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?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
iPhone 13 mini, iOS 18
It’s not as if allowing the iOS upgrade in Canada will have any effect on the audiologists own sales because if you couldn’t afford $5000 for a set of prescription Hearing Aids before the iPod Pro iOS 18.1 upgrade you are still not going to go to an audiologist. So let’s see the Canadian gov do the right thing and allow us all to use iPods for hearing tests and improve our hearing ability at the same time.
Recently wrote to Ontario Health Ministy - this is what I just got back......
Thank you for writing to the Honourable Sylvia Jones, Minister of Health, about using Apple Airpods
as hearing aids. The Ministry of Health appreciates that you took the time to get more information.
In Ontario, audiologists and speech-language pathologists are governed under the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991, and the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Act, 1991.
Under these acts, the College of Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologists of Ontario (CASLPO)
is responsible for ensuring its members are competent, skilled and
qualified to practise in Ontario. As part of its duties, CASLPO may make regulations and set standards of practice on a variety of subject matters.
We encourage you to contact CASLPO as they are best suited to answer your questions:
CASLPO
601-175 Bloor Street East, North Tower
Toronto, Ontario M4W 3R8
Telephone: 416-975-5347
Toll free: 800-993-9459
Email: caslpo@caslpo.com
We hope this information is helpful. Thank you again for writing.
Sincerely,
Correspondence and Corporate Support | Correspondance et soutien ministériel
Ministry of Health | Ministère de la Santé
I'm in BC. I managed to activate the hearing aid function yesterday on the ferry between Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island and Tsawwassen on the mainland.
There's a point for about 15-20 minutes before you get to Tsawwassen when the ferry passes through US territorial waters. I followed the ferry position on Maps and put in my airpods when we got to US waters. They showed up in my iPhone settings with both the hearing aid function and the hearing test active.
When I got home I opened up iPhone mirroring on my iMac and they showed up there too.
However Canadians can order OTC hearing aids from Amazon. I have a set arriving today. I would have much preferred to use AirPods but returned them to Apple.
Please let us know if travelling to the US works - thinking to try the same.
I tried it. I even set up a new American apple ID. Doesn't work :(.
Try copy and paste this url "x-apple-health://HearingAppPlugin.healthplugin/HearingTest" to trigger the hearing test in iOS Safari.
Voilà, Enjoy !
It used to be that other countries were 'third world countries.' Seems Canada is achieving that status. The number of health supplements blocked is also way more than any other nation!
Mine are still working. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
New IOS and Firmware today but still no hearing test or hearing aid function in Canada. The saga continues.
The CRE-C20’s are fairly pricey. Are they worth the price and trouble you went thru to get them? Seems like you could get a pair of prescription hearing aids from Costco for a couple of hundred $ more.
I bought some el cheapos from Amazon but have returned them as they were really bad quality (despite the reviews).
I also sent emails to my MLA and MP asking if there are any updates to OTC hearing aids in Canada.
The Sony CRE-C20 OTC ITE hearing aids are a valid upgrade over the CRE-C10. The most significant change is the rechargeable battery and the water-resisting factor now that the enclosure is sealed. I would not dive in a swimming pool or a lake with them, but they will resist rain or sweat, and it will not be the end of them if you forget to take them off before taking a shower.
On the functionality side, they are better at focusing on your spouse's or friend's speech while in a busy and noisy place like a restaurant. The hearing test has been modernized and appears more accurate. The rest of the app is pretty much the same.
The issue that needs to be clarified is whether Apple looks at GPS data to determine where you are located when you attempt to configure the AirPods Pro. I could log in to my US Apple ID using a VPN and then download the Sony app and configure my hearing aids—all that from my location north of Montreal. But I don’t know if the Apple process is the same. Remember that when you log in to a different Apple ID on one iPhone, you must first log out of your Canadian Apple ID. If you have the lockdown feature set, you have to wait an hour before being able to log in to your US Apple ID. It’s better to turn off lockdown mode before you begin this process. You can reactivate lockdown mode after you’re done.
lakedogs_2000 wrote:
That is why the 18.1 update is “not available” in Canada, using GPS locating to prevent access to that update to the firmware for users of AirPods in Canada!
Are you saying that iOS 18.1 is not available in Canada at all? That's not what I've read anywhere or heard from my Canadian friends.
If it’s good enough for the US regulatory authorities - it’s good enough for Canadian regulatory authorities.
I thought it was only U.S. citizens who thought that Canada and the U.S. were just alike and practically the same country. ;-)
Noeffix wrote:
« 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.
The person you're responding to is not the MP. They were quoting the response they received from their MP.
Remember that iPhone models before the Model X are incompatible with IOS 18.
Yes they are but an old iPhone 12 running an older IOS than 18.1 will allow you to set them up in hearing accommodations. My wife's 2018 iPad on 17.7.1 set them up with no problems.
AirPods Pro 2 Hearing Aids not available in Canada
