No plan for hearing aid features in UK

[rasg]

We only have an Apple TV now and it integrates beautifully with the AirPods.

My wife prefers to look use her iPad for the things she likes to watch so I use the Apple TV with the TV volume off.

 

[doogm]

The hearing test at least is coming to the UK (as well as Cyprus, Czechia, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania, Spain, United Arab Emirates) with iOS 18.2, presumably next week. UAE gets the hearing aid feature as well.

Apple expands AirPods Pro hearing aid and test to more countries

AirPods Pro 2 gained hearing aid capabilities with iOS 18.1, which was released to the public in October. Users can run a...

9to5mac.com

 

[rasg]

Whoopie Doo. The Mimi app does pretty much what the Apple Hearing Aid does. It's a step in the right direction I suppose.

I'll keep using my AirPods as hearing aids with 17.7.1. I have no reason to upgrade until full approval has been granted for the UK.

 

[austenl]

The hearing test at least is coming to the UK (as well as Cyprus, Czechia, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania, Spain, United Arab Emirates) with iOS 18.2, presumably next week. UAE gets the hearing aid feature as well.

Apple expands AirPods Pro hearing aid and test to more countries

AirPods Pro 2 gained hearing aid capabilities with iOS 18.1, which was released to the public in October. Users can run a...

9to5mac.com

Yup, you can test, but there is still no hearing aid feature in the UK... It worked on my UK buds when I got them at the start, but I made the mistake of updating them, and the hearing aid feature vanished. Very poor information from Apple...

 

[Cunir]

It's a legal issue. They're not withholding features out of spite.

We’re still waiting for the crosswords on news+ that the US and Canada have had for a year. I’m not sure what the hold up is with that

 

[rasg]

Yup, you can test, but there is still no hearing aid feature in the UK... It worked on my UK buds when I got them at the start, but I made the mistake of updating them, and the hearing aid feature vanished. Very poor information from Apple...

Yes. The Hearing Aid feature rollout has been a farce to the extent that Apple store staff have been selling them in the UK and Australia, (that I know of), without telling customers that they cannot use it in their country.

I'm looking forward to my reply from Tim Cook but I won't hold my breath.

 

[rasg]

UPDATE.
My original email was sent to Tim Cook and he passed it on. I thought the response was initially from an enquiry on the Apple Community forum.

What's really funny is that I posted the reply on the ACF and the Moderators deleted it! On the ACF the moderators deleted and email from the CEO of Apple! Ludicrous.

My reply from Apple in response to my complaint about the IOS 18.1 Hearing Aid rollout.

Dear Richard,

Thank you for your note and your interest in the hearing health features available on AirPods Pro 2. While we have obtained the CE mark for the hearing aid feature, due to regulatory restrictions, Apple is unable to release the Hearing Aid feature directly to consumers in the UK at this time. However, we are actively working with health officials in the UK with the hope of making this experience available as soon as possible.

Our retail teams are reviewing your note to close the gaps and to ensure we are supporting all our customers with clear, accurate information.

Thanks very much for your feedback.

My best,
Sumbul

 Sumbul Ahmad Desai, MD | Vice President, Health | Apple

 

[Jackbequickly]

Doesn’t appear to be any plans to launch the hearing aid / test feature within the UK. The Only mention on Apples uk site is that of hearing protection, which is ‘coming soon’.
I thought I’d create this thread to see if we ( in the UK) can offer any workarounds to enable these crucial features.

Likely the UK is getting in the way of this feature, not Apple.

 

[rasg]

Likely the UK is getting in the way of this feature, not Apple.

On the next update we will get the Hearing Test Feature so it's a step in the right direction.

 

[DHA]

Having been involved in some regulatory (not health) stuff during Brexit where the UK aligned with the EU regs for simplicity (and probably cost) post Brexit the UK has its own rules which often directly mirror the EU regs in my work but have their own format and legislation which takes time to write and publish (and is a pain) so this might be the reason for the delay perhaps

 

[Tenkaykev]

