I had Resound. I recently switched to Oticon More 1 and they are better acoustically than Resound hands down. Streaming, tinnitus programs, and sound in crowds way better. I use hearing aids primarily for tinnitus so I change programs based upon my condition throughout the day.
However, their app lacks significant control so every time i switch a program or receive a phone call, it does not keep the settings from the last session. Additionally, when I charge them, the settings in all programs, including streaming settings for the equalizer, defaults back to the setting you had when you left the audiologist’s. This is significant from a user friendliness perspective. I’m adjusting regularly throughout the day to meet the changing environment and there are few options. Let me reiterate, they are really great at their primary purpose, and with today’s smartphone world, their app is not to the level I’d have expected from a leader in hearing aids.
Yes, if you used Program 2 or 3 or 4 (whatever they may be) before you take your More out to charge, then when you put them back on, it’ll default back to program 1. But this is not really a big deal if you’ve had your audi to adjust your default Program 1 to be your “goto” program in most scenarios. The idea of the programs in the More is that you should be using your default Program 1 the majority of the time, so you want to start out the day in that program. If you find that program 2 is what you stay on for most of the day, then you should have had your HCP move whatever is in there to your default Program 1.
As far as receiving a phone call, I’m not sure what parameters you want to retain after your phone call. Or did you change something in your phone call but you want to revert back to what it was before your phone call? If you can be specific here, then we can determine whether your need to revert to the settings from your last session before your phone call makes sense or not.
As for the equalizer setting for streaming, yeah, if it doesn’t remember the setting each time, then that’s pretty lame, but is probably not a deal breaker. You can probably put in an enhancement request through your HCP to Oticon to preserve the last setting there and hopefully they may take it up in a future firmware. But it probably has to be a popular enough request or else Oticon may not think that it’s a big deal for users.
I’m not a More user, I’m only an Oticon OPN user. But I really don’t find the need to use the Oticon ON app much at all, so I hardly ever use the ON app. The only 3 things people with the More really need to use it for, and by design on purpose as required by Oticon, is to mute the HAs (although you can alternatively just click your volume button on the HA until the volume goes to 0 just as well), and the Equalizer for streaming, and enabling the MoreSound Booster mode if one is so inclined to do so in a noisy place to help them hear speech better. Other than that, you can use the buttons on the HAs to change volume and programs just as easily.
You’ll probably soon hear from @cvkemp, a More user who doesn’t like using the ON app and no longer bother using the ON app at all. He can probably tell you based on his first hand experience as a More user why many of your concern about the robustness of the ON app is a moot point if you can get by most of the times without it.
What do you need an app for? To make adjustments for what? The hearing aid is fully automatic and can be programmed to be tailored to your environment. The idea that you need to switch to custom programs is good, yeah, I understand it - but it’s not essential. Both Oticon and Phonak monitor the sound scene as they call it and switch program for you.
Put it this way, if the App had come first and then some hearing aid manufacturer came out with the idea of making it fully automatic, people would be coming on here and saying, wow, there is this hearing aid that makes fully automatic adjustments and I don’t need to use the app at all. Incredible.
@glucas: Have you used the app? Are you acquainted with the bugs and glitches and instability that I and others have experienced, prior to voicing your strong opinion? (Sorry - I don’t remember what kind of HAs you wear. FYI, I have no use for all the SmartPhone bells and whistles, so I’ve deleted the ON app from my iPhone.)
I’ve used the Phonak App - yeah. It’s got bugs and glitches. But I only need it for one thing - and even that I can do manually by pressing the buttons on my aids - that’s adjusting the balance on my streamer.
I don’t think we were talking about the Phonak app - we were discussing the Oticon one, were we not? So your experience with the Phonak app really doesn’t qualify you to comment on Oticon’s offering, does it?
Or have I misread Patrick’s post and got it backwards? (That’s always a possibility. I’ll go back snd check …)
Yes, everything should be good quality - agreed. But will it sway you to buy Resound? Are you going to give up your More1 aids and buy Resound because of their superior App.
@glucas: There’s no pont to this, since one of us has misconstrued Patrick’s point, which is that a company like Oticon should be able to field a better app than ON. His criticism was specific to the ON app, and not to the general usefulness of apps.
Read it again
There’s no need to be insulting, so if you continue in that vein, our exchange is over.
OK. On your specific point, yes, this is fair comment.
Let’s widen the discussion point slightly though.
