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In iOS 18.1 the long awaited Air Pods Pro 2 Hearing Test and Hearing Aids feature is (as of 18.1 release date) not available in Canada. When will it be available and is there any specific was as users we can make this happen?
iPhone 13 mini, iOS 18
Look at the long list of countries where the Apple Airpod Pro hearing aid functionality is available. It includes many third-world countries but not Canada. This is nothing short of outrageous.
In Canada, corporate lobbies always win over consumers: the Big Three telecommunication companies are still charging an arm and a leg for internet and cell phone coverage, the big chartered banks are still charging high interest rates on credit cards and forcing a three-week pay cycle to change the due date every month and screw consumers with late payment fees, the audiologist and hearing aid lobby is still preventing consumers from purchasing over-the-counter hearing aids, 2 years after they have been made available in the US.
As I said, this is nothing short of outrageous.
I think you can purchase the Airpods Pro from Canada. What is important is to get the most recent firmware on the Airpods Pro.
That is not correct. I have been using my Airpods as hearing aids since September running IOS 17.7.1.
The firmware has changed three times since I started using them. They have behaved exactly the same way through all three updates. I understand that the latest firmware will allow the Airpods to produce a higher volume but that's about it.
I am still using IOS 17.7.1 and will continue to do so until approval has been given in the UK.
They work really well for me with my mild to moderate hearing loss.
Do you think the same process would work if I buy the Air pods- create
an US Apple ID, etc? The Sony hearing aids sound great but they are
$1000 US.
They will work as hearing aids if you set them up with an iPad or iPhone with IOS 18.01 pr older.
I think this is the only officially supported way to get them to work.
That is true but they will work very well unofficially if you haven’t updated to 18.1.
I have been using them since September and they work very well for me. Why would I stop them working by updating to 18.1? Seriously?
FYI, I have tried to get the hearing features working in Canada by wiping my phone, setting up using a VPN, disabling location services and using a US account but it did not work. I guess they use your GPS location even if you don't allow it.
My next attempt will be a trip to the USA to see if that works.
What will work is if you set them up with an Apple device that is on IOS 18.01 or older.
It works. I have been using them since September and they work well for somebody with mild to moderate hearing loss. Music was a revelation and I am loving listening to music again.
Go to settings/accessibility/audio visual/headphone accommodations
Lucster wrote:
Some people here mistakenly label the AirPods Pro's transparency and noise cancellation functionalities as the hearing aid functionality. It’s like Live Listen, which has existed for a very long time, whereby you could use your iPhone to pick up sounds and relay them to your AirPods. These functionalities are fine but not the same as the hearing aid functionality.
The only way to get the hearing test and the hearing aid functionality is with IOS 18.1 and up and AirPods Pro firmware 7B19 and up, in a country that allows OTC sale of hearing aids.
I tried to set up my AirPods Pro 2 with firmware 7B21 with an older iPhone 1ù2 with IOS 17.7.1 yesterday, and YOU DO NOT GET the hearing test and the hearing aid functionality.
There is a lot of misinformation being spread here about this.
I tried to make that point early on in other threads. No one wanted to listen. Perhaps you'll have better luck. I hope so.
I tried to make that point early on in other threads. No one wanted to listen. Perhaps you'll have better luck. I hope so.
I wondered how long it would take for you to chip in.
In the end you and Lucster are really dancing on the head of a pin as to what constitutes "real" hearing aids.
The AirPod hearing aid setup prior to 18.1 was not promoted by Apple as hearing aids because the FDA would not have allowed them to be sold as hearing aids.
Apple put the features in and let customers find out for themselves. You only have to look on YouTube. There are dozens of videos showing how to set them up.
Here is the definition of hearing amplifiers.
Hearing Aids vs Hearing Amplifiers
https://www.hearingaid.org.uk › ... › Hearing Aid Advice
9 Sept 2024 — All sounds are amplified, unlike hearing aids that are programmed for the specific frequencies an individual with hearing loss needs to hear. ...
Note that it says that ALL sounds are amplified so we know that Apple did NOT release the Airpods as hearing amplifiers in 2022 because you can upload your audiogram to the Airpods and they work across a range of frequencies..
I have mild to moderate hearing loss in my ears in the high and mid tones and my left ear is much worse than my right.
Let's move onto hearing what people are saying to me when I am wearing them.
In a noisy restaurant last week using the Airpods, background noise drops in volume and voices are crystal clear from everybody sitting at the eight person table. You can manually adjust the volume of background noise and voices independently using Transparency Mode or use the Adaptive Mode so they adjust automatically.
If I am listening to a podcast or some music and somebody starts talking to me, because I have Conversation Boost and Conversation Awareness switched on too, as soon as I start talking, OR somebody starts talking to me, the music or Podcast or fades to nothing while I carry on a conversation and gradually fades back up where it left off. It took me a couple of days to gets used to the fact that all I needed was to start talking to get the music to fade out.
Listening to music was totally transformed for me. Previously all I heard in my left ear was a mush using a cheap set of ear buds.
The Loud Sound Reduction also works extremely well. Our peanut grinder is deafening when I used it and the first time I tried it the volume dropped to less than 50%.
Whether you both like it or not, my Airpods sound like a VERY sophisticated pair of hearing aids to me and guess what? I am using IOS 17.7.1 and using them in the UK where they haven’t been approved.
I think this is the only officially supported way to get them to work.
Correct but then if you are in the "wrong" country where they are not approved you cannot use them at all. They work very well using 17.7.1 unofficially and the only difference I have heard about is that the volume output is higher running 18.1. As I have mild to moderate hearing loss they are better than fine for me.
Why would I update when the 18.1 update will prevent me from using them? They work really well on 17.7.1.
I arrived in California from Alberta 4 days ago. When Apple released 18.1.1 - I updated my iPhone (16 promax) and now I have the hearing aid option available - initial thoughts - excellent - did. 18.1.1 update in Canada in a similar fashion?
I have been fortunate in my life to never have had my freedom taken away from me...until now. And it doesn't feel good. I purchased my AirPod Pro2 devices after reading a New York Times article about the upcoming launch of their ability to be hearing aids. I am beyond distraught because I had a brief three minutes of seeing how great they were at improving my hearing and then "poof", the button I had pushed--Accessibility on the Airpod App on my phone--disappeared and I literally heard it go back to just plain non-hearing aid status...never to return again. I found out the hard way that my GPS was used to block any access to be able to hear better.
To think that in Canada, a seemingly free country, we are unable to purchase something and have it work the way we want it to is blocked is a really, really bad realization. Think of all the lower income people who this would benefit and Health Canada is opting for the Hearing Aid companies (Big Hearing, like Big Pharma in the US) instead of it's citizens who are in need is sobering at the least.
Image 1. In Canada the Hearing Test feature is not on the menu.
Image 2. In the United States and other countries the feature is activated and shows on the menu.
Do you think the same process would work if I buy the Air pods- create an US Apple ID, etc? The Sony hearing aids sound great but they are $1000 US.
I think you can purchase the Airpods Pro from Canada. What is important is to get the most recent firmware on the Airpods Pro.
totally agree, outrageous but not surpised!
« I hope this addresses your concerns » no it dosent. You explained why jut youre my mp so I want you to push for it to change.
[Edited by Moderator]
An old iPhone 12 will allow you to set them up. Just use an IOS that older than 18.1 and there will be NO geographical locks.
AirPods Pro 2 Hearing Aids Not in Canada
