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Connecting an iPhone AND iPad With A Phonak Audéo P-RT [Final]

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Edited

Modified 4/2/2021

Pending requested changes or requests; this is the final version.

Because I could not find a detailed description of pairing and connecting an iPhone AND iPad with a Phonak Audéo P-RT, I wrote up a draft description. I’ve used this process to pair my Phonaks to both iPhone and iPad successfully.

The description below is based specifically on my experience and testing with MY iPhone, iPad, and Phonak Audéo P-RT . Over the last 10 days with these HAs, I’ve noted some occasional inconsistencies.

Given some of the inconsistencies that I’ve encountered… If my descriptions below don’t seem to work, the most important thing to remember is reset the “R-Phonak hearing aid” Bluetooth connections and try again.

Regards,

Dan.

SUMMARY AND PURPOSE

This document describes connecting two Apple IOS devices to a Phonak Audéo P-RT hearing aid and streaming media from both (but not at the same time). Media refers to YouTube, audio, iTunes songs, etc.

This document’s scope is limited to connecting a Phonak Audéo P-RT to two IOS devices - typically an iPhone and an iPad. Out of scope are non-IOS devices and other Phonak hearing aids.

PREPARATION

To start the connection process for the iPhone plus iPad, ensure that the following steps are complete.

iPhone

  • Ensure that the iPhone has been paired with the HA’s and works correctly. For example, you can play a YouTube video and hear the audio in your HA’s.

  • Turn off the iPhone Bluetooth: Settings —> Bluetooth —> Bluetooth —> Set to Off.

IPad

  1. Open the Bluetooth menu on iPad: Settings —> Bluetooth.
  2. Look for “R-Phonak hearing aid”. If it exists:
  3. Click the info symbol (circle with “i”) to the right of its connection status (“Connected”/ “Not Connected”). A new page will appear.
  4. Click “Forget This Device”. A pop-up will appear.
  5. Click “Forget Device”.
  6. You will be returned to the main Bluetooth menu, and the “R-Phonak hearing aid” will no longer display.

Disable “Bluetooth” by clicking the green status control, which causes it to go gray. All the devices in “MY DEVICES” will disappear.

PAIRING AND CONNECTING DEVICES

Hearing Aid

  1. Set the HA’s to Bluetooth pairing mode by clicking and holding the bottom arrow on the RIGHT HA until the status light changes (to yellow or red). This should occur within three seconds.
  2. Now, wait until the status light changes to flashing green.

Image1_3

iPad

  1. In Settings —> Bluetooth, activate Bluetooth by clicking the Bluetooth status control. The list of Bluetooth devices appears.
  2. Wait for the “R-Phonak hearing aid” device to appear with “Not Connected” status.
  3. Click on the “R-Phonak hearing aid” and wait for the status to change to “Connected”.
  4. Check that iPad sound is coming through your HA’s. I.e., click a sound source like Music or YouTube.

iPhone

  1. Go to Settings —> Bluetooth, activate Bluetooth by clicking the Bluetooth status control.
  2. Check that iPhone sound is coming through your HA’s. I.e., click a sound source like Music or YouTube.

Result

Your Phonak Audéo P-RT should be paired and connected to both your iPhone and iPad.

SWITCHING WITH NO ACTIVE IPHONE CALL

Important Note

As advertised, the iPhone and iPad can maintain two active connections simultaneously using the “R-Phonak hearing aid” Bluetooth connections. However, these connections are not entirely stable and consistent. I.e., this looks like a V1.0 implementation. I suspect that this will improve in future versions of the software.

If you use a connection on one device, the other device’s connection may disconnect. Or, both connections may maintain a “Connected” status, but the activation of a device’s sound application (e.g., YouTube or Apple Music) on one device may cause the other device’s application to stop playing.

Condition

  • Media Playing On One Device Through HA, and
  • R-Phonak hearing aid status is “Connected” On Both Devices

The easiest way to switch is to:

  1. Stop playing an app on one device
  2. Start an app on the other device

E.g., stop YouTube paying on one device before starting Apple music on the other device. That is stable and works well.

Condition

  • Media Playing On One Device Through HA, and
  • R-Phonak hearing aid “Not Connected” on the other device

The most stable approach:

  1. Stop playing an app on one device
  2. On the other device, Go to Settings —> Bluetooth
  3. Click “R-Phonak hearing aid” to change the status from “Not Connected” to “Connected”
  4. Start an app on the other device

SWITCHING WITH ACTIVE IPHONE CALL

When a phone call comes into the iPhone, and the iPhone and iPad are connected to the Phonak HAs, any streaming media is disabled (stopped). However, the “R-Phonak hearing aid” connection statuses react differently:

  • iPhone - "R-Phonak hearing aid” connection status does NOT change, even if it is “Connected”. When the phone call is terminated, the connection status remains the same (no change).

  • iPad - "R-Phonak hearing aid” connection status changes to “Not Connected”. When the phone call is terminated, the connection status reverts to “Connected”.

Note that this resetting of Bluetooth connections will occur automatically if “Call Audio Routing” on the iPhone is set to “Bluetooth Headset”. (Settings —> Touch —> Call Audio Routing).

