I try to be aware of my surroundings for security reasons (I use public transit)
Me too. I don’t listen to music on the move any more … I want to be aware of what’s going o n around me — no headphones when on public transport or walking down the street … no music on in the car and, even if it’s raining and I can only have the window open a crack, when I’m driving, the window is open so that I can hear the outside world properly.
I believe it’s only a matter of time before there’s a device you stick in both ears that protects you from loud sounds (like at concerts), connects to your phone, while also amplifying like a hearing-aid. It should also have a white/pink noise generation capability and noise cancelling.
Yeah … they’re called noise-cancelling earbuds — and they connect to your phone via Bluetooth 😉
The only problem is that using them runs your battery down quicker and, furthermore, leaves you open to bluejacking. Up until Android 10, the solution to that was a combination of AutoBluetooth (to turn Bluetooth on when a call comes in and turn it off again when the call ends), saving battery and preventing bluejacking … and Bluetooth Firewall, to prevent bluejacking when listening to music/whatever. Unfortunately, Google have disabled the functionality in Android 10 for security reasons … meaning you can’t secure your device with the aid of a third party solution any more … but not provided the facility themselves, meaning that you can’t actually secure your device at all any more except by never using Bluetooth.. and Apple won’t provide you with that facility by any means, let lone via a third party, in the first place.
A later generation, with AI perhaps, may be smart enough to just cancel out songs you hate or just people talking or people talking about something that drives you up the wall. I can’t wait.
Be careful what you wish for …
