Now I need to figure out how to install the OTC hearing aid firmware (when it comes out) on my Canadian Airpods. I do have a US Apple account but it will not let me tranfer the Airpods to another country. Even after I remove the Airpods from my Canadian Apple account. Perhaps I will try that again when I am south for the winter. Or perhaps someone smarter than me will come up with a work around. Waiting for Canada (and Ontario) to approve OTC hearing aids will mean I will get much older before seeing it.
I wouldn’t be pessimistic about that. For all intents and purposes, the custom transparency mode (with hearing accommodations) already functions like an OTC hearing aid, even if Apple doesn’t label it as such. In other markets, Apple might continue calling it “Custom Transparency.” As for the hearing test tool, it’s already available in several good apps for both Android and iOS, so that might not be an issue either. Anyways, I really don’t know… just my guess
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As I mentioned above, my experience with the Airpods with the appropriate settings in a noisy restaurant was very positive and outshined my Jabra EP. I used my audiogram that I had fed into Apple Health. Even if I cannot find a way to install the OTC firmware, the airpods have provided a huge benefit. While a bit more amplification would be nice, the airpods allowed me to finally enjoy a conversation in a restaurant.
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Maybe sell your airpods and buy another pair?
WH
Yup, Thought of that.
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Sort of off topic. I was surprised to find that the silicone ear tips on the Airpod Pros have a wax filter in them. Really hard to see but it is there. Not sure if third party tips have the filters however.
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Not many know about it, but you can actually do customized hearing settings on the AP2s now. It is hidden in Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual. Suggest reading the entire link:
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Hearing Health for AirPods Pro 2
Apple announced some new hearing health features for AirPods Pro 2 at the iPhone 16 keynote, including a new hearing protection mode that’ll add passive noise cancellation in loud environments. They’re also adding a new “clinical grade” hearing aid, with a custom made hearing profile tailored to the user. It’s currently being FDA certified, and is expected to release later this year, likely alongside iOS 18.2.
I do not use Apple.
I thought this might be interesting for Apple users.
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Well if these pods get to be sold as HAs, surely Apple will engineer these to also be configured using an Android or Windows device?
Just kidding, of course.
Thanks made me laugh this morning.
A newsy announcement from right here on Hearing Tracker:
It will be interesting to see if Airpod Pro 2s then become eligible for hearing aid subsidies, either by government agencies or private medical insurance companies.
@paul.cleary.nz. IIRC, in the U.S., only HAs that are prescribed as medical devices get coverage. OTCs HAs are not. One requires a prescription to get the medical device HAs in the first place here as a “medical need,” and OTCs don’t fall under that medical umbrella.