Is it that important in the scheme of things? Shouldn’t the quality of the hearing aid trump the performance of the App? Or even, shouldn’t the quality of the Oticon hearing aid trump the performance of its App?
And also, shouldn’t the fact the hearing aid have automatic settings negate the importance of the App. In this case, the More1.?
@glucas: YES to all. That wasn’t his point, nor was it mine. I don’t need, want, or use rhe app. It jusr p1$$e$ me off that Oticon doesn’t seem to think that rhe quality of its accessories and apps is very important.
And THAT is also a minor point, which I don’t want to waste time discussing.
I have a good audiologist who has properly fitted my devices
I like my More1 hearing aids - they do what I need them to do
I don"t need/want/use their ON app
I want hearing aids that I put in my ears in the morning and take out at night, and forget about for the rest of the day.
He is entitled to come on and point out the superior Resound app. Just like I saw another poster - Tenkan point out that the Signia Motion has 61 hours of charge. Different manufacturers have their strengths.
My strong opinion, as you call it, is not voiced because I am a troll or anything. I see a lot of posters on here who will trumpet one feature or complain about another, but without wanting to be sanctimonious, it saddens me that they are missing the point with respect to what is the important feature of the aids. For example, one poster was complaining about not being about to hear through a brick wall of 60 ft with the Phonaks, whereas they could with the Resounds. Everybody is entitled to their opinion and this is a consumer democracy, right? So I keep my mouth shut for the most part.
I think what heartracker are doing with objective lab analysis is a great thing. The problem with these forums is that there is too much subjective opinion, especially when we know that the tailoring of these aids to everybodies prescriptive loss appears to be such an inexact science. Also, finding a bona fide audiologist who programs these things can be a hunt for Lord Lucan.
One thing I have observed though, which is why I voiced my “strong opinion” is that whilst the hearing aids are in no way a prescriptive cure for our loss, there have been undeniable and incremental improvements, year on year. Every 5 years there is a jump. And every 5 years someone comes on and trashes the whole thing, which is an indicator that there is still a way to go. However, to me there has been a jump - bluetooth, miniturisation, battery life, hearing in noise. The App? The manufacturers can’t solve and deliver all these solutions immediately. We have to wait again probably another 5 years before every App is lightning fast and delivers.
@glucas: Whatever … I posted only to concur on one minor ppint: Oricon, as a highly respected hearing aid manufacturer, should be able to field a better offering than ON.
It’s a simple, minor point, and I’m moving on…
[FWIW - everyone is entitled to an opinion. But, unless you’ve actually tried something, I don’t think you’re entitled to a strong opinion (unless, of course, its on a matter of principle, which is quite different from commenting on the ON app)… and that’s just my opinion, and another small point that has now been beat to a pulp. Sheesh!]
I have been wearing Oticon aids since the spring of 2010, and I have been wearing the More1 aids since June of 2021, the moment I first walked out of the VA clinic I could hear the difference between the More1 aids and the OPNS1 aids that are now my backups. The difference was a deeper sound and less tinny. I had more of a bass tone, less high pitched sounds. Now I believe that has a lot to do with my full skeleton ear molds as compared to the in the canal molds of the OPNS1 aids. The More1 aids ear molds while they have the same vent size as the OPNS1 aids the full skeleton molds don’t slip out at all and the in the canal molds do slip. And to all a note both sets of aids use the same receivers. I have been tempted to put the More1 ear molds on my OPNS1 aids to see if that would make the difference in sound.
I don’t have any other programs in either set of aids other than the default program and the TV adapter. I don’t use the the app, I use the remote control. It isn’t hard or time consuming to unpair from one set of aids to pair the other set to the iPhone and or the remote. Both sets are rechargeable. Both sets use the same desktop charger, but only the More1 aids can use my smart charger.
Since updating my More1 aids to what the app shows to to be 1.4., my More1 aids have had better battery life, but I have had the occasional issue with streaming to not work with one or the other aid. But the aids still show connected to the iPhone or and the iPad. The only time I installed the app was to check the firmware of the aids, then I deleted the app.
For what it’s worth, my personal take on the OP’s point first and foremost was that he was complaining about the Oticon ON app specifically. I didn’t get the point that he was trying to make an overall statement about how important a phone app to control HAs would be a make-or-break deal in the decision to purchase a HA if they were evaluating it.
