Let me share with you :)

import AVFoundation
class HeadPhoneDetectHelper {
class func isHeadPhoneConnected() -> Bool
{
    do{
        let audioSession = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance()
        try audioSession.setActive(true)
        let currentRoute = audioSession.currentRoute
        let headPhonePortDescriptionArray = currentRoute.outputs.filter{$0.portType == AVAudioSessionPortHeadphones}
        let isHeadPhoneConnected = headPhonePortDescriptionArray.count != 0
        return isHeadPhoneConnected
    }catch{
        print("Error while checking head phone connection : \(error)")
    }
    return false
}

class func isVolumeLevelAppropriate() -> Bool
{
    let minimumVolumeLevelToAccept = 100
    let currentVolumeLevel = HeadPhoneDetectHelper.getVolumeLevelAsPercentage()
    let isVolumeLevelAppropriate = currentVolumeLevel >= minimumVolumeLevelToAccept
    return isVolumeLevelAppropriate
}

class func getVolumeLevelAsPercentage() -> Int
{
    do{
        let audioSession = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance()
        try audioSession.setActive(true)
        let audioVolume =  audioSession.outputVolume
        let audioVolumePercentage = audioVolume * 100
        return Int(audioVolumePercentage)
    }catch{
        print("Error while getting volume level \(error)")
    }
    return 0
}
}

score 1 · Answer 8 · edited Aug 08 '16 at 06:42

Swift 2.2, make sure to import MediaPlayer

private func setupVolumeListener()
{
    let frameView:CGRect = CGRectMake(0, 0, 0, 0)
    let volumeView = MPVolumeView(frame: frameView)
    //self.window?.addSubview(volumeView) //use in app delegate
   self.view.addSubview(volumeView)  //use in a view controller


    NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self, selector: #selector(volumeChanged(_:)), name: "AVSystemController_SystemVolumeDidChangeNotification", object: nil)
}//eom



func volumeChanged(notification:NSNotification)
{
    let volume = notification.userInfo!["AVSystemController_AudioVolumeNotificationParameter"]
    let category = notification.userInfo!["AVSystemController_AudioCategoryNotificationParameter"]
    let reason = notification.userInfo!["AVSystemController_AudioVolumeChangeReasonNotificationParameter"]

    print("volume:      \(volume!)")
    print("category:    \(category!)")
    print("reason:      \(reason!)")
    print("\n")
}//eom

Get System Volume iOS

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