Oticon Users: How Do You Like The ON App?

Hearing Aids
#10

Lots of people judge the performance of the hearing aids by how robust their phone app is. Therefore some people look down on the Oticon ON app, asking why it’s so rudimentary without giving users enough control.

What they don’t understand is that the Oticon OPN/S/More are designed to be quite automatic inherently already. The whole idea is that you just put on your hearing aids and it does all the adjustments for you as you transition between simple and complex environments, so well in fact that you really don’t need to fiddle much with it to turn on/off noise reduction, directionality, speech focus, etc. With the Oticon OPN/S/More, “less is more” when it comes to adjustability -> the hearing aids already does it for you so you don’t have to do it yourself.

I can just put on my OPN 1 and go pretty all day without having to adjust for anything, even if I transition from the home environment to the car environment to the work environment to the lunch environment. The default program works 95% of the time just about anywhere already, so really the only thing I normally would need to change is to either mute the HAs or adjust the volume and that’s it. So why bother to take out the phone from your pocket, turn it on, find the app, open the app, wait for it to connect, just to adjust the volumes when the buttons are right there?

That’s why I virtually don’t need to use the ON app at all for anything. Not because it’s so limited that I don’t find it useful, but because it’s not even necessary to keep it chocked full of features because the hearing aids already do all the adjustments I need for me.

That should be the ultimate goal -> hassle free listening -> not having to worry about changing this and adjusting that all day long.

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#11

My comment was more about the performance of the iPhone and the Apple Watch. Oticon is one of the very best hearing aids and I’m sure its technology is as good as any. I just meant that inherently the OS of the iPhone and the Apple Watch can give great performance, if one wants to make the substantial investment in optimizing an app for that operating environment. Perhaps for the reasons you cite, Volusiano, or some other, Oticon hasn’t felt the need to take its app further just yet. Phonak had a bad rep for its smartphone app and now My Phonak is regarded as one of the best, so things can always change.

I don’t feel the need to change my HA settings throughout the day but situations do come up - using the Multi Mic with my wife while driving and grocery shopping so I can hear her clearly aisles away in the grocery store, switch between my All-Around program and the music program or the restaurant program or turn on noise suppression to the max and turn down volume when confronted with a very loud annoying or even painful noise (my occlusive fits makes my molds like modest ear plugs). So I do find certain situations where always having ~complete control on my wrist, never having to look for my iPhone, very handy. Maybe that consideration is inconsequential for most people but I like not having to look for my phone, even when it’s nearby, or not having to pull my phone out of my pocket when I want to switch on or off a remote microphone or deal with a sudden loud noise problem.

I would agree having a great hearing aid is more important than exactly how good the smartphone app is that goes with it.

#12

Exactly… however, I was asking about what people’s opinion on the “ON” app is, and neither the iPhone nor Apple Watch.

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#13

Oops! I didn’t realize in an OP’s thread that we’re only allowed to discuss what the OP is interested in. Sorry 'bout that! My comments were more in response to what cvkemp said about connectivity and performance with the iPhone and the Apple Watch, not in response to anything you said.

One funny thing about HA apps no matter where from is they all seem to fare relatively badly compared to many other types of apps for iOS or Android that are often rated much more highly, e.g. 4.4, 4.6, average stars, etc., in app store ratings. It’s been a while since I’ve checked but in the past, it was hard to find a HA smartphone app that even rated close to 4 stars. I wonder if it’s many HA users having paid a bundle for premium HA’s expect a stellar smartphone app to go along with it - or what? - and apparently based on ratings for most HA smartphone apps, users aren’t finding what they expect.

I don’t think that you can divorce an app from the platform that it runs on, even though you might like to. The HA, the smartphone, and the app are a three-legged stool (or a 4-legged table, if you throw in the Apple Watch!). It’s how they interoperate that determines the user satisfaction with the app and maybe how far you can take the app. I wonder if it’s harder to interface some HA brand firmware with MFi than others? Other HA brands have had quite a few years to come around to the MFi standard on the iPhone but since it was originated between ReSound and Apple maybe that has something to do with relative performance, not dropping connections, etc. (although connectivity problems do happen with ReSound devices, too).

I didn’t want take the thread off topic, just to suggest in the three-legged stool view, I would bet it’s the ON app that needs to be improved the most - not that Apple is entirely blameless as shown by iPhone 12 problems, etc.

#14

@jim_lewis:,On what experience are you basing your comments about ON? Have you used it on a day-to-day basis?

What did tou like about the app?

What didn’t work for you?

Sorry, but what you have posted so far read like rants to me … your comments are generating more heat than light, as far as I’m concerned.

And - FWIW - I think it’s just courteous to at least try to address an OPs particular request for insights …

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#15

You might want to check out a previous post of cvkemp:

#16

I’m not going to get into this with you, jim - either here, in public, or by PM.

Besides, I believe you’re taking Chuck’s post out of context anyway.

I suggest that if you want to discuss apps, you maybe start your own topic. I, speaking for myself, am not interested in it.

[And that’s my LAST comment to you on this, sir. This is Doc Abram’s house, and I’m not going to argue with his other guests.]

