Mosquito ring tones/ Annoy A Teen ap-

[Normy]

Have you folks messed with this?

You can download an app to your iPhone called "Annoy A Teen" that allows you to broadcast an extremely high frequency sound from your phone. Some stores actually use speakers to broadcast these sounds in order to keep teens away. This is apparently used in nearly every mall, and it works.

There is an an app now that lets you broadcast like this from your phone. Dogs go crazy, trying to cover their ears when you set the app above 18 khz, and some teens can hear as high as 15 khz. I do volunteer work at a museum in Fort lauderdale, and we have one teen volunteer [yes- a teen that volunteers!] who heard my 15khz squeal loud and clear today!

I have good hearing, I hear things all the time that others don't....yet I cannot hear 12 khz sounds. I sat down in a bar the other day and had a beer; just for fun I turned on the app at 12 khz and the bartender went crazy, running up an down the bar, "What is that squealing sound? Do you guys hear that?" I was amazed! I heard nothing-

Apparently, the kids are downloading and installing "Mosquito" ringtones on their phones that are above typical adult hearing range. This allows them to text during class, since the teacher CANNOT hear the ring, which is loud and clear to all the students!

N!

 

[tuga703]

It's just the normal deterioration of hearing, my science teacher did an experiment with this and everyone in class could hear the sound and was getting annoyed by it but the he couldn't hear it. What I don't understand is why it annoys people, I can hear it without freaking out.

 

[terminator363]

Apparently, the kids are downloading and installing "Mosquito" ringtones on their phones that are above typical adult hearing range. This allows them to text during class, since the teacher CANNOT hear the ring, which is loud and clear to all the students!

N!

If what you're saying is true, that is really neat.

 

[AMCNUT]

Those types of ringtones have always seemed underhanded to me. I remember hearing about these a while back. Thankfully I've never been subjected to one as far as I can remember...

 

[niky]

There's an Android app that allows you to play pure tones from just a few hertz up to around 20,000. I can hear 12k if it's loud enough, and sorta hear 14k, but around 16k, even with the volume up full, I can't hear anything. (Mosquitoes are repelled by 17k). Mid-thirties here.

You have to be careful with the app. Playing low frequencies like 20 Hertz can blow your speakers.

-

I hate mall noises and flourescent light buzzing and security systems. I can't usually hear them outright, but they annoy me enough to make me uncomfortable. My Mom is worse. She's in her 60's and can still hear 12k plus sounds.

 

[Omnis]

Welcome to 2005.

 

[Normy]

Welcome to 2005.

I really hate you!

N!

 

[Omnis]

I really hate you!

N!

I'm not surprised you haven't heard about it.

 

[Recon]

Whats the app called niky? I'll see what my teenage ears can pick up.

 

[Normy]

OMG ! I've turned into my dad-!

Oh well. I guess it had to happen. Only I don't have any kids, I can't due to a physical problem, and I don't wan't any anyway.

N

 

[niky]

Lost it already after I reinstalled my phone... but there are a number of similar apps:

https://market.android.com/details?id=pl.micwi.truetone&feature=also_installed

-

Beware: The ability of the app to reproduce the sound is severely limited by the onboard speaker and ambient noise. Best to have a really good set of headphones handy when using these kinds of apps.

And note: given hardware variances, these tests aren't as good as actual audiometric testing. Though something like this:

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/hearing.html

Is reasonably good as a way of figuring out your relative sensitivities.

 

[Driving Park]

It's just the normal deterioration of hearing, my science teacher did an experiment with this and everyone in class could hear the sound and was getting annoyed by it but the he couldn't hear it. What I don't understand is why it annoys people, I can hear it without freaking out.

We did the opposite in high school on a regular basis; one of the students would start the sound from his well-concealed phone, and while the teacher went on normally, everyone in the class got really annoyed.

