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

I can’t speak for other Phonak hearing aids using Bluetooth Classic but My Phonak L90 Lumity hearing aids work flawlessly with Bluetooth and the sound quality for streaming music is a big step above any of my previous hearing aids. Specifically with bass. The biggest difference between Lumity with Bluetooth Classic and my previous hearing aids (Resound Quattro 9’s) with MFi is that the signal is rock solid. I almost never experience distortion or disconnects from one or both ears. With Resound Quattro, it was quite common to answer a call or start to stream music and find that only one ear would connect. The signal strength with MFi was also lower and walking any distance from the iPhone would result in crackling and signal drop off. This doesn’t happen with Phonak and Bluetooth Classic…the negative being it chews through batteries faster.

I will say that many have reported that Bluetooth Classic on Phonak Paradise and Marvel were less reliable so Phonak may have introduced improvements with Lumity.

Jordan

@JordanK
Your post is really helpful.
Bluetooth Classic on my hearing aids is quite reliable. If I have issues it’s because of something I’ve done, or some issue with using my hearing aids in my car.

I’ve had my Phonak Audeo Paradise P90R’s for about a year and a half. My audilogist worked miracles getting them for me. Truly. I wasn’t due for hearing aids. My old Phonaks were unsafe as another audiologist had supplied them. I couldn’t hear at all behind me; I work on construction sites and I had several close calls.
He has been so patient. Yet the little voice on my shoulder says, “why is it taking so long to set these up?”
I’m now able to put them on, turn on my phone and choose “autosense”. I adjust the volume and I’m good to go. I have an appointment soon to make some more set-up changes including having autosense named as the default and start up program.

6 months or so ago I was ticked. However, my audiologists work has improved how my hearing aids work (with suggestions I have given to him)
Your comments and the comments of others here have led me to believe that my next hearing aids will be even better than what I have now.

i have just started using the phonak audeo’s that i got from the va. they replaced the resound quattro’s i have been using for the past 4 years. i think the phonaks are way better. sound is much clearer, and via the app, they are more tuneable for my use. the tv streamer works better than the resound. faster connection, and, again, clearer and more tuneable. one of the biggest improvements over the resound is the ability to silence background noise. my only cons are that the case does not recharge, but the magnetic “grabber” is a plus. also, the phonaks are kinda difficult to put on.

1. I have not yet found a use for the Telecoil in my aids. Here in Australia no one seems to support this feature. The local airport says they do but turns out it is only at the couple of busiest gates and my plane has never been at those gates. It might still be useful overseas but most HA users are not using this unfortunately.
2. By no standardisation I was referring to Android phones vs Apple. The great majority of Apple users are using the most recent iOS. But for Android that is not the case and any manufacturer who needs their product to interface with an Android phone has to deal with all the different versions of the OS that the users are using. That is why we won’t see any of the cool miFi features in HAs designed for every phone. It’s just too hard.
3. Both HAs and modern phones are expensive. My aids were $Au11,000 but an iPhone starts at about $Au 780 for the SE. The iPhone is not the limiting cost here.

baumgrenze - Original poster here

Here’s today’s problem.

I updated to IOS 16.5.1. Phone calls and live stream was only available via the iPhone speaker.

I deleted the app and went to the App Store. The only option was Open.

The app is now open but I can’t find the MyPhonak App icon anywhere on my ‘homepage.’

If I need to delete and reinstall it again, how do I accomplish the task without an icon to hold down until the delete option pops up.

Without the icon I can’t control the HA’s.

This may be an Apple problem. How do I tell?

thanks
baumgrenze

Problem solved!

It was a 'typical Apple problem. Intuitively you swipe left to the last Home Screen and swipe left one more time to reach the ‘App Library’ where you can access ‘edit home screen’ and move it there.

Ugh
Baumgrenze

Replying to the thread title more than the iPhone specific issues that have been raised…

I think Phonak and other manufacturers make design choices primarily based on economics. The Android operating system captures 75% of the market worldwide - 3 out of every 4 phones in the world are Android. Apple’s IOS is second, at 25%. (it’s actually 71 & 27% - but you get the idea)

So Phonak (and others) are quite smart in producing a device that works for 75% of the mobile phone marketshare.

My iPad is paired. I leave it at home

My iPhone is paired
My cars are pairs too. But so is my dongle that provides wireless CarPlay. I just sold my Jeep Rubicon. Some jeeps had quality issues. I bought the dongle for it.

I work in construction. Drive a lot between sites. The Paradise P90Rs are my hands free phone connection on sites.

So my phone is always paired. My dongle is too.