🦻 Can Your AirPods Help You Hear Better?

Frank Bravo 0:08
Hi. Welcome to your Tech Makeover, the podcast that gives you tips and tricks to help you simplify and get more out of the technology in your life. I'm your host, Frank Bravo. On today's episode, we're going to dive into something you might not expect from your headphones and particularly your Apple AirPods. Sure, they pump out great music and podcasts like nobody's business, but what if I told you you could also be using them to help you with your hearing loss? Yeah, Apple has quietly turned on AirPods Pro and made them into a kind of DIY hearing device. Are you intrigued? Well, you should be. We're going to unpack what Apple's done here, whether it's a real deal or just a clever marketing, and how you can test your own hearing using the iPhone and what it actually means if you qualify to use AirPods in this way. I even tested myself in a spoiler. My ears are still hanging in there. But for now, you know, which is really surprising to me because there's people in my life that would disagree, but I digress. So first off, what's the story here? Apple has been big in accessibility features for years and years, and you might have noticed the option like VoiceOver magnifier and a whole accessibility menu baked right into your Apple devices. But in 2018, they added a little thing called live. Listen to your iPhone, which uses your iPhone microphone to pick up sounds and stream them straight into your AirPods. Fast forward to the recent models, especially AirPods Pro and Pro two, where they've upped the ante with conversation boost. This is fancy beamforming, forming microphones that zero in on the person speaking in front of you and reduces background noise. Combine that with some updates in the health app and FDA rulings for over-the-counter hearing aids. And suddenly AirPods are getting the attention as a hearing aid light option. To be clear, only certain AirPods like the AirPods Pro second generation and newer are now considered FDA compliant for the use of mid to moderate hearing loss in some circumstances. But and this is important, this is not a replacement for medical grade hearing aids. Apple has made that clear and so do I. I'm not a doctor, an archeologist or anything remotely medical. I just talk tech. So if you're going to use this, make sure you check with your provider first to make sure that it's something that you want to use and you can use for your particular set of circumstances. A quick shout out to listeners like you who help make your tech make over possible. Your support helps keep this podcast going and I truly appreciate it. Want to contribute? Just click the link in the show notes and visit your Tech makeover.com. Plus, as a special thank you, supporters who give $25 or more will get $25 off a one time consultation with me to help you simplify your tech. Thanks for being part of the Your Tech Makeover community. Now back to what I was saying. So let's talk about nuts and bolts here and exactly how it works with live lists. And you turn your iPhone into an external mic, setting your phone down on a table near a person you're talking to, and then their voice ends up in your AirPods. Conversation boost takes it a step further. Like I mentioned, it filters out background noise and sharpens the person that is talking right in front of you. Kind of like giving your ears a digital zoom lens. But if you've struggled to hear somebody across a noisy room, as I have, this can be surprisingly helpful. But here's the really cool part. Your iPhone actually lets you test your hearing. Inside the health app, there is a hearing section now where you can run tests using the iPods or the AirPods. I should say that you have already. The results are measured in decibel hearing levels or db HL, which is basically telling you how loud something needs to be for you to detect it. I did this test on myself and I was pretty surprised. Here's what I got. My left ear was about six db h ls, which was classified as little or no lost and my right ear was ten. That was also classified as little or no loss. In simple terms, my hearing is still pretty clear and there's no need for amplification yet. If your tests show higher numbers, especially in the 20 to 40 range, that's mid hearing loss territory. And that's where these AirPod features might come in handy. One thing to note that this is a self-assessment tool and is not a medical diagnostic device. So. And it also doesn't diagnose hearing loss. If you have concerns about your hearing, please consult a professional. I am not one. At least as it comes to hearing loss. Although there are people in my life that say that I don't hear things. But as the tests show, it sounds like I'm okay for right now. If you're an Apple user, this is all built into systems, and there's no extra gadgets you need beyond your iPhone and a compatible pair of AirPods Pro. The Pro models or Air Pro Max also allows for this. But what if you're on an Android device? Unfortunately, there's no direct equivalent baked into the Google ecosystem yet. However, there are apps that offer similar functionality, but they may not be as seamless. Bottom line this is a great feature in a real perk for the Apple ecosystem. If you're ready to give this a try. Here's a quick starter guide to use live listen. Go to your settings, your Control center, and then add hearing. Put the AirPods in your ears. Open the control center and tap the little ear icon to turn on Live Listen. It will amplify things that are the iPhone is hearing for Conversation boost. Go to your settings, then to accessibility, AirPods, audio accessibility settings, and finally the Headphone Accommodations section. There you can enable the conversation booths. You can further customize your settings by going to the Settings Accessibility Audio Visual section, and fine tune the transparency mode and amplification to your liking. It's worth playing around with these when you're in a quiet room at first, so you can get a feel for what works best. The next thing that I did when I was training it was or trying it. I went and turned on the TV at a relatively low level to see how that worked, and over time I was able to kind of dial those features in. So what's so great about all this? Well, first off, it's convenient, discreet, and it's part of your tech already if you have these tools. There's also no prescription needed if you have mild to mild hearing loss needs. You can use these things. And it's a taste of what a true hearing aid can do without a really steep price tag. But there are downsides. It's not as powerful or customizable as medical grade hearing aids. It's best suited for quiet to moderately noisy environments, and it's not a full replacement if you have moderate to severe hearing loss. So can your AirPods replace your hearing aids? Not exactly, but they might just be a handy bridge if you notice mild hearing challenges and want a little extra help in certain situations. Have you tried the Apple Hearing test or any of the Live Listen features? I'd love to know about your experience. Drop me a line at Frank at your tech makeover. Com. You can also email me at that same address if you have ideas for future episodes. That's it for now. Thanks for listening to your tech makeover, if you haven't already. Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast platform so that you don't miss an episode, and I'd really appreciate it if you liked this episode as well and my podcast. You can also check out your tech makeover for more information on each episode. And if you want to find out more about me, visit Bravo. It's com. Until next time, I'm Frank Bravo, and this has been your tech makeover.