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Why Is Phonak Proud Their Hearing Aids Are Not-Made-For-iPhone?

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I have been wearing a pair of Phonak Audeo L90-R ’s since mid-October 2022.

If anything I find grow less impressed with Phonak’s arrogantly Swiss pride that their hearing aids are ‘better than made-for-iPhone.’ Having worn ReSound LiNX-3d until I lost one of the pair just after their 3rd anniversary in my ears when I tripped in the woods, I moved to the Phonaks.

I’ve done my best to keep software up-to-date, both on my iPhone and the Phonaks.

Tonight I took a phone call and they refused to stream the call to my ears. MyPhonak told me to turn on BlueTooth on when Settings said it was already on. Switching it on and off changed nothing. Dismissing MyPhonak did nothing. Rebooting my iPhone changed nothing.

We’ve had increasing problems since we bought the fancy Phonak TV live stream device.

The ReSound HA’s worked fine in environments where the sound amplitude varies. In most cases I need to turn down amplified music significantly. The louder music is the more distorted it sounds. A previous audiologist on the opposite coast explained that I have cochlear hair cell damage and that HA’s are made for the appreciation of speech.

I find it difficult to make adjustments using MyPhonak because it keeps turning off. I’m sure the charge on the batteries last a little longer, but that is small consolation.

I can never predict if the HA’s will live stream audio into my ears instead of insisting that the only option is a tinny smartphone speaker.

Perhaps my Phonaks are trying to tell me ‘they are made for others’ even as my budget says ‘they’re yours for the next 3-4 years, get used to it.’

Have others found workarounds for the objections I’ve expressed?

Perhaps I simply need to learn to quickly re-pair them every time they don’t work correctly.

thanks
baumgrenze

21 people in this conversation25 min readJump to latest

I purchased a pair of Marvels when they first came out. I ended up returning them because I found the connection to be unreliable. Others swear by Marvels. Different strokes for different folks…

I understand how you feel, I think.

And you’ve identified a problem I’m worried about losing my hearing aids too. I use a plastic anchor connected to the receiver in my ears. Phonak Audeo Paradise P90R’s. It’s helped me; in fact it helped me yesterday. I would have lost a hearing aid without it. However, it causes problems too. It makes it so much more difficult to install the gall-darn I have. If I don’t take the anchor off, I almost always have to remove one of the wax guards because it isn’t seated right. I feel that hearing aids and work-arounds like anchors and wax guards need to be designed by people that really care and wear hearing aids themselves.

My Phonak Lumity L90’s are flawless when it comes to connecting to Bluetooth. Here is what you need to do in order to have zero issues:

  • Lumity can pair with up to 8 Bluetooth devices but can only be connected to 2 at the same time. If you keep everything on and active at the same time you will have connection issues.
  • To prevent issues, you MUST get into the habit of turning off Bluetooth on a device when you are not using it. The only device I keep on all the time is my iPhone. All others get turned off when I’m not using them including the TV Connector, laptop, Peloton bike, iPad, etc. Turn on Bluetooth to use. When you are done, turn off Bluetooth. Keep your iPhone on all the time.
  • If you follow these directions, you will find you will have zero issues.
  • As an example, whenever I have a connection issue, it’s always because I left a Bluetooth device on somewhere in the house and that device is grabbing the 2nd active Bluetooth connection.
  • By the way…this isn’t unique to Phonak. Other implementations of Bluetooth (including ) have issues when multiple Bluetooth devices are left on.

Jordan

Jordan your explanation is perfect!
It was a major ah-ha! moment when I read it.

I have a work phone. It’s an iPhone 8 that is always connected.
I have an iWatch 6 that’s always connected too.
I have Phonak Audeo Paradise P90R’s that are connected. They provide the hands-free connection for my iPhone that I need when driving, and on construction sites where I may be working at heights and use my iPhone.

I’m in trouble already.

my QardioARM blood pressure machine is turned off; it’s to my phone.

