Why are AirPods Pro 2 Hearing Aid features not available in the UK?

I spoke to Apple support yesterday

I was told Apple doesn’t have the approval for UK yet that why it hasn’t be issued in UK.

As soon as they got the approval it will be released for UK too with the next update.

I hope this explains it 😊

i went to the apple shop today, they said the feature will arrive in the UK today, i haven’t found anything yet but hopefully soon something will happen🤞

"I have moderate hearing loss and have been using the transparency features for over a year successfully. Music sounds much clearer, and I'm able to converse with people almost as well as I can with my prescription hearing aids. I'm not sure why you are no longer able to use your audiogram as it is still available on my APP2 with ios 18.1."

The same for me but I have only been using mine for over a month. They are excellent and work for me very well.

I'm not sure why Idris is arguing the point when he is simply wrong. He is trying to flog a dead horse when we now have two people who are hard of hearing who USE them hearing aids.

Thank you for weighing in on this, by the way.

I am using IOS 17.7.1 as I am UK based and approval hasn't been granted yet for us. An update to 18.1 on my iPhone will simply stop mine working so I won't be upgrading any time soon.

"If they were hearing aids, they would work on things other than listening to music. But they don't. Or didn't until now."

They do work on improving hearing as well as music. This feature has been available for a while.

Yes it has.

Hera is the first video I found on YouTube to set them up.

rasg wrote:

I'm not sure why Idris is arguing the point when he is simply wrong. He is trying to flog a dead horse when we now have two people who are hard of hearing who USE them hearing aids.

How do you know I'm a he and not a she or a they?

Hera is the first video I found on YouTube to set them up.

?

rasg wrote:

Even if your country does get approval, if your hearing test shows worse than moderate hearing loss they Airpods won’t work.

If the feature is approved in your region, you will be able to do the hearing test. If your hearing falls outside of the range of "Mild to Moderate" hearing loss, you will not be able to use the hearing aid function. I have negligible hearing loss according to the test and I can't set up Hearing Aids.

If you already have the Airpod Pro 2s AND your iPhone is on an old IOS like 17.7.1 or older they will already work as hearing aids without any restrictions.

You're talking about Live Listen which is an entirely different feature. The Airpods are not functioning as hearing aids in the technical sense of the term:

Use Live Listen with AirPods or Beats - Apple Support

The AirPods have been available as hearing aids since 2022.

Again, that is incorrect.

shelley186 wrote:

I also checked all firmware updates and have latest IOS And have none of the new features, in US

Did you try restarting your phone?

gr7 wrote:

I've just noticed that the feature is not available in the UK. It's just about the only country where it's not available

No, it's not "just about the only country" that hasn't gotten it yet. The UK is one of 193 countries that hasn't gotten it yet. Currently, as the previous poster noted, it's only available in the U.S. and Canada.

tobianogreg wrote:

I think this feature is approved for use in the US and Canada for now, however I’m in Canada and also cannot see the test/aid features. All firmware upgrades done.

And you have the Air Pod Pro 2? Have you tried restarting everything?

My country is also not in the list. I bought my AirPods Pro 2 specifically for the hearing aid option. How is the inclusion determined? Who approves inclusion in each country and is there a list of expected date of inclusion in each country? Thanks

Where do you live. It makes a big difference. No approval yet for Canada, the UK, France, Italy or Spain.

Even if your country does get approval, if your hearing test shows worse than moderate hearing loss they Airpods won’t work.

If you already have the Airpod Pro 2s AND your iPhone is on an old IOS like 17.7.1 or older they will already work as hearing aids without any restrictions. If that is the case, you can go online to YouTube and there are loads of videos explaining how to do it, or reply to this message and I will explain how to do it.

The AirPods have been available as hearing aids since 2022.

Well you need to explain to me why moderate hearing loss left ear has magically started working again when I wear my Airpods. I am hearing music like it never went away and the pleasant rain background sound helps to mask my tinnitus when I am relaxing.

In restaurant with six of us eating at a table I can hear every word that everybody says yet I couldn't hear anything before.

It sounds like you work for Apple and you don't want people to know.

I have no doubt they are even better now with 8.1 but I know people on the various hearing aid forums with severe hearing loss who have been using the music and Apple TV side of them very successfully sincw 2022 until Apple broke them with IOS 18.1. That is REALLY shabby.

rasg wrote:

Well you need to explain to me why moderate hearing loss left ear has magically started working again when I wear my Airpods. I am hearing music like it never went away and the pleasant rain background sound helps to mask my tinnitus when I am relaxing.

Tinnitus is not the same as hearing loss.

It sounds like you work for Apple and you don't want people to know.

If I worked for Apple, I probably wouldn't be allowed to post here. In fact, I work for a primarily undergraduate university.

rasg wrote:

Well you need to explain to me why moderate hearing loss left ear has magically started working again when I wear my Airpods. I am hearing music like it never went away and the pleasant rain background sound helps to mask my tinnitus when I am relaxing.

Tinnitus is not the same as hearing loss.

It sounds like you work for Apple and you don't want people to know.

If I worked for Apple, I probably wouldn't be allowed to post here. In fact, I work for a primarily undergraduate university.

I didn't say that tinnitus is the same as hearing loss. What I said was that the Airpods helped me with it.

I notice you didn’t address this:

"Well you need to explain to me why moderate hearing loss left ear has magically started working again when I wear my Airpods. I am hearing music like it never went away."

On the basis that you work for a University, maybe you should do your research better?

When Apple released the Airpod Pro 2s in 2022 they allowed you to apply your Audiogram to them and it makes a huge difference to many people.

Many of the people around the world are already using Airpod Pro 2s as hearing aids whether you like it or not. Some with severe hearing hearing loss because it works for them. Certainly on the music side of things.