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Apple gets FDA authorization to turn the AirPods Pro into hearing aids

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Now I need to figure out how to install the hearing aid firmware (when it comes out) on my Canadian Airpods. I do have a US Apple account but it will not let me tranfer the Airpods to another country. Even after I remove the Airpods from my Canadian Apple account. Perhaps I will try that again when I am south for the winter. Or perhaps someone smarter than me will come up with a work around. Waiting for Canada (and Ontario) to approve OTC hearing aids will mean I will get much older before seeing it.

@PhotoCasey said:

Now I need to figure out how to install the OTC hearing aid firmware (when it comes out) on my Canadian Airpods.

I wouldn’t be pessimistic about that. For all intents and purposes, the custom transparency mode (with hearing accommodations) already functions like an hearing aid, even if Apple doesn’t label it as such. In other markets, Apple might continue calling it “Custom Transparency.” As for the hearing test tool, it’s already available in several good apps for both Android and iOS, so that might not be an issue either. Anyways, I really don’t know… just my guess

As I mentioned above, my experience with the Airpods with the appropriate settings in a noisy restaurant was very positive and outshined my Jabra EP. I used my that I had fed into Apple Health. Even if I cannot find a way to install the firmware, the airpods have provided a huge benefit. While a bit more amplification would be nice, the airpods allowed me to finally enjoy a conversation in a restaurant.

Sort of off topic. I was surprised to find that the silicone ear tips on the Airpod Pros have a in them. Really hard to see but it is there. Not sure if third party tips have the filters however.

Hearing Health for AirPods Pro 2

Apple announced some new hearing health features for AirPods Pro 23 at the iPhone 16 keynote, including a new hearing protection mode that’ll add passive noise cancellation in loud environments. They’re also adding a new “clinical grade” hearing aid, with a custom made hearing profile tailored to the user. It’s currently being certified, and is expected to release later this year, likely alongside iOS 18.2.
I do not use Apple.
I thought this might be interesting for Apple users.

Well if these pods get to be sold as , surely Apple will engineer these to also be configured using an Android or Windows device?

Just kidding, of course.

@paul.cleary.nz. IIRC, in the U.S., only that are prescribed as medical devices get coverage. HAs are not. One requires a prescription to get the medical device HAs in the first place here as a “medical need,” and OTCs don’t fall under that medical umbrella.

Edited

In reply to @troutcm

So this has been available for ages for all kinds of AirPods (though for Transparency Mode, only for the AirPods Pro), but all of a sudden, maybe since I’ve been beta testing iOS 18.1? I can’t use my with any of my AirPods (Pro 1st Gen or Max 1st Gen.)

I’d more or less stopped using the audiogram-based Hearing Accommodations at all since I got Intent 2 because it covers my hearing situation, but it’s super weird that audiograms are not an option at all anymore on either my iPhone or iPad.

I sincerely hope they’re not looking at forcing everyone to move to AirPods Pro 2 because they’re the new “hearing aids”. The 1st-gen AirPods Pro 1 were never a substitute for hearing aids (and tbqh I have my doubts about what the 2nd gens are going to be able to do), but all AirPods were pretty good at adapting music and phone calls with audiograms if you set them up like this and canning that feature is horrible.

Is anyone on the regular iOS 18 with an audiogram in Health and access to any AirPods able to use your audiogram with Hearing Accommodations yet?

@Mattie_B said:

all of a sudden, maybe since I’ve been beta testing iOS 18.1?

Works for me on 18.0.1

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Beta sw? Not for what I depend on, if I can help it.

You pays yer money and takes yer chances.

WH

Thanks for checking. Well, I’ve reached out. Hopefully this is just a blip and not something that’s gonna rear its head for everyone when 18.1 comes out in a couple weeks.

While I could use more volume, I am delighted at the ability to have a conversation in a loud restaurant with the AirPods. One would think that if Apple could build that into a 300 dollar set of AirPods, then the hearing aid manufacturers could incorporate similar technology into hearing aids costing several thousand dollars. The only downside is AirPods have a relatively short battery life. I can get about 7 hours out of them but at least I can enjoy going to a restaurant again.

Since Canada has not yet approved over-the-counter, hearing aids, it appears that the hearing aid feature for the AirPods are not available in Canada. However, I spend the winters in the south each year. And for some reason after entering the United States, the feature has appeared in my AirPod Pro 2 earbuds. I took the Hearing Test and the results were fairly similar to what I received from my audiologist. Although the from the audiologist indicated a slightly higher hearing loss in both ears than the Apple test did. So I went with the audiologist test results that was done this past Summer. I’m quite delighted that the feature now exists in my AirPods and look forward to trying it out in the next noisy restaurant. And I didn’t even have to update the software to a US version as far as I know. Just an FYI to anyone else out there that travels south for the winter.

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