Uconnect is not connected. Let’s see–is it the Subaru I used to have, or the Jeep I have now?

UCONNECT is not connected–is it the Jeep I have, or the Subaru I used to have?

Your comment explains why I have to manage my connected devices better. The simplest would be: iPhone BT connection to my hearing aids and apple watch.

And it explains why my dongle device for wireless apple carplay didn’t work in the Jeep. It was because I had too many devices connected. More than 2. It was a CarlinKit 4 dongle.

I can’t tell you how much time I’ve wasted reading Jeep forums attempting to get wireless Apple CarPlay that works with my iPhone.

I truly appreciate your posts here on the forums. Thank you!
DaveL

Thanks @DaveL. Just remember…it’s ok to leave on Bluetooth devices that are only connecting to your iPhone, etc. Just don’t leave on more than two Bluetooth devices that are DIRECTLY PAIRED with your hearing aids.

I had the same issue with my Resound Quattro hearing aids. When calls came in to my iPhone, I was finding that only one hearing aid would connect. I tried everything to find a solution before I figured out that it only happened when I was sitting near my iPad. Turns out the iPad was grabbing the MFi connection to one hearing aid and my iPhone was grabbing the connection to the other hearing aid. This happened because Apple allows you to accept calls coming into an iPhone on your other Apple devices (i.e. iPad, MacBook, etc).

Keep active Bluetooth connections OFF when you are not using them and the problems all go away. I’ve been using Lumity since October and other than the fact that Bluetooth Classic can be a battery hog, streaming is actually better than it was on my Resound Quattro hearing aids.

Jordan

I’ll just respond to the question posed in the thread heading. 1) Companies always market their strengths. 2) They are “proud of” Made for All hearing aids because nobody else offers it.
They had a choice of how to approach streaming. Go for the latest and greatest that would work with a limited number of phones or go for inclusiveness. They went for inclusiveness.

In reply to @JordanK

@JordanK

Thanks! This explanation helps.
My hearing aids are DIRECTLY PAIRED to my iPhone 8

Back to the Dongle (CarlinKit 4 so I might have wireless Apple CarPlay; sent back and paid back)
It was directly connected to the car; the car had 2 phones directly connected. It’s a Jeep My daily commute is 10 minutes. I would lose the connection/wireless carplay in about a minute. That happened with my phone (iPhone 8SE) and my wife’s phone (iPhone 12 something) I really wanted it to work! I keep leaving my phone behind and visible in the car. I need that phone to connect to my work computer and verify that it’s me…)
I’ve spent countless hours trying to find a solution that will provide conversion to dependable wireless Apple CarPlay.

DaveL
Toronto

Hi @baumgrenze,

I really understand your frustration. I had similar frustrations when I first tried my Lumity’s. You had a pair of that worked well and now you have one that does not. As others have mentioned, there is a trade-off. The Lumitys may be more inconvenient to keep paired but do they offer you a better hearing experience? For many of us the Lumitys are a major step ahead of other aids and the fact that you need to understand how to keep them correctly paired is an inconvenience we learn to live with (I hardly ever have a problem now).

I would really encourage you to read what @JordanK has written above. I have followed his advice and find that it works exactly as he says, @DaveL also has some good advice.

I hope that those tips can help you understand how those aids work and help you start enjoying them.

In reply to @JordanK

I agree with this. I have the KS-9s and use a Samsung phone. Phonak are the only that let you stream to both ears AND talk hands free with an android device. I keep my HAs paired with my phone and desktop computer (the KS9s only pair with 2 devices at a time). But if I know that I will be doing a video call from my desktop or want to listen to computer audio through my HAs to avoid annoying my daughter when she is working in the next room, I simply turn off bluetooth on my phone. If all of my toys are right together, the transition from phone to compute is pretty much seamless.

