When the Apple Watch was released in 2015, we thought it would be the modern version of a Dick Tracy watch.
In the US comic strip, private detective Dick Tracy easily held conversations speaking into his watch held at arm’s length. Those conversations were more of the walkie-talkie radio variety rather than regular smartphone calls.
Dick Tracy could never have dreamed about the advanced functionality provided by Apple Watch, through the plethora of apps installed on it.
They include a walkie-talkie app, which gives the watch a bit of a retro, Dick Tracy character.
But there have been complaints that you can’t do what Dick did – extend out your hand to hold a conversation through your watch.
The complaint is that the speaker is simply not powerful enough for that. The same applies if you want to listen to music, although you wouldn’t get much audio quality from small watch speakers anyway.
These concerns are solved if you insert a pair of Bluetooth-connected Apple AirPods into your ears. Just make sure you are carrying a set with you.
You might get some joy by adjusting the watch settings and turning up the volume: Select Settings > Sounds & Haptics, and then move the volume slider to the right.
There are reports of some users managing to improve audio quality by invoking the water lock clearing feature, which is designed to eject any water or moisture from the watch.
Nevertheless, complaints persist that the Apple Watch Series 10 volume in particular is too soft.
It’s not a new concern. There have been posts and stories on this phenomenon for months.
This post on Reddit is typical of concerns. Not everyone is complaining the volume is too soft; a few say it is too loud.
You could take your watch to Apple to get advice about other options; you might convince them to let you increase audio volume level further through a software update.
The Apple Watch will be 10 years old in April. The first model was released in April, 2015.