NOTES

  • You should define a primary and a secondary device. Typically, the iPhone is defined as the primary device and the iPad as the secondary device.

  • It is unnecessary to install the “myPhonak” app on the secondary device. Besides being unnecessary, it can confuse users.

  • Check the “R-Phonak hearing aid” Bluetooth connections on the iPhone and iPad to ensure that the “Device Type” is set to “Hearing Aid”. Go to Settings—> Bluetooth and click the little “i” circle to the right of these connections. Check Device Type.

Phonak User Guide - Audéo P-R/RT (phonak.com)34.

7 people in this conversation8 min readJump to latest

@dan_public: I’m not a Phonak user, so some of your explanations were lost on me (through no fault of your clear copy).

I think that you’ve done a service to Phonak users, but even I (an Oticon user) learned something from the “Notes” section. I’m classifying my iPad as the secondary device, and will scrub the ON app from that unit.

Good work, Dan!

Edited

I have the KS9s but they are phonak aids and basically work the same.

The easiest for me, is to disconnect the bluetooth on the active device by clicking the button until it turns gray. Then go to bluetooth devices on the other device and click the R-Phonak hearing aid device.

If I forget or am not near the connected device and need to connect to the other (iphone is connected to the hearing aids but is over in the kitchen, ipad is in my lap), I open the bluetooth device list on the ipad, open and shut the battery door on the right hearing aid (to reboot it), then immediately click the R-Phonak hearing aid in the device list. It connects as soon as the hearing aid reboots. No idea how this would work on a rechargeable aid.

Hi. Today, I was able to successfully test how the Phonaks work on a phone call. I received a phone call with my new Phonak’s connected to my iPhone. When I accepted the call, the Phonaks disconnected streaming. When the phone call ended, the “R-Phonak hearing aid” Bluetooth connections were automatically reset to “Connected” and streaming resumed.

I updated my original post above, adding:

@dan_public said:

After the phone call is terminated, the “R-Phonak hearing aid” Bluetooth connections are automatically reset to “Connected”.

Best regards,

Dan.

Hugh,

Hi. It sounds like your KS9’s are working like my old Widex’s. I.e. turning Bluetooth on and off.

The P-RT’s work somewhat differently. As of now, Bluetooth is always active on both iPhone and iPad. You can stream media by simply starting the media on iPhone or iPad. That said…

I’m not sure, but it appears that the “R-Phonak hearing aid” Bluetooth connections can disconnect sometimes for some reason. I.e. they are reset to “Not-Connected” for some reason. When that occurs and based on my experience, simply clicking on those connections will reactivate the connection. I.e. reset to ”Connected”.

It appears that the Phonak connections are a little inconsistent, but work pretty well overall.

Regards,

Dan.

Brilliant, another fantastic post that is clear and well written, plus by one who has taken the time to actually set up and trial in real time, none of the “I think this should work” or “haven’t tried but pretty sure” or read a few books brigade.
Thanks for sharing.

FYI… My article is now updated with the latest information based on 10 days using the Phonaks.

Regards,

Dan

Thanks for the detailed protocol. This should work for setting up multiple connections in general. While Phonak PRs can indeed hold two BT connections simultaneously (plus connecting to its own app) the will ofc stream only one source. Switching/stopping sources is greatly helped with the tapping controls (for the 70/90 models), if you can afford this.

Very occasionally the BT software appears to ‘crash’ (nothing works). Your Phonak manual has a solution for this: switch off both HAs, then keep pressing the back rockers for 10s or so. Now put the HAs back in the charging box, and when they come out and reboot they are re-set. Also, you may need to sometimes reset (“Force stop”) the myPhonak app if it no longer connects.

While BT works well for both Android and iOS devices (iPhones) I do not recommend the latter in general if you are hearing-impaired; Apple devices only allow equalizer controls for music (and this is not even customizable)-- too bad if you want more treble for your podcasts or in other apps. Android devices (such as the Zenfone) allow far more sound control (including overall volume), both with built-in settings, and third-party apps like Precise Volume and Poweramp.

Thanks for your comment.
Are you suggesting here that Phonak MFI ’s are actually NOT “Made for IPhone “? I’m puzzled …
Thanks again, and Happy New Year!
Best, Bob.

Yeah they use classic bluetooth which you iPhone uses, not which is something different, latest Phonak can also use bluetooth.

Thanks. It seems to me that so-called “classic Bluetooth” has actually changed during the past few years, apparently to support Google or other devices. Perhaps it is continuing to change (?) - the Bluetooth SIG information is not very clear about the communication and control details …
FWIW, I am somewhat more familiar with ReSound MFI ’s and also have a bit of experience with Oticon. Thanks again. Best, Bob.

@rrhale1957 said:

Thanks. It seems to me that so-called “classic Bluetooth” has actually changed during the past few years

Yeah the version did a bit, but nevertheless it’s stable and reliable, the new for which is the “Google” thing, it’s dead in the water now anyways as with is the new standard for Bluetooth, as mentioned even Phonak is going that way, I’m sure all the next generation of devices will all be LE Audio of some sort.

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