Awareness!® App FAQ

What is Awareness! The Headphone App?

 

Awareness! is an app that allows headphone users to hear what’s going on around them while listening to music (or any other audio) on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

Awareness! uses the iPhone’s built in microphone or your headset’s inline microphone to analyze your surroundings and overlays any important sounds in your headphones over your music or audio book. (for outdoor use an inline headset mic is required)

You can set a mic threshold level so that the mic is only switched on when a sound is louder than your background noise.

Awareness! lets your hear when the person next to you talks, or if you are out walking or cycling, when a car or truck blows its horn.

Awareness! works brilliantly in most situations, however if you’re standing close to loud machinery or are in an environment where the noise levels are particularly high, the microphone may be inadvertently triggered.

In situations like this, its best to turn the microphone on continuously (by tapping the mic icon) and turning the mic volume down to an acceptable level while still being able to hear environmental noise, this allows you to hear any important sounds or changes in your surroundings while using headphones. It may also be advisable to use the AutoPause or ducking features.

Note: We never advise the use of headphones or earphones anywhere where danger may be present, Awareness! does not replace common sense!


MAY 2012 - Important Note! – Awareness!® for Etymotic Version 2.5 – Upgrade Issue

We are aware of an issue affecting some users who have experienced problems after upgrading
to Awareness!® Version 2.5, with some features being locked out and a new upgrade being requested

Rest assured this is unintentional!!

- For users who have had problems, we have made the $15.00 Awareness!® for Etymotic Pro FREE
until midnight on Sunday 20th May - Download Awareness!® For Etymotic Pro on the App Store.
 
I updated to the latest Awareness! version and it doesn’t work?

This can happen whenever there’s a major update on an App because your iDevice stores some App information in its memory that’s no longer used. Simply delete Awareness! from your iDevice and download it again from the App Store to restore normal service. If this doesn’t work or you come across any other issue contact us on Awareness! Support

 

How do I set Awareness! App?

Awareness! automatically sets itself up on start up with AutoSet. You can further tweak the settings by sliding your finger over the red scale to fine tune the microphone trigger level.

The microphone level in your headphones or earphones can be adjusted by moving the slider located to the right the screen. You can use Autoset at anytime by tapping ‘Auto’.

Note: AutoSet measures the average noise of your surroundings and sets a microphone threshold just above the noise level, this works well in most situations however in more dynamic environments where background noise is continually changing, such as on a noisy street or train station we recommend you fine tune the mic threshold, its easy and fast, simply slide your finger across the red scale on Awareness until you only hear the sounds you want, alternatively you can use AutoSet Plus.

See full instructions or video on how to set and use Awareness! The Headphone App or Awareness! For Etymotic.

I can’t get Awareness! App to work?

Awareness! The Headphone App works on iPhone 4/4S, iPhone 3GS, iPod touch 4 or above, iPod touch 3 (with microphone headset), and iPad running iOS4.2 and above.

If you are running Awareness! with one of these devices and it does not work please contact the Awareness! support team.

Awareness! will not work on iPhone 3G, iPod 2G or with Bluetooth or wireless headsets.

I’ve installed Awareness! App but can’t hear anything in my headphones?

Check to make sure you haven’t set the microphone trigger level too high or the mic volume too low.

If you are using headphones or earphones that do not have a microphone attached make sure that the iPhone/iPod touch’s mic is not obstructed or covered.

Also make sure that your headphone jack is correctly fitted in your device’s socket.

I have to turn the mic level to maximum in my headphones to hear anything?

This normally means that your music is turned up too loud, look after your ears!

You can try the Ducking feature, this will lower your music when the microphone is triggered and raise it back up when ambient noise levels drop or AutoPause which will pause your music instead.

I get a loud howling sound when I turn Awareness! App on

You may have the mic volume turned up too loud or the microphone is too near your headphones causing feedback, especially if Microphone Boost is activated.

Try the following:

1. Turn the microphone volume to zero by using the slider on the far right of the screen, then set your music or audio to a comfortable listening level.

2. Set the microphone threshold to 0% by sliding your finger across the red scales. This will switch the microphone on.

3. Move the mic volume slider up until you can hear ambient sounds in your headphones or earphones, again at a comfortable listening level.

4. Tap ‘Auto’ or set the microphone threshold manually (again by sliding your finger over the red scale) so the microphone is not triggered by the natural background noise, you can control the sensitivity by adjusting the ‘Mic Delay’ in Settings.

Why doesn’t Awareness! App work with my Bluetooth headset?

Bluetooth headset technology causes a noticeable delay in real time applications, this is also why Bluetooth headsets cannot be used to watch videos without the audio going out of sync. Additionally there is limited bandwidth and audio quality can degrade.

We are working on a Bluetooth version of Awareness!™

Is there a way to turn off the flashing red bar that appears at the top of my iPhone 4 when Awareness! App is running?

This is an iOS function we have no control over. The flashing red bar is iOS’s way of telling you that the microphone is use, it comes on with any app that uses the microphone and at present there is no way to turn this off.

Can I use Awareness! App during a phone call?

No, iOS prohibits any app from altering or interfering with core services such as telephony.

Why can’t I access the iPod shortcut buttons when Awareness! App is running?

Awareness! involves some quite advanced programming and iOS 5 has not quite caught up yet.

Whenever the microphone is in use, iOS thinks there’s a call in progress so it automatically disables the iPod’s shortcut controls (pop up dock), however you can always access the iPod controls by tapping the iPod icon.

Why can’t I run Awareness! App on iOS 4.0.1?

Awareness has been comprehensively tested on iOS 4.1 to iOS 5 and above, iOS 4.0.1 is not considered to be adequately stable.

Why cant I use Awareness! App on my iPhone 3G?

iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G are not multitasking and are therefore unsuitable for running Awareness!

Awareness! App is not using the mic in my headphones

Please check to make sure your headphones are fully plugged in to the jack input on your device, try reconnecting your headphones and restarting Awareness! Also make sure that your headphone jack and socket are clear.

I’m having trouble with this Awareness! App on iPhone 4/4S with Etymotic headsets. There’s too much distortion and even with adjusting the volume and sensitivity I cannot get it to function properly.

Please try the new Awareness!™ For Etymotic App available for free to all Etymotic earphone users on the App Store.

If you experience any difficulties or any other issues, contact us on Awareness! Support.