However, I agree that there was an implication about how important a phone app is to him. Maybe from the world of Resound, they put a lot of dependence in the operation of the aids into the app, and he didn’t realize that in the world of Oticon, the app really sucks, but then because of this, many people choose to do without it and find out that the app is barely necessary for Oticon HAs.
If I had the More HAs, I would not bother to use the app because there are easy workarounds to the 3 operations that Oticon made exclusive to the app only.
For muting, I can easily use the buttons on the HAs to turn down the volume click by click and still be faster than trying to pick up the phone and go to the app and wait for it to connect to the HAs before I can mute it.
For the MoreSound Booster, I would have asked my audi (or do it myself since I’m a DIY on my HAs) to set up the equivalent of the MoreSound Boostser in my Speech in Noise program and set it as my Program 2. That one, again, I’m 1 (ONE) click away from getting there, rather than bother with picking up the phone and go to the app and wait for it to connect to the HAs just so I can enable the MooreSound Booster.
As for the Equalizer in the app for streaming, I would simply adjust the gain curve in my default program to mirror how I want it to be in the Equalizer (more or less bass or mid or treble) and have it be done with so that I’d never have to touch the Equalizer in the app ever. If I don’t want the Equalizer setting to be applied in my normal default program, then I’d set it up in another of the other 3 programs that I would go to specifically when I stream.
The importance of an app for a hearing aid is dependent on how important the HA mfg designs the app to be for the operation of their HA models. Clearly going from a more robust app from Resound (I just presume that it’s more robust) to an app that sucks like Oticon ON is going to throw a new user off course and make comparisons. But once the user understands that the ON app is not designed to be a vital component in their Oticon line of More and OPN/S in the first place like some of the other HA mfg’s models, then one will understand that the importance on the More/OPN/S lines is placed on the self-sufficient stand-alone operation of the HAs and not on the app itself. And that’s why the Oticon ON app sucks, because they never put much importance on it. It’s mostly there for show just so that Oticon can claim that they have a phone app like the other mfgs.
I think @SpudGunner was more concerned about me disagreeing with his viewpoint than any wider discussion. In hindsight, I do agree with his general premise, but I wanted to come in on another point, but I should have done that another time and in another place.
But yeah, if an App sucks - it sucks. New users and even old users are not going to be happy if it fails. That is obvious. Like the Phonak rechargeability issue, there will be complaints and fingers pointed. As you have said, it appears that Oticon haven’t put a lot of thought in it, and appear to have just created a sop. I agree that there are workarounds and thanks for pointing them out, but this is not going to please all. Especially new users who expect comprehensive functionality that they get from other technology and don’t understand why it’s so expensive and buggy from hearing technology. So I can understand the rancour.
With rechargeable aids you can’t mute the aids from the buttons on the aids, that option was taken away to have the ability to power the aids on and off. The simple answer is the remote control 3. Also the iPhone has the control panel that can control the aids. As for as the equalizer it is a useless joke if the aids are properly adjusted. The MoreSoundBoost maybe useful to some, but again with properly adjusted aids not that noticeable a difference.
Now with that said, that is my opinion and my individual preference and I have had many hours of fine tuning of my aids and many hours of hearing therapy. Way too many will never have audiologists or even themselves take the time to get the proper adjustments. We seem to live an a time with little to no patience or time to do what should be done.
@glucas: Thank you for appreciating that my reaction is just what you have said: rancour. The rancour has its roots in not being able to learn that Mores would be available in disposable battery format within 6 months of my initial purchase.
My wife and I spent $1350 out of our own healthcare budget to upgrade from More3 to More1. Disposable batteries would have suited my lifestyle and also given me a better future set of backups, and given us greater value for those $$$, had Oticon been more forthcoming.
Then, that basic rancour was exacerbated by the early failure of my rechargeable batteries and a botched replacement. Then my desktop charger failed … Next, my ConnectClip needed to be replaced.
Do you see more clearly now whence my frustration that the ON app is so dodgy and useless for the purpose for which it is intended?
All the points you have made about the criteria for evaluating the goodness of hearing aids are well taken, as are those relating to the unimportance of the “connectivity bells and whistles”. I have no quarrel with them.
But I strongly agree with Patrick’s opinion that Oticon has given its customers short shrift with respect for the quality and fitness of purpose of its accessories and software. That was and is my only point.
You are correct, I believe, in saying that the broader issues to which you have alluded are best discussed at another time and place.