Hearing aid test not available?

[Night Spring]

I haven’t used or seen IOS 18.1 at all means that I have no idea how the menus have changed, just that I know they won’t work.

It's an interesting article and it's such a shame that Apple have removed the option to apply an audiogram to all of the AirPod range including the Max.

It was the FDA in the US that approved the use of the Airpod Pro 2s as OTC hearing aids and, at a guess, Apple were forced to remove the Audiogram option from the other products as part of the approval rules.

As far as I know it's not possible to go back to an older IOS after the 18.1 update but it wouldn't stop me from trying if I had an old backup available. As I said earlier, I was able to set the AirPods up again on my 2018 iPad running 17.7.1. Am old iPhone 12 would do the job.

So many people just let their phones update whenever Apple brings something new out. I prefer to let the dust settle and let everybody else wrestle with the bug and inevitable glitches. As a general rule I leave well alone until .4 or .5 is released whether it's on my phone or my desktop.

Now I am constrained by the wait for the MHRA in the UK to approve them before I can update.

No, you can't go back to an older iOS after updating. There's often a small "grace period" after a new iOS release when you can downgrade, but it's only for a week or so.

If you did apply your audiogram to your headphone/earphone before updating to 18.1, those settings do keep working on 18.1. But you can no longer modify the settings/apply another audiogram.

Also, if you have multiple iDevices, and one of them is still on iOS 18.0 or earlier, you should be able to apply an audiogram on that device, and the setting will carry over when you use that earphone with your other devices. At least, it does on the AirPods Pro 2. I think it should be the same for the others, but who knows?

 

[tulsamal]

Yeah, I got bitten by this one. I'm a 63 year old retired US citizen, home is in Oklahoma. The wife and I came down to San Miguel de Allende, MX for the winter. I've had trouble hearing people in conversations for years... especially in loud environments like restaurants. Since I knew we would be talking to lots of people in those kinds of settings, getting the new AirPods Pro 2 seemed like a great idea. Drove down to the Costco in Queretaro and bought them. Got them up and running... no hearing test. Finally found the place where you can trigger the hearing test... moderate hearing issue in one ear. But that's as far as I can go. No using them as hearing aids until Mexico approves them.

You guys keep listing Canada and European countries where they aren't approved... there are more American expats in Mexico than any other country in the world. Like 3x as many Americans in Mexico than Canada. So probably more disappointed Americans in Mexico than any of those other countries.

Anyway, I would like to hear that Mexico will approve them soon? Who knows. My wife is flying back to the US at Christmas to see the new grandchild... if they haven't approved by then she can take them to the US with her and use them there... that should enable the new features, correct? That's all she has to do, connect them to her US ATT iPhone and listen to a song... and then hearing aids will be there as a feature when she comes back to me? Of course that will be using her iPhone... will it show up on my US ATT iPhone?

I understand why Apple had to do this... but still annoying... I could really use them now!

 

[rasg]

Yeah, I got bitten by this one. I'm a 63 year old retired US citizen, home is in Oklahoma. The wife and I came down to San Miguel de Allende, MX for the winter. I've had trouble hearing people in conversations for years... especially in loud environments like restaurants. Since I knew we would be talking to lots of people in those kinds of settings, getting the new AirPods Pro 2 seemed like a great idea. Drove down to the Costco in Queretaro and bought them. Got them up and running... no hearing test. Finally found the place where you can trigger the hearing test... moderate hearing issue in one ear. But that's as far as I can go. No using them as hearing aids until Mexico approves them.

You guys keep listing Canada and European countries where they aren't approved... there are more American expats in Mexico than any other country in the world. Like 3x as many Americans in Mexico than Canada. So probably more disappointed Americans in Mexico than any of those other countries.

Anyway, I would like to hear that Mexico will approve them soon? Who knows. My wife is flying back to the US at Christmas to see the new grandchild... if they haven't approved by then she can take them to the US with her and use them there... that should enable the new features, correct? That's all she has to do, connect them to her US ATT iPhone and listen to a song... and then hearing aids will be there as a feature when she comes back to me? Of course that will be using her iPhone... will it show up on my US ATT iPhone?

I understand why Apple had to do this... but still annoying... I could really use them now!

Buy an old iPhone 12 if you don't have an older Apple device. Any device that is running 17.7.1 or older will allow you to set the AirPods up as hearing aids through Headphone Accommodations. Download the Mimi hearing test app to do the test. I was surprised to see how close my hearing test from the Mimi app was identical to the test I had done in the testing booth at Costco.

Costco are happy to supply a copy of your audiogram so it's pretty easy to apply it to the Airpods.

 

[Night Spring]

Anyway, I would like to hear that Mexico will approve them soon? Who knows. My wife is flying back to the US at Christmas to see the new grandchild... if they haven't approved by then she can take them to the US with her and use them there... that should enable the new features, correct? That's all she has to do, connect them to her US ATT iPhone and listen to a song... and then hearing aids will be there as a feature when she comes back to me? Of course that will be using her iPhone... will it show up on my US ATT iPhone?

