Apple patents self-adjusting headphones - Telegraph A self-adjusting earphone would measure quality of the seal using built-in headphones and electrical current measurements and would then increase volume to compensate for a poor seal or noisier environments, or reduce volume when outside noise is blocked or in quiet environments. Fully inserted earphones create a better seal. The patent reads: "Larger gaps will result in poorer seal quality, whereas smaller gaps will exhibit better seal quality." Earphones would also make balance adjustments to correct audio output for the left and right earbuds. On the same day, USPTO also published an Apple patent application for a user-specified navigation system that would deliver car travel routes based on crowd-sourcing data, similar to the app Waze, which was bought by Google last month. The patent application, which was filed in December 2011, read: "In some implementations, a user can provide ratings for routes, streets and/or locations. In some implementations, the user can initiate an alert associated with a location. In some implementations, user-specified ratings and alerts can be included in a route determination. In some implementations, route rating and alert information can be transmitted to other users and/or devices.