1. New measurement engine: level differences stay intact
Smartphones are built for phone calls. To make sure people can understand you, the system adjusts the microphone signal automatically: quiet sounds are boosted, loud ones turned down and steady noise is filtered out. For a sound level meter that's exactly the problem – road noise is steady noise, and the difference between 60 and 80 mph is precisely what you want to see.
The new measurement engine bypasses this processing:
- Android: dB Ride uses the unprocessed microphone source. If the phone doesn't offer it, the app falls back to the speech recognition source – with automatic gain control and noise suppression switched off.
- iOS: the audio session runs in measurement mode, without the system's voice processing.
Level differences are no longer squeezed by the system: whatever is louder now shows up as correspondingly louder. That's what matters most for before/after comparisons of tires, sound deadening or helmets. Background and limits of phone measurements are covered in the guide Are phone decibel meter apps accurate?
2. Real A/C weighting, RMS/Leq and no 90 dB cap
- Frequency weighting per IEC 61672: dB(A) and dB(C) are applied as real filters to the signal – not as a flat correction. dB(A) roughly matches what you hear, dB(C) captures low drone more strongly. More in the decibel chart.
- RMS and Leq: the level is calculated as an RMS value, and the average of a recording as an energy average (Leq) – the way sound level meters do it.
- No more 90 dB cap: loud situations, for example under a motorcycle helmet, are no longer cut off at 90 dB.
- Clipping warning: when the signal reaches the microphone's limit, the app shows a warning – so you know when to read a value with caution.
- Calibration: with a reference meter you can set an offset of ±15 dB in 0.5 dB steps.
3. CSV/PDF export and “Share measurement” fixed
CSV and PDF export (Premium) and “Share measurement” work reliably again. Analyse raw data in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets, or pass on a report with chart and map.
4. Premium: more reliable purchase and restore
Purchasing and “Restore purchase” have been reworked and are now more reliable. Premium takes effect immediately after purchase and remains a one-time purchase with no subscription.
5. Recording continues with the screen locked
You can lock the screen during a recording – the noise measurement keeps running. GPS recording in the background is currently available on iPhone only; on Android, keep the screen on if you want your speed recorded as well.
6. Fewer ads, faster start, fully bilingual
- Fewer ads for new users: ads only appear from the 5th recording and never while you drive. Premium stays ad-free.
- Faster start: the app is ready to use more quickly.
- Fully English and German: all texts and dialogs are available in both languages.
- More stable: a crash when the microphone permission was missing has been fixed.
The update is rolled out via Google Play and the App Store. Depending on the store and your device, it may take a little while to reach you. Questions or problems? Get in touch via support.
Try the new measurement engine.
dB Ride is free for Android and iOS – no ads, no in-app purchases, no account. Measuring, noise by speed, the map, comparing up to 8 recordings and CSV/PDF export are available to everyone.