Not sure about when and how the feature will get enabled when your wife flies back to the US, but yes, it's possible to set up your AirPods as hearing aids on your wife's iphone, then use them with your iPhone. I'm doing that right now, because my iPhone can't update to iOS 18, but my partner has an iPad that can. So I borrowed his iPad to set up my AirPods.

I'll describe what I did, in case you or anyone else is interested, but the previous poster's suggestion of getting an older iphone on iOS 17 is a lot simpler.

So here's how I did it.

1. Pair AirPods to my partner's iPad (iOS 18.1). Enter my audiogram values. Set up as hearing aid.

2. Pair AirPods with my iPhone (iOS 17.? -- am not sure which exact subversion it's on, whatever the latest 17 was). You do this by pushing the button on the back of the AirPods case, very hard to see and feel, but it's there. This makes the AirPods show up in your iPhone's Bluetooth settings as a device to connect to. Connect, and you get a message saying these AirPods are already paired to another person's device, and the owner can see your location if you use the AirPods. Say you agree to that, and now the AirPods are paired to both my iPhone and my partner's iPad.

3. This causes an annoying situation where whenever I put on the AirPods, it first connects to my partner's iPad, interrupting him. So I permanently disconnect them from his iPad by "forgetting" them from the iPad's Bluetooth settings. The AirPods are now paired only to my iPhone, and fully functioning as hearing aids. However, I can't make any further adjustments to the hearing aid settings, because my iPhone is on iOS 17.

At my level of hearing loss (moderate to severe), the hearing aid function provided by iOS 18 is markedly distinct from and better than what I get on iOS 17. So going through this convoluted process makes sense. For people with mild to moderate loss, just getting a device on iOS 17 may be simpler.

 

[Night Spring]

Download the Mimi hearing test app to do the test. I was surprised to see how close my hearing test from the Mimi app was identical to the test I had done in the testing booth at Costco.

I see everyone recommending Mimi hearing test, but it doesn't work for me. It's the reverse of how most hearing tests work. It makes you hold the screen while you listen to the tones, and let go when you stop hearing the sound. Most other tests, you tap the screen when you start hearing the tone.

This is a problem for me, for two reasons.

1. Because of my mobility issues, I often find my finger lifting off the screen when I don't mean to.

2. I can't tell when I stop hearing the tone -- as the sound gets softer, I can't tell if I'm still hearing a tone, or I'm just imagining hearing it.

I ended up using the following app, which works a lot better for me.

‎SonicCloud Sound Check

‎Gain valuable insight into your hearing ability with this free, clinically validated hearing test. In 5 minutes, you’ll get insight into your hearing ability. Clinically Validated Hearing Assessment: Developed by a renowned Stanford audiologist and uses gold standard clinical methodologies for...

apps.apple.com

 

[rasg]

Not sure about when and how the feature will get enabled when your wife flies back to the US, but yes, it's possible to set up your AirPods as hearing aids on your wife's iphone, then use them with your iPhone. I'm doing that right now, because my iPhone can't update to iOS 18, but my partner has an iPad that can. So I borrowed his iPad to set up my AirPods.

I'll describe what I did, in case you or anyone else is interested, but the previous poster's suggestion of getting an older iphone on iOS 17 is a lot simpler.

So here's how I did it.

1. Pair AirPods to my partner's iPad (iOS 18.1). Enter my audiogram values. Set up as hearing aid.

2. Pair AirPods with my iPhone (iOS 17.? -- am not sure which exact subversion it's on, whatever the latest 17 was). You do this by pushing the button on the back of the AirPods case, very hard to see and feel, but it's there. This makes the AirPods show up in your iPhone's Bluetooth settings as a device to connect to. Connect, and you get a message saying these AirPods are already paired to another person's device, and the owner can see your location if you use the AirPods. Say you agree to that, and now the AirPods are paired to both my iPhone and my partner's iPad.

3. This causes an annoying situation where whenever I put on the AirPods, it first connects to my partner's iPad, interrupting him. So I permanently disconnect them from his iPad by "forgetting" them from the iPad's Bluetooth settings. The AirPods are now paired only to my iPhone, and fully functioning as hearing aids. However, I can't make any further adjustments to the hearing aid settings, because my iPhone is on iOS 17.

At my level of hearing loss (moderate to severe), the hearing aid function provided by iOS 18 is markedly distinct from and better than what I get on iOS 17. So going through this convoluted process makes sense. For people with mild to moderate loss, just getting a device on iOS 17 may be simpler.

This is really interesting and great way to get the benefits of the latest software for the Airpods.

It won’t help others in countries where 18.1 prevents them from using it at all though.