Unwanted Volume Changes with Phonak and App

Hearing Aids
#1

I have Phonak AUDEO M90-R hearing aids that are about 4 years old. They have Bluetooth and I use them with the Phonak App on a Samsung Smart Phone.

If I set the App to Automatic or Music they work well for listening to television, movies, and music on my home theater. The problem is the App keeps switching to Bluetooth Streaming which lowers the volume and makes it a lot harder for me to hear.

Is there a way to prevent the App from switching out of Automatic or Music? I called a 1-800 number for Phonak App support and they suggested turning Bluetooth off on my phone. That does prevent the App from switching modes, but causes other inconveniences.

#2

I hope you hear from others - cuz I’ve worn Phonaks for many years (Audeo B, Marvel and now the Lumity Life) but never used the myPhonak app.

I don’t get why 1.) the app randomly switches you to BT streaming? Is it a function of the “Automatic” setting? 2.) why can’t you just raise the volume on your Samsung phone to a comfortable level so that streamed audio or phone calls come in at the same level instead of a noticeable DROP in volume if your aids are streaming from the phone?

It seems this should be an easy fix. To turn BT OFF is a lame fix. The whole reason why we with aids have BT on our phones and first thing upon buying the aids we pair + connect to the phone is precisely cuz we NEED to stream audio. To be turning BT off and on randomly throughout the day is not the answer. What if a call came through and BT was turned off?

I could be way off here, or missing something completely, but with my Phonak Lumity Life aids → Android Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 phone, BT is on ALL DAY, works perfectly streaming any audio from my phone (Youtube, ROON, phone call, et al). It makes no sense that a stoopid app (myPhonak) should control how you want to hear your world.

Hope you get a resolution here. :slight_smile:

#3

In my opinion about all the app is good for is checking the battery level. I used to have a remote control for my Phonak Marvel’s, which even though dumbed down from the previous versions was way more convenient than the app.

I lost it somewhere, but yesterday I found a screaming deal for another one on ebay so I snagged it for $19.80 including shipping.

The remote control has already been shipped, and I’m sure that as soon as the new one arrives, I will find the old one within a day or two. It’s karma and an immutable law of lost items.

2 Likes
#4

I notice the same thing with mine. I don’t really have a solution, but I believe I know what causes it.

In my case, the app switches me to bluetooth streaming any time my phone produces an audible notification. So if someone sends me a text message, or if my “smart home” system tells me that the dryer is done, or I receive an email. Etc, etc.

I have mostly gotten used to it, but it is seriously annoying in some cases.

6 Likes
#5

If you have Bluetooth on, on a device, and the hearing aids are connected to the Bluetooth device, and the Bluetooth device (say it’s a phone) produces some sound, it will try to produce that sound in your hearing aids. It will briefly interrupt the sound from the hearing aid microphones.

Options to change this:

Look at the notifications setup for the phone and stop notifications on apps you don’t really want to hear from.

Or,

Go to the Bluetooth settings for the phone, and for the R-Phonak device (or L-Phonak) only activate calls, not both calls and audeo. Do not do anything with the LE_ devices.

7 Likes
#6

As several have mentioned, ever audio notification switches you Tony streaming. Recognize that when this happens, I think anything you’ve done with the app will be gone when it comes back. Most people will get default auto program.

WH

#7

If I’m on TV transmitter + mic, and i get a Bluetooth notification, the sound from the TV is stopped, i hear the notification and the app program changes to Bluetooth + mic. When the notification stops, the TV app resumes, with TV sound.

3 Likes
#8

Just to confirm that you don’t have a tv connector?

#9

Thank you for all the responses. I just changed the bluetooth setting for my Phonak to Calls only, turned off Audio. I’ll be curious to see how this works.

4 Likes
#10

My P70 UP BTE using BT faced the same problem i.e sound coming out of the iPhone and hearing aids. Sound in the HA’s is very soft. Could not locate the BT setting in iPhone for audio only in the HA’s.

#11

Removed app. from my phone, fed up of notifications each time I moved in and out of blutooth reach. It also sometimes affected watching videos on my PC, causing playback stuttering.

