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Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?

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121–130 of 154 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?

#121

I very much doubt that there is any technical reason for the alerts always being loud. It's a deliberate decision. Like the whole idea of amber alerts, it is a matter of authorities taking decisions that make them feel good, without considering the consequences. Amber alerts are bad. We get them now and them in Ontario at 3am, sent to the entire (rather large) province. This is idiotic. The probability that someone w…

There is no such thing as Phone/Mobile AMBER Alerts in Ontario. The US system has different levels of alerts: Presidential/National Alerts, AMBER Alerts, Extreme Weather Alerts, Dangerous Weather Alerts, etc. On my Pixel 6, everything but the Presidential/National Alerts can be disabled. Same with my wife's Galaxy S22. I assume the same for iPhones. However the Canadian system (which is heavily based on the American…

> However the Canadian system (which is heavily based on the American system) is setup differently. All alerts are sent as 'National/Presidential Alerts'. None of the other alert levels are used.

That's the dumbest thing ever. A presidential alert basically means "nukes incoming."

Re: Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?

#122
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Seems like the phone alert system is being used to push public perceptions rather than public safety. Yes, they absolutely are. Just a couple weeks ago, local law enforcement sent out an incredibly vague shelter-in-place active-shooter alert across the entire Twin Cities area for a situation in a suburb that was resolved about five minutes later[1]. Schools were locked down, buildings closed, etc. And wouldn't you…

That shelter-in-place alert did not follow well-established practices that require more details in the content and more geographically limited alerts. The agency that sent this alert got an earful afterwards and presumably will update their training.

If you think this was an accident or result of poor training, I've got a Stone Arch Bridge to sell you. Law enforcement here is unsupervised and completely out of control and regularly interferes with elections.

Re: Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That shelter-in-place alert did not follow well-established practices that require more details in the content and more geographically limited alerts. The agency that sent this alert got an earful afterwards and presumably will update their training.

If you think this was an accident or result of poor training, I've got a Stone Arch Bridge to sell you. Law enforcement here is unsupervised and completely out of control and regularly interferes with elections.

What is your point - that the alerting agency is evil and wanted to disturb more people than necessary?

Re: Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?

#124
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I was getting alerts from many hundreds of miles away. Isn't part of the issue that when a child is taken, the assumption is that the kidnapper will immediately flee the area? I think hundreds, plural, might be excessive, but it wouldn't be unreasonable to notify people within a certain distance based on high speed and how much time has passed; maybe 50-100 miles? I can see getting annoyed at multiple messages, but…

The problem is that very few are actually "stranger danger" kidnappings; they're almost always custody disputes. And if you live anywhere near a major city, you will get them relatively often. If there was a way to turn off "parent kidnappings" and leave the rest on, I'm sure most people would take it.

Although I agree with the premise you are making, that many Amber Alerts are regularly caused because one of the parents takes the child without authorization, it is important to remember that sexual and physical violence, including murder, is more likely to be committed by someone known to the victim rather than a stranger. The perpetrator is largely immaterial. To suppose that a child is therefore somehow in less danger because they were taken by a parent does not appear to make much difference, based on my rudimentary understanding of things. A parent who is prone to stealing a child to "get revenge" on the spouse is one who is willing to harm and abuse their own flesh and blood as part of a revenge plot.

In my own assessment, I classify that person to be dangerous. A stranger takes a child for an unknown reason. A parent takes a child, willingly harming the child physically or mentally in hopes of doing harm to a person they hate. I would assume they are willing to do far more than mere mental harm to the child, if it means "winning" the fight. I don't have any data to back that up, and it's entirely possible I'm wrong. I just don't see an Amber Alert being raised because a parent took the child to be any less serious than if a stranger took the child.

I would imagine that some number of Amber Alerts are a kind of "false positive", something like failing to drop a child off on time (out of gas, severe traffic, etc.) and their phone dying, turning into a big ordeal, but I just wouldn't discount the situation just because the suspect is a parent. Maybe that shouldn't meet the threshold, but I just personally don't see it as being a big enough nuisance to be bothered by it. Again, it is easy for me to say that though, since I don't get those sorts of alerts very often, maybe 2 to 3 times per year, if that.

I do also completely agree though, that as it relates to headphone usage it should be changed. I think that if you are listening on your headphones, it shouldn't come through your headphones at all. Just play the noise on the phone speaker - it'll probably still draw the users attention. I might be asking too much though, as there was that 911 bug [1][2] a while back.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29492884

[2] https://old.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/r4xz1f/pixel_p...

Re: Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?

#125
post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ontario

We have the option to disable 'AMBER Alerts' on both our Pixel and S22 phones. However it does nothing as the alerts all come in as National/Presidential Alerts. We are on Telus/Videotron.

I wonder then if it's an error on the providers side? Because I had Extreme and Severe on, AMBER and Test off, and Vibration On (under alert preferences for wireless emergency alerts). The only other data points I have are iPhone users (bell and telus) where I am unsure of their configuration, only that they hear the alerts.

Re: Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think this was an accident or result of poor training, I've got a Stone Arch Bridge to sell you. Law enforcement here is unsupervised and completely out of control and regularly interferes with elections.

What is your point - that the alerting agency is evil and wanted to disturb more people than necessary?

Substitute "wanted to influence the upcoming election by pushing a crime narrative" for "is evil," and yes.

Re: Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?

#128

I very much doubt that there is any technical reason for the alerts always being loud. It's a deliberate decision. Like the whole idea of amber alerts, it is a matter of authorities taking decisions that make them feel good, without considering the consequences. Amber alerts are bad. We get them now and them in Ontario at 3am, sent to the entire (rather large) province. This is idiotic. The probability that someone w…

They're also very distracting while driving, especially if you're relying on maps since they cover the entire screen.

Re: Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?

#130
Do the people who get these alerts really act on them at all? I know the second after I read the license plate number that its gone out of my head, and I usually don't know what the make and model of the vehicle would actually look like since I don't pay attention to what most cars actually look like.
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