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Does the iPhone Live Listen feature work with Phonak Marvel?

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Does anyone know if Marvel hearing aids offers live listen with an iPhone? Which hearing aids or hear able devices offer this? I know some Resound aids and Apple AirPods have this feature, anything else? Is it useful?

Any info appreciated.
-Sandpiper

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I have no idea about Marvel as I have no experience with them.

However, Live listen is available with my Oticon OPN S 1 aids with an ancient iPhone 6+ and a fairly new iPhone 12 mini. I expect that it should be available with any hearing aid/device that claims Made for iPhone (). There is a long list at Apple of MFi hearing devices:
Made for iPhone compatible hearing devices74

Hi Biggar,
Thanks for the link.
Wondering exactly what made for iPhone entails? Assuming it uses Bluetooth but will only connect to the IPhone versus next generation Bluetooth that will connect to any Bluetooth device. Does that sound right?

Do you find live listen valuable? Where is it useful?
Thanks again-Sandpiper

As I understand it, live listen relays sounds from the iPhone placed on the table to earphones connected to the iPhone. I often listen to iPhone music or radio with a Bluetooth link to my Phonak P90s. I see no reason why live listen should not also work in this way.
Would you like me to try it out and report back?

In reply to @bulk

Hi Bulk,

Thanks for the message and the offer. If you get time to mess with that I’d love to know if it’s affective at all. As I understand it, it will relay what the phone mic picks up the hearing aid or other MFI hearable device like the ones mentioned in the link that was posted here.

Thanks!
Sandpiper

In reply to @Sandpiper

@Sandpiper said:

Hi Biggar,
Thanks for the link.
Wondering exactly what made for iPhone entails? Assuming it uses Bluetooth but will only connect to the IPhone versus next generation Bluetooth that will connect to any Bluetooth device. Does that sound right?

Do you find live listen valuable? Where is it useful?
Thanks again-Sandpiper

I am not an expert in Bluetooth, just a user who has read some available documentation. MFI is an Apple approval seal for a wide variety of stuff (including simple things like cables), one subset being hearing devices. As I understand it, MFI for hearing devices is a set of protocols running on Bluetooth Low Energy that define how to communicated with hearing devices using an iPhone/iPad/iPod. Many hearing device manufacturers have built MFI devices, Phonak being the major exception. MFI for hearing devices is not new - it has been around for a number of years. Real details of MFI appear to me to be available only to device manufacturers who sign onto a non-disclosure agreement (and probably pay a fee). Note that MFI for hearing devices has not, as far as I can tell, been included in Apple computers but only in Apple iOS/iPadOS devices meeting certain minimum version requirements.

Bluetooth 5.2 with LE audio is much newer and not really fully defined or implemented yet. It may replace MFI for Apple devices but Apple is usually fairly silent on their plans until they are about ready to release something.

I have not used Live Listen much. I have used it in a noisy cafe where I put my iPhone on the table close to people I was having trouble hearing. It helped but I haven’t found much need for it, especially during the last year :slight_smile:

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