I trust everyone has had a great Christmas🎄🎅.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread, it’s the only place on line, I’ve discovered, where this matter his being discussed.
I’m aware that the “Hearing Test” facility is now available in the UK. (As of the 12th of December.)
However, as far as I can ascertain, this is not much use in the UK, without the “Hearing Aid” feature for AirPods Pro 2.
It appears, that there is no rational reason for Apple to delay releasing, as doing so, would only adversely affect sales on the AirPod Pro2 in the UK.
Therefore I suspect that it’s our government, who has delayed providing the required permission. I suggest this is due to insufficient/incompetent staff in the responsible department, or pressure from the established hearing aid manufacturers.
What to do? The only thing I’ve thought of, is writing to my MP, drawing his attention to the fact that this has already taken some six months, and in that time has achieve nothing. The result being, that those on a small fixed income are being prevented from accessing a very cheap means of overcoming their hearing deficiency.
Perhaps if all of you reading this did the same, it might have some effect.
If you disagree, or have other suggestions, your thoughts would be most welcome.
Many thanks Noel.

A few of my friends have NHS supplied hearing aids. While not absolutely cutting edge they are discrete and modern. They were also free, as are the replacement batteries.

 

[Night Spring]

I agree that the NHS provide a very good service, what I was highlighting was the peculiar situation regarding not being able to use Apple Hearing Aid function in the UK.

It's not all that peculiar. In fact, just a few years ago, Apple would have been unable to provide hearing aid function in the US, because US regulations used to require a prescription from a licensed audiologist in order to buy/sell hearing aids. A new law was passed doing away with that requirement, and I believe that is when Apple started developing a hearing aid function for the AirPods.

So it seems the UK is being slow to change their regulations to match the US. Yes, it's frustrating, but peculiar? Not really, just politics as usual.

 

[rasg]

It hasn’t been anything like six months. IOS 18.1 was released on the 28th October 2024.

If you already have your AirPod Pro 2s just set them up on a device (iPad or iPhone) running an older IOS than 18.1. They work and work well. I've been using mine as hearing aids since September and have no plans to upgrade to 18.1 at all.

Do you know that they have been available to use as hearing aids since September 2022 when they were first released? The same feature to use your audiogram has been available since the AirPod Pros were released in 2019 and and it also works with AirPods Max and the others, as long as you don't upgrade to 18.1.

 

[rasg]

At no time have I referred to the release of IOS 8.1, or 18.2. What I have referred to, has been the delayed ability of the release of the hearing program in the UK.
As there is no hearing app, there was, as far as I’m concerned, little point in purchasing the pods. Also when 18.2 and 18.2 were released I downloaded them, and I have no intention of going back.
As I already have a pair of the latest, £3,000 hearing aids. I was simply interested in the pods, to see if they would be useful in the gym.

I didn’t say that you have. Even if you wanted to go back you can’t as Apple, for the first time ever, have closed that particular avenue.

Apple have requested approval from the MHRA but that's about it. No idea how far they are through the approval process and the MHRA don't seem to know either. If you call them as I did they don't even know that Apple have sought approval.

The VP of Apple Hearing sent me a document to prove that they have and that's as far as I got.

How do you know that it's delayed if you don't know how long approval usually takes?

 

[Night Spring]

I didn’t say that you have. Even if you wanted to go back you can’t as Apple, for the first time ever, have closed that particular avenue.

What? Where do you get this idea? Apple has always prevented people from downgrading their iPhone / iPad OS, as far as I can remember.

There is usually a grace period right after the release of a new update, during which Apple lets people downgrade. But this is closed after a short while -- usually at most a few weeks.

 

[rasg]

What? Where do you get this idea? Apple has always prevented people from downgrading their iPhone / iPad OS, as far as I can remember.

There is usually a grace period right after the release of a new update, during which Apple lets people downgrade. But this is closed after a short while -- usually at most a few weeks.

I can’t remember either but they did prevent downgrading to IOS 17 pretty quickly after 18.1 was released.

I always leave it quite some time before I update to anything new because there are always problems and bugs.

The same with my Mac desktops. Everybody seeme to rush to get the latest features and so many the regret it when they have problems.

I am still on Ventura on my M2 Mac Mini as it will cost me around £400 on other software upgrades to upgrade. Specifically FileMaker Pro. It's always been the same. Just not that expensive.

 

[Night Spring]

I can’t remember either but they did prevent downgrading to IOS 17 pretty quickly after 18.1 was released.

Apple would have stopped allowing people to downgrade to iOS 17 soon after releasing iOS 18. So of course, by the time they released iOS 18.1, there was no downgrading to iOS 17. People may have been able to downgrade from iOS 18.1 to 18 if they were quick enough.