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#17

@cvkemp and @Volusiano: Based on your observations and my own lacklustre experience using it, I have removed ON from active duty on my iPhone SE 2.

I find that it offers no compensation for the energy it costs to run it.

As @Volusiano said

“Oticon OPN/S/More are designed to be quite automatic inherently already. The whole idea is that you just put on your hearing aids and it does all the adjustments for you as you transition between simple and complex environments, so well in fact that you really don’t need to fiddle much with it to turn on/off noise reduction, directionality, speech focus, etc. With the Oticon OPN/S/More, “less is more” when it comes to adjustability -> the hearing aids already does it for you so you don’t have to do it yourself.”

I concur…

#18

I almost never use it except on occasion to look at battery strength. I may be an old fart, but I haven’t lost the ability to press a button behind my ear to raise/lower volume or change amoung the 3 programs.

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#19

That I is your option, I haven’t noticed that much extra battery usage. And like I said the ON for me is a love dislike issue. I cannot be without it, but I don’t use it all the time.

#20

Chuck - doesn’t any app that connects via Bluetooth and is always running in the background use more battery power than apps that don’t use Bluetooth?

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#21

Maybe but I have noticed no real battery loss that I need to worry about
And to be honest the benefits for me out weigh the cost

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#22

Ok, thanks for the information, Chuck. This, and your suggestion to keep a daily journal are very helpful for me.

[I wish I had been keeping a journal while I was lurking, and especially after I joined this forum.]

[Edit 1 - (:smirk:heh heh … technique copied from @kevels55)

Chuck, you may be right about the battery draw not outweighing the benefit of ON. After 1/2 day without it, I’ve returned the app to active duty. I always have my phone with me, and the app centralizes many useful features handily.

I just wish that it didn’t drop the connection quite so often.]

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#23

@cvkemp: Chuck, I’m about to report the results of ONE HALF day of unplugging the ON app.

Now, you might say that small a sample is useless, and you wouldn’t be entirely wrong.

HOWEVER …

My humble little More3s have 20% more juice into their batteries at this time of day than is usual when the ON app runs all day.

I’m going to continue to use the app, because I agree with you that the pros offered by the app outweigh the con of reduced battery life.

I’m reporting this simply to provide some evidence to support my contention that the amount of energy used by the app is not trivial.

#24

Maybe the More aids are worse on the batteries than the OPNS1 aids I have. I have my aids connected to my iPhone at all times and I have the ON app on at all times and I have my watch also connected so it can control my aids all the time. I also stream from one or the other TV connect on average of 2.5 hours a day. I am on calls about 1 hour a day, and I get most of the iPhone notification to my hearing aids. I wear my aids on average 15.5 hours a day and at the end of the day I have about 45% of my battery life left.

It all depends on what you want and need I am retired and also was an IT professional with both hardware and software engineering training, my importance isn’t on power drain anymore it is on convenience.

#25

:hushed: Wow! You’re getting much better mileage than I am. I’ve only had my Mores since 3 March. I put them in my ears at 05:45h, but when I retire at between 22:30h and 23:00h, my More3s usually show about 35-37% power left.

I rarely stream, I don’t watch TV, and I might spend an hour or 90 minutes on the phone.

So, you’re beating me with a paddle … I will definitely bring this up with my audi.

I’m retired, too, and have no complaints about the performance of my devices or how much power is left at the end of the day. I know I will run out of steam before the Mores.

I DO NOT possess your technical knowledge, however, and am just ramping up my hearing aid savvy. That said, it just SURPRISES me that the hearing aid app seems to use so much juice.

#26

It seems the More processor is in need of more power, which makes sense seeing what it is capable of. After my Audi visit yesterday I maybe switching to the More 1 aids in a few months. My Audi has scheduled me to come in for a hearing test and to talk about what the VA has to offer after the new contract goes into play the first of May. If I do then I will have away to compare the two different aids. I am sure I would stay with Oticon because I love the sound of the aids even with the ON app downside. I have worn Oticon aids for about 11 years now.

3 Likes
#27

I agree with you on Oticon. They certainly fit my lifestyle and expectations better than Unitron did.

I live in the country, too, and I want to hear the life around me, just like you.

I hope you’re going to have as good an experience with More as I have.

They have made a big difference for me.

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#28

There is no guarantee that I will get new aids these are less than a year old, but they do have static in the t-coils so that option isn’t available to me without either repairing these aids or maybe upgrading them to the More aids. I guess that will depend on the VA or Oticon or both. I am happy with my aids, I still have issues with female soft voices and females wear mask, I do much better with male voices even with masks on. I would say over all I am understanding about 85% of speech with my aids, which is better than I have ever had, and with the latest adjustments maybe even closer to 90%

#29

:grinning::white_check_mark::+1:t2:Good on ya! I almost pushed back against my audiologist’s recommendation of More3 and insisted on OPN S, based on the outstanding reviews of the latter that I had read.

I’m glad I trusted him - so far, no regrets.

In a way, I’m glad I ended up being an “early adopter” of More: I couldn’t find any objective end-user reviews. In my quest for same, I happened on this site, which has contributed to my successful use of hearing devices in unimaginable ways.

I’m extremely grateful for the Forum, and for members like you who take the time and make the effort to help guys like me out.

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