Summary

SoundPrint is a tool with a built-in noise meter that allows users to measure the loudness of a venue and then submit that info into a shared database. Users can then search places like restaurants, bars, and coffee shops to visit or spend time based on how loud or quiet it is. The app brings awareness to how loud sound levels can cause hearing loss. Use SoundPrint to avoid loud places and ask managers to find ways to bring the noise down or submit a noise complaint. It calls itself “Like Yelp, but for Noise.”

Short How To

Downloading the app and getting started without creating an account took less than one minute. You can start using the app right away without creating an account. However, in order to track your submissions to contribute to crowdsourcing info, you can opt in to create an account and engage with the community.

o  Measure decibel sound or noise level of a place at the touch of a button and see results

o  Search venues based on noise level, such as quiet, moderate, noisy

o  Filter venues by location

o  Simple and easy to use interface

o  Apple Watch/Healthkit integration

o  A decibel (dBA) represents the sound level (dBA Guidelines within the app Very loud > 81; Loud 76-80; Moderate 71-75; Quiet <70)

Reviewer Experience

The interface is easy to use with options of Search/SoundCheck and Settings. To get familiar with the SoundCheck tool, our reviewer used it in restaurants to test the noise level, which took about 15 seconds to get a reading of Moderate. She then had the option to submit this reading with the built-in map of her location and checked a few boxes with other info such as 1) How easy it is to have a conversation 2) Inside or Outside 3) Location has quieter areas, such as an alcove 4) Occupancy percentage (full, 50% full, 25%)

In order to plan a meet up with a friend at a coffee shop, she used the search function to pull up potential venues to see their noise meter ratings. Our reviewer was able to filter based on quiet, moderate and loud to select a café with a rating of 66 and avoided those that were above 75.

Benefits

The benefits of the app are huge for our reviewer's family because they have one family member who has extreme noise sensitivity and must choose restaurants based on whether they can sit outside. Using SoundPrint has helped them at least aim for finding options in the quiet to moderate range so that outings can be tolerated.

Additional Comments

As the app becomes more widespread and more users submit noise information, the crowdsourcing becomes more accurate and helpful. It is somewhat limited, but in using the app for about a year, this reviewer has seen a big jump in the number of offices, restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores and other venues get ratings.