Pro tip: You can turn them off entirely.
Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?
41–50 of 154 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?
#42My guess is a conservative reading of the applicable laws, if anything. Turn off amber alerts; they're entirely useless and you can now turn them off without turning off the tornado warnings (almost entirely useless, too).
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Re: Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?
#43What is an "amber alert"? I've never encountered this before, and I don't see any option for it on my phone. I'm an Android user in the UK, if that helps.
It's a US-specific system for alerting people to missing children. It's named after Amber Hagerman⁰, a 9-year-old who was abducted and murdered in the '90s. On smartphones they can appear as (very loud) notifications with details about the missing child, potential abductors, vehicle, etc. You'll also see the same info on electronic message boards along the motorway.
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?
#44What is an "amber alert"? I've never encountered this before, and I don't see any option for it on my phone. I'm an Android user in the UK, if that helps.
An Amber alert is an alert sent out by the local authorities in the US to all smartphones (and maybe radio? I'm too young to use a radio often) when a child is missing / suspected to be abducted.
A Silver alert is very similar and is sent out when an elderly person (esp. with memory issues) is missing.
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why are they useless? I grew up in an area with tornadoes and when one came ripping through my childhood suburb and destroyed some houses I was happy to have forewarning.
I live in Texas. I get Amber alerts for missing children that are 8 hours of interstate driving away from me. That's completely useless.
Every single person I know in the NYC area turned off amber alerts in 2013 after being woken up by this one in the middle of the night:
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2013/07/ambert-alert-phone-4...
Even older parents called their kids to find out how to make sure it does not happen again.
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?
#46I 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…
It's getting worse. Most US states [1] have started to use the phone siren system for injured cops as well. Regardless of your politics on this, what exactly am I supposed to do with a notification at 2AM that a cop was shot 400 miles away? Seems like the phone alert system is being used to push public perceptions rather than public safety.
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why are they useless? I grew up in an area with tornadoes and when one came ripping through my childhood suburb and destroyed some houses I was happy to have forewarning.
I live in Texas. I get Amber alerts for missing children that are 8 hours of interstate driving away from me. That's completely useless.
Same in California, and the ones I've received were custody battles between parents...
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?
#48If you aren't setting all alerts off, you're setting yourself up for a failure of the next day several times a year. (Way too many pointless midnight or worse alerts going on).
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no way to lower amber alert volume on headphones?
#49The low power warning noise is also painfully loud when I'm just using them without audio playing. Bose also have this issue, and there is no way to change the warning sounds.