iPhone users warned not to ignore alert due to risk of permanent damage

iPhone users have been warned about potential damage to their hearing thanks to a nifty little hack that Apple have created.

You know the situation - you're happily blasting out Spotify on your headphones and whacking the volume up to drown the outside world out.

But before you know it, you have pushed the volume up past the recommended decibels level and while in the moment, it doesn't seem like a bit deal, it can actually have a lasting impact on your ears and hearing.

Determined to try and help iPhone users save their eardrums, Apple has an inbuilt warning system that will flash up a yellow warning message if a volume level is too high across a seven day period.

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The inbuilt warning is only issued when iPhone users listen to music or sound on too high a volume level for seven days in a bid to try and save our poor ears from any further damage.

Highlighting the warning message, Apple says on its website: "Headphone Notifications let you know if your audio exposure has been loud enough for a long enough period to affect your hearing – for example, over 80 decibels (dB) for a total of 40 hours within the last 7 days.

"Your iPhone, iPod touch or Apple Watch can now alert you when you've exceeded 100% of the 7-day exposure limit whilst wearing headphones.

"These notifications will give you more awareness of your listening habits to help you protect your hearing."

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If you're ever one of the lucky (or unlucky ) ones that's greeted with a yellow Headphone Notifications banner popping up on your phone, then it's a clear sign to click the down volume button and try and reduce the impact on your hearing.

If you're curious to see what levels you've been listening at, then you don't need to wait for a warning to pop up. Just go to the Browse tab and click into Hearing and then select Headphone Notifications to be presented with a breakdown of your audio usage and key advice.

If you're not sure about how loud is too loud then the experts recommend that you should keep sound levels below 85dB and that anything above 89dB through headphones for more than 5 hours a week can cause permanent hearing loss. NHS warnings state that listening to audio through headphones at high intensities can cause temporary or permanent hearing loss and tinnitus.

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Safe listening levels might be much lower than you think.

The guidance for hearing is that if you listen to music through your device at no more than 60% of the available volume. If you listen continuously through your headphones, you should only do so for no more than 1 hour at a time – it is important to have breaks and let your ears recover and relax.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that around a billion young people across the globe could be at risk of hearing loss because of unsafe listening habits through headphones.