[NewsPoster]

The Apple Watch could be used to alter the volume of the iPhone's ringtone or notification tones, if the contents of a recently-published patent application are put into practice. The application for a "Volume Control for Mobile Device using a Wireless Device" filed at the US Patent and Trademark Office suggests how a secondary device, such as an Apple Watch, can be used to monitor the volume of the iPhone, to ascertain how loud it is to the wearer compared to the volume of the surrounding area.

Spotted by AppleInsider, the remote device would detect the ambient volume, transmitting this information to the iPhone. The volume of the ringer can then be adjusted so it can be heard in a noisy environment, but not too loud when the user is in a quiet and peaceful location, such as a library. The same system could also be useful for times when the iPhone is muffled inside a bag, with the Apple Watch noting a quieter than anticipated ringing and sending the command to raise the volume.

Using an external device for volume monitoring does offer some benefits, compared to active monitoring directly on the iPhone. While it is feasible a smartphone could detect that it is inside a bag and increase its volume automatically, the use of a nearby monitoring point would reduce the rate of false positives. The comparison system could also help in other ways, like helping the speech detection software adjust to account for environmental sounds when receiving vocal commands.

Like many other patents from the company, it is unknown if Apple will ever put such a system into practice. This does have a slight advantage over other filings, as the hardware already exists and is effectively a software problem, something which makes implementing the patent application in the future a more likely prospect.