Can an iPhone communicate with a car sound system when in the car, and with hearing aids otherwise?

Question and Answer
#11

In my case, iPhone XS with whatever was the latest iOS a month ago and a 2015 Subaru Outback. I assure you there would have been a different result with a 2017 (or later) Outback because the car software changed. Sometimes the phone would switch to output through my car audio, other times stay with my new hearing aids (Oticon S1). But I don’t drive that car very often or speak on the phone in the car that often and didn’t spend a lot of time sorting it out. It’s easy enough to just tap the screen on the phone to redirect any call that doesn’t just go where I want.

Having spent three decades testing and reviewing cars for a living, there are more variables there than with different hearing aids and difference phones. So the number of potential variations is astronomical.

Fortunately the iPhone makes it simple to transfer calls to the device I choose which, when in the car is the car audio. Each situation seems to work a little differently for me so when not driving I might prefer audio directly into the HAs one time but rather put the phone to my ear another, depending on the volume and type of background noise.

I’ve actually never had better phone audio quality than when using Apple AirPods. AirPods are also by far the best music audio quality I’ve experienced when fully mobile. They’re not quite a match for full coverage quality headphones (Bose QuietComfort 25 being the best I own) but I don’t like walking with those things on. And if I’m sitting at home I much prefer just listening to my Sonos home audio system which sounds even better with my new hearing aids (and which I believe will still be improved with further adjustment).

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#12

It is possible to do what you want, with relatively newer ReSound models, a newer vehicle designed and configured correctly to work with iPhone, and a relatively newer iPhone. Your hardware doesn’t have to be state-of-the-art, but you probably can’t do what you want with gear or a vehicle that’s more than say five or six years old. But as others have indicated, there’s a lot of variation even with newer gear that says it’s Bluetooth-compatible. It may work. It may not. If just one of the three pieces of gear was not made around the same time as the others, your chances for difficulty increase.

For example my iPhone 6 and my ReSound LiNX 2 aids work as you’re seeking in my 2016 Toyota Tacoma and 2017 Jeep Wrangler. All these were made within a couple of years of each other.

However the iPhone only works in the Jeep if I am set as the primary Bluetooth profile in the vehicle. If my wife is set as primary and I’m set as secondary, my phone doesn’t work as you want if her phone is in or near the vehicle. Also my iPhone can play music via Bluetooth through the Tacoma, no problem, but through the Jeep, I have to do this controlling the phone manually. When the truck is running and I step in, it can be set to start playing music from the phone automatically and does a great job. Not in the Jeep. All this stuff is very twitchy and can require trial-and-error, and I wouldn’t expect an audiologist to be able to set this up for you without extra fees.

Also be aware that Bluetooth is a significant security risk. Your vehicle or your phone, probably your aids too (though I don’t know why anyone would bother), can be hacked by an expert bad actor nearby, say one lane away, without a lot of trouble if Bluetooth is enabled.

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#13

My iPhone is set for the car, if I wear my compilot it’s set for my L ear and my Phonak. It’s also set for my CI, and all 3 together its jolly confusing. So I don’t wear the compilot anymore. Even so if I’m in the car, the car overrides all of the above and automatically answers the phone. I don’t mind this as I can now hear and answer the phone hands free while driving.

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#15

I’m just back from the audiologist for a fine-tuning of things. I mentioned this issue and was told there’s a setting in the IPhone that will turn off the transmission of GPS directions to my ears and leave it with the phone speaker. I’ve opted to leave things where they are at the moment as there is some chance I’ll swap out the rechargeable OPN 1s for the battery version. I hear fine, but the width of the rechargeable one is fractionally uncomfortable when combined with the earpieces of my glasses. It’s always something!

#16

I have set audio routing to be always hearing devices so all audio including when connected to my car (This includes CarPlay) is directly streamed to my hearing aids.

#17

I have Bernafon Viron HAs, an iPhone SE and a Citroen C4 Cactus. The media streaming is set to automatic but I think I did have to tell it to play through the car the first time, but since then it plays music and phone calls through the car and if I’m not in the car it streams everything to my aids

#18

Oh, no actually I remember now, I had to tell it to play through “dock” when I plugged in via the lightning cable. All the bluetooth automatically went to the car

#19

iPhone X, 2018 Subaru Crosstrek, and Resound Preza’s … everything on my iPhone, including Siri, music, Messages, and mapping goes straight to the Subie when plugged into USB and using Apple CarPlay. If I don’t plug in, the iPhone connects via Bluetooth and does phone calls and music to the car, but not other apps like mapping and Messages. The Lightning USB connection is faster and more solid than Bluetooth.

#20

Hi ToriNi
Just seen your post regarding car connection and you stated that sound from CarPlay comes to your aids but I am having trouble with getting sav nav directions to my aids although I have call audio routing set to use aids and even when I go to AirPlay in control panel my phonak aids are ticked.

#21

Hi,

I did try this with Waze through CarPlay and it did stream into my hearing aids directly but usually have the directions on mute so haven’t tried this recently. Not sure why it wouldn’t work for you? Try Waze as it works with Spotify directly and it stops the music to state the directions and then continues to play the music.

But since the iOS 13 update, I have had issues with the connection as it isn’t automatically streaming directly to my hearing devices anymore. It did with iOS 12. I now have to manually switch to my hearing devices for it to work. It will however switch automatically for calls though. Not a biggie but just annoying.

#22

Hi if you look at screen shot it clearly has a tick :white_check_mark: on my aids

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Phone calls come to my aids as radio app but not satnav voice prompts
Dell

#23

Have you set audio routing to always hearing devices for media as well as calls?

#24

Yes call audio routing set to always use headset.
I just thought I would contact you just in case you had done something different

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#25

Have you got these settings too?

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#26

No I haven’t got them where are they ?

#27

You will find them under Settings, Accessibility, Hearing Devices, and then Audio Routing. I keep my settings in Auto. They play to my ears unless in the vehicle and then it switches to the vehicle. If you never want it to the vehicle make it “always hearing devices”.

#28

No matter what I do I can’t get sat navigation directions to my aids even though I have call audio routing set to use headset

#29

I was going nuts trying to get alerts working for me and eventually a friend suggested I check the Ring/Silent switch on the left side of the phone. I had it in silent. It let the phone ring and work to my aids, but would not let the alerts work. iTunes would work too. In any case out of it I searched all through this iPhone for all the controls on sounds, and put this post together while it was still fresh in my mind.

Sound control on iPhone and Aids

#30

The only thing I can see is that iPhone has changed things IE I can only find call audio routing ( set to use headset) but I cannot find media routing anywhere.

#31

Those screens do not look familiar. Do you have MFi hearing aids?