It was on a band trip a year ago in the hotel room with three of my friends that I discovered that even though I'm a teenager and have pretty good hearing, I cannot hear any of the mosquito tones.

 

[TB]

Whats the app called niky?

I just tried one called Test Your Hearing with some crappy earbuds. It says my hearing range is 27.7Hz to 18,053.3Hz which, apparently, puts me in the 22-24 year old range and gives me the hearing of a rabbit.

 

[mattythedog]

We were doing sound in science last year, and somebody played a high pitched sound, all of us could hear it, but the teacher couldn't and she didn't believe it was playing. So she had to go and get a younger teacher from the staff room to confirm we weren't lying.

 

[Azuremen]

I just tried one called Test Your Hearing with some crappy earbuds. It says my hearing range is 27.7Hz to 18,053.3Hz which, apparently, puts me in the 22-24 year old range and gives me the hearing of a rabbit.

Apparently I'm 15hz to 15,554hz.

But on that web test niky linked, I could clearly hear 16k plus. I think it has to do with my headphones I was using.

Either way, kind of want to get my hearing checked now.

 

[niky]

The problem is it depends a lot on your equipment and the ambient noise. My problem with hearing noises above 16k is I have tinnitus. My ears buzz constantly at a very high, very annoying pitch. I think I could go 18k or more, but I'm not sure.

D'oh... I took an audiometry test a very long time ago. It tests the very limits of what you can actually perceive. I forgot where I placed the results, though... but the results were much lime my results on the equal loudness test. Very sensitive in the upper range, with a tapering above 12 kHz, and less sensitive to low sounds.

 

[Tesla]

Most 'mosquito' ringtones or variants are reproducing a tone that is actually much lower than what's stated. For example, on one website I could apparently hear up to 24kHz

And for anyone who has to turn up the volume to hear a higher tone, I wouldn't suggest it as even though you can't hear it, it still has the potential to damage your hearing.

 

[Daniel]

Downloaded a 'Screecher' app for the iPhone and I'm told I can hear up to 20kHz (and that's if I put my ear to the phone speaker).

 

[dxm8975]

We were doing sound in science last year, and somebody played a high pitched sound, all of us could hear it, but the teacher couldn't and she didn't believe it was playing. So she had to go and get a younger teacher from the staff room to confirm we weren't lying.

The higher range of tones of mosquitoes are only perceptive for children and young adults whose hearing are relatively better for his/her age standard while elder adults cannot hear anything, even when a real mosquito approaches them to suck blood, that's why they doubt about what the students are saying and slow in the response to the approach of mosquitoes exclaiming they unwittingly have itchy bites.

 

[zedextreme8177]

We have those in our school, it's not very pleasant when you hear it ALL the time

 

[sumbrownkid]

So teens are treated like pest now?

I approve of this.

 

[Pupik]

Welcome to 2005.

Yeah, literally heard of this several years back.

You don't really notice it the first or second time, but by the third time you've heard it, you want to take the offending phone and shove it directly into the offender's ear.

 

[Recon]

Just tried the True Tone one and I self diagnosed my range to be from 50Hz to 17000Hz. I'll ask around, test it on a few of my friends (and maybe my parents ).

 

[Will27]

Apparently, the kids are downloading and installing "Mosquito" ringtones on their phones that are above typical adult hearing range. This allows them to text during class, since the teacher CANNOT hear the ring, which is loud and clear to all the students!!

It worked quite well, except for one sneaky maths teacher (hes fairly old, loves pranks) who at the end of one class got up from his desk and read out a list of names and said: “I’m not deaf and I’m confiscating your phones.”

 

[hawkeye122]

I remember when I was in the 7th grade and LITERALLY EVERYONE HAD THIS AS THEIR RINGTONE so they could text in class, and know when they got a text.

Someone had a small Sound Card-Speaker unit which sent out sound between 12k and 19k at random intervals. They put it in my Advanced Placement Psychology class and nearly drove the 27 Year Old teacher crazy.