Apple Watch/ Smart Watch + HA

Hearing Aids
#1

Here’s a lot of users using their iPhone with their HAs, you can also use it as remote mic.

However what about the iWatch? I’m kinda new to this and don’t know what the feature set of those watches is.

You should be able to download and use the App to control basic options on your HAs, just like with the Phone.

You should be able to use it as a mp3 player.

Does the Watch also have a mic and is able to being used as a remote mic?

basically asking if it was possible to use the watch as a table mic.

what else could a watch do that would be beneficial to HAs?

I kinda get turned off by smart phones, they’re too big and I don’t like being called at all times, but a watch is kinda more appealing to me.

Anybody experience with those?

#2

Apple Watch Series 1 and 2 do not communicate with hearing aids. They only communicate with the iphone. You can use them to answer calls as they do have microphones. I use one. But not in tandem with my hearing aid and not as a remote mic.
Apple Watch Series 3 can operate independently of an iphone as it has its own cellular capability. A salesperson at the Apple store told me that it should be able to communicate with my hearing aid. If it can communicate with the hearing aid, it should also be able to be used as a remote mic. I haven’t tried it as I don’t want the extra expense of another cell device.

2 Likes
#3

I believe the cellular feature is an optional model with higher cost. Because of the smaller battery and memory, it would be very limited as a sole device. Probable user would be a jogger out for a run.

#4

I have the Apple Watch S3, non-cellular. I have to have the iPhone on me to use the S3 features.
That said, it is just awesome. I can control streaming (phoning, audio books, music, tv, …) from my wrist (start, stop, volume, forward/back…).
My Resound app is also on the Watch, making it possible to control all my Resound HAs main features from my wrist. Switching to restaurant mode last week, and focusing straight forward, with treble/bass control. All discretely on my wrist.

Quick access, unintrusive, wrist controls. No more fumbling for my iPhone. I think it shows how happy I am to have stumbled on this combination after years of frustrations.

My wife has the Apple Watch S3 cellular (no need for HAs, luckily). I’m not sure what it would add if I switched to it…

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#5

Just to be clear, the Watch will stream anything from your iPhone. I have not done it, but the iPhone itself can be used as a mic, so it will stream to your Resound or similar HAs, with controls on the watch.

#6

yeah that alone isn’t interesting for me and the price for the version 3 is too high for the perks.

connect clip sounds more reasonable with a sperate mp3 player.

#7

Yeah Gerry-R!
Hoping that prices keep coming down. I paid $2800 for the Forte 8 13 at Costco. That’s my saving…

#8

Has anyone on here actually paired the microphone on their apple watch 2 or 3 to their oticon opn1’s
I cannot get the mic to work with my apple watch 2 but would be prepared to upgrade to 3 (or 4 when released) to be able to ditch the clunky phone as in effect I am only needing its mic.

Cheers
Bill

#9

I have not been able to do this. I have the latest version of the watch with the cellular plan. Visited the Apple store where I was told this is not possible. If anyone finds out otherwise, please post here.

#11

But in this successful version, the watch is not connecting directly to the Phonak hearing aids. It’s connecting to the Phonak BT streamer and the streamer connects to Phonak hearing aids.

The difference here is that I think Bill (@bandjwest) is trying to connect the Apple watch DIRECTLY to the OPN, unsuccessfully. That’s probably because the watch is not really MFI, it’s only BT compatible.

I guess the question, now that the Connect Clip is available, is where the Apple watch can connect with the Connect Clip, which in turn connects to the OPN or not. This may be a plausible scenario if someone with all the relevant devices wants to give it a try.

1 Like
#12

Oticon has not added these features to allow use with the Apple Watch. Hope they catch up to Resound soon.

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#13

I guess I was assuming that the Watch with cell was an “iphone”. Seems it’s not. That and I didn’t read well enough.

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#14

One of my 3D customers went out and bought the Watch 3 to use with her new hearing aids. Very impressed by the feature set. It shows where Resound are with the App development in iOS.

#15

I am not familiar with Resound or Oticon aids as I use Starkey. That being said, the Apple Watch 3 does not directly communicate with hearing aids that operate on Bluetooth LE (those that don’t use a streamer). The same is true with the earlier Apple Watch models. It has to communicate with the phone and the phone communicate with the HAs.

I am having other issues with my Apple Watch and HAs, but will start a different topic on that.

1 Like
#16

Just doing more testing and found that if my iphone 6 is in range of my apple watch 2 and i answer or make a call from the watch i can hear the conversation in my oticon opn1 and now appears I can use the mic in the watch!!
Now! Who has an apple watch 4 cellular and Oticon OPN1 that can test the same thing albeit with the iphone off or out of range!
If it works I am straightway buying the apple watch 4