1 Like
#12

@dankailo

My Naida P70 don’t do this at all.

I wonder why yours are doing it?

2 Likes
#13

Same here. Never notified in / out of bt range.

WH

#14

I have Kirkland KS10’s, maybe there is a difference.

#15

Yesterday I went into the BT settings on my Samsung S23+ for my Phonak, and I kept the phone call mode turned on but turned off the audio mode. That seemed to work. After several hours the Phonak mode was still on Automatic, had not changed.

But then I received a phone call and the call did not come over BT to my Phonaks. I had to switch on the external speaker on my phone and listen that way.

After the call, I rechecked things. At first it looked like the setting was still at phone call on and audio off with BT connection to my Phonak, but then things were all mixed up. I could no longer pair the Phonaks to the Samsung with BT, changing the BT setting to have both phone and audio on did not help, turning off my phone and then restarting did not help. It’s all very confusing.

Question for those who no longer use the Phonak app. Do you know what mode the Phonaks are in? Do you know if they will change mode from Automatic to Restaurant to Television etc.?

1 Like
#16

They stay in automatic unless you are streaming from something. Then BT, Tv Connector, or Roger etc shows up in the list after the audiologist programmed programs and before your restaurant, music etc.

When streaming stops you go back to automatic normally.

WH

#17

Naida P70 BTE setting up the BT with iPhone is a bit complicated. According to 1 video, the iPhone need to switch off and on every week in order to get it running smoothly. Pairing is OK. There is another BT setting in P70 other the left & right connection.
Xceed connection with iPhone (MFi) is straight forward. All calls & sound goes directly into the Xceed HA’s.
I am able to hear the switching on sound in the left and right of the Xceed only the left side for the P70. Maybe need to fine tune by the Audi next time.

#18

Not my experience at all.

Example: One of my hobbies is bowling. I have created a setting my the MyPhonak app to tone down the “crashy-ness” of the acoustics in the bowling alley. I call that program “bowling” ('cause I’m creative like that).

Just this evening, I was at the bowling alley. I opened the MyPhonak app and manually changed to my “bowling” program. Worked as expected. A little while later, I wanted to look at an email that I had received earlier in the day. As soon as I picked up my phone and turned the screen on, it switched to BT streaming (which also cranks up the microphones, making the noise worse.

I went into the app, changed the program back to bowling, then closed the app and opened email - BAM! Right back to streaming mode. Go back to app, switch back to bowling again, go back to email - BAM! Back to streaming again! In fact, if I open any app on my phone after switching modes, it puts me right back in BT streaming.

It seems that I only have two choices if I want to stay in the mode I selected: I can change the mode and then immediately turn the phone off and not touch it again, or I can change the mode and stay in the MyPhonak app and just admire the mode not changing while I keep the app active.

It’s really poorly designed. It should be obvious that if a user proactively opens the app and sets a mode, they very likely did that because they want to be in that mode. The HAs should stay in that mode until the user changes them again, or until they are powered off and restarted. The moment I change the setting from “Automatic”, I expect fully manual control until I put it back on Automatic.

#19

There are a few apps that do that to me, but not just opening the phone. But I’ve turned almost all audible notifications off. Facebook app sometimes grabs BT streaming. Some web pages have video frames which do likewise. The notifications are probably what’s doing most of the annoying behavior to you.

Although some that want it to stay in that set program, there are others that want notifications etc. I’d like better control too, but turning off notifications in the settings will probably go a long way for you.

WH

1 Like
#20

This is what I do. Mostly, it works well. On the odd occasion, however, a call says it’s on Bluetooth, but I hear nothing, and have to disconnect the Bluetooth on the call screen. To me, it’s still better than the constant interruptions from my phone. For other connections, such as TV Connector, Telecoil, I’ve selected “manual plus beep” switching (via Target), with Music as startup.

On another note, with both my Naida P30 and Audeo P90 (sadly not my Bolero M70): In the App, I’ve noticed that I can delete the 3 additional programmes (Restaurant, TV, Music). It means less presses scrolling.

Peter