Boosting your iPhone speaker volume
After finding the maximum speaker phone volume too low for normal use, I decided to poke around and see if there was something I could do about it. I knew that the Celestial framework folder (/System/Library/Frameworks/Celestial.framework/) had a Maximum Volume property list, so I decided to edit mine and see if I could effect a volume boost.
In the property list, I adjusted the Default -> Default value up to 0.99, up from 0.7 and found that it seemed to nicely boost my speaker volume. Is this a real fix? Or did I just psychosomatically convinced my ears that they were happier? You tell me in the comments.


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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Hoover said 2:38PM on 12-05-2007
Could a similar trick be used to lower the minimum volume? (I find the iPod touch minimum volume just a tad loud when used with my Shures).
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UFO said 8:33PM on 12-25-2007
I'm really surprised, Apple neglected that Minimum volume issue and did not do anything about that.
Looks like I have to by a different earphone with inline volume control.
That is really sucks.
alexjackson said 2:43PM on 12-05-2007
Is there a variant of this to raise the maximum volume of a macbook/macbook pro ?
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jeffro said 5:36PM on 12-05-2007
in Quicktime Player you can raise the volume over the apparent maximum by holding shift while pressing the up arrow. Or you can press CMD-J to open movie properties, click on the sound track, then go to the audio settings tab where you can set a 6db boost.
edgar j. said 2:47PM on 12-05-2007
ok so how do i do this? can i do that straight from finder on my iphone or do i need to go into some program on my mac? this could be very useful for me cause my volume sucks!! thanks erica
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Patrick McCarron said 2:50PM on 12-05-2007
You can use Plutil command line, but not sure how to set the Default->Default value. Erica little help here on the syntax of this?
motech said 2:54PM on 12-05-2007
make an app!
pleasaeeee
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Andrew said 3:26PM on 12-05-2007
An app would be great. My volume is horrible. My roommate's iPhone has twice the volume mine has - no idea why.
Andrew
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bob sakamano said 3:00PM on 12-05-2007
how do we get to this
Celestial framework folder (/System/Library/Frameworks/Celestial.framework/)
????
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syd said 3:04PM on 12-05-2007
My iPhone goes up to 11!
Sorry, had to add that Spinal Tap reference.
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Andrew said 4:42PM on 12-05-2007
Spinal tap FTW!
David said 3:05PM on 12-05-2007
Please make an app. I tired to open in Vi editor and see junk characters.
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Peter Maurer said 3:05PM on 12-05-2007
Just changed the SystemSoundMaximumVolume.plist but couldn't hear any difference…
I'd really like to boost the iP speaker.
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Balazs Hollos said 3:10PM on 12-05-2007
Peter: I tried it, and I didn't notice a difference either. I even restarted the iPhone to make sure.
Oh well!
edgar j. said 3:07PM on 12-05-2007
im not very familiar with command line any way u can post a step by step on how to do this and what apps i need? i have terminal already but what else do i need to do all this to my phone?
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Patrick McCarron said 3:12PM on 12-05-2007
You need Erica Utilities as well, it contains Plutil.
The command for setting it to 0.9 will be something like:
plutil -i DefaultDefault -v 0.9 /System/Library/Frameworks/Celestial.framework/SystemSoundMaximumVolume.plist
But the part I have after -i is NOT CORRECT, so don't use it. I am not sure how she handles sub-items in plutil, because I can't find anything on it yet.
David said 3:08PM on 12-05-2007
SystemSoundMaximumVolume.plist
The file looks like this when opened in Vi editor
bplist00ÒYTouchToneWDefaultÕ
YHeadphoneWHeadsetXReceiverWSpeaker#?¹™™™™™š#?æffffff#?¿|í‘hr°#?Ã333333Ô WLineOut#?Ù™™™™™š#?©™™™™™š*4
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Many Tricks said 3:11PM on 12-05-2007
You can open and edit the .plist by using the trial of PlistEdit Pro from FatCat Software.
http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/plisteditpro/
mr. Obsession said 3:10PM on 12-05-2007
This worked without a doubt on my 1.1.2 modded phone. I use the phone as an alarm clock every day and am WELL acquainted with the previous max volume's limitations.
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damien said 3:18PM on 12-05-2007
Please create an app for this!!! My speaker volume SUCKS big time! It's not even usable. If this could be fixed, how wonderful would it be!?
Reply