Hello, so at Christmas I received a new apple watch 2nd generation SE version. Does anybody know if my Phonak Lumity’s will connect to my