In reply to @idontwantha

@idontwantha

You’re very kind. However, @JordanK is very knowledgable. I learn something new from all of his posts.

I’m searching for the wholly grail. I feel something is missing in my Paradise P90 setup.

And it’s been so difficult; I share hoping that I can make things easier for others.

myPhonak was terrible when I used it some time ago.
It’s much better now.

I feel that the key to happiness is the audi I chose.

However, I’m frustrated because I don’t know whether there’s something missing in my setup. I don’t know what’s installed. I don’t know what Phonak/Sonova has included that I’m not using.

It feels like a shell game.

Thanks for your post. It’s really helpful.

In reply to @MDB

Actually they overdid inclusiveness. They decided they wanted any old phone to connect because they assume that older people who use hearing aids are not good with technology and often use very old phones. But instead of it being simple it is, by all reports hard for most people, who actually use quite a lot of technology. Old fashioned Bluetooth is power hungry and limits battery life. And older people do lose things easily so “find my hearing aids” would help them.

My best friend recently bought her elderly mother(87) an iPhone and Apple Watch for the automatic fall detection which called her when her mother fell. It has already proved easy to use and a great help. Technology is helping people as they age and as people who are used to technology age we will expect more and more from that technology. But it does not have to be hard to use. I think the main issue is to keep it as affordable as possible while supplying the features which help people.

From a sales perspective I’m confident Phonak is happy with their decision. Yes, there are better solutions but Phonak has sold a heck of a lot of hearing aids. Reminds me a bit of the old Sony/Betamax vs VHS debates. Betamax was technically better, but VHS won hands down. And the parallel likely continues as both are now history and I do believe current hearing aid connectivity will be replaced by a new standard.

@Psocoptera said:

recommends I wait for the switch to LE Bluetooth.

Terminology is important.
I believe you mean Bluetooth .
It should be a game changer for Bluetooth.

I suspect Phonak will flow from classic Bluetooth hearing aids to Bluetooth flawlessly.
If that’s the case they have done very well with the Bluetooth and hearing aids.

Just note to clarify a point in the context of this discussion. It’s been referred to by some, but not explicitly. Other comments suggest that it’s not necessarily obvious. Apologies if it is actually stating the obvious.

Made for iPhone (MFI) is a proprietary Apple technology that works ONLY with iPhone – not with any other phone from any other manufacturer. It was the first effective connectivity option available for hearing aids, but ONLY worked with iPhone.

Eventually, the manufacturers developed solutions using standard bluetooth technology, which can be used by nearly all (e.g.,Android) phones AND also with iPhone, which does support standard bluetooth in addition to MFI.

So being not “Made for iPhone” isn’t the same as being made without regard for iPhone or iPhone users. It effectively just means “Made for Everyone”. A downside is that iPhone has to struggle with some of the same common bluetooth difficulties as everyone else.

(I’ve skipped some details and nuance in service of making the general point.)

@capaz said:

A downside is that iPhone has to struggle with some of the same common bluetooth difficulties as everyone else.

The bigger downside, to me, is loss of access to the handy MFI features. The “3 click” accessibility menu, that gives you instant access to at least some sound adjustments (without dealing with an app, some of which are flaky) is one of them. Another is the option to talk into the iPhone mic for phone calls, instead of being limited to hands-free usage, which may not work well in noisy places. At least, I’m assuming that all MFI aids that support hands-free also have the option to use the phone mic (the only MFI aids I have now are too old to have hands-free).

Edited

Great point, @x475aws . I failed to mention the loss of all that MFI-specific functionality. I suspect that most users are in your boat, with that being the biggest downside. Then, the general bluetooth troubles just add insult to injury.

It’s a tough choice, isn’t it: great experience for iPhone users, but no connectivity for not-iPhones vs. the same less-great experience for everyone. From a quick glance, looks like iPhone has about 50% of U.S. market, and a bit less than 20% worldwide. Either way, lots and lots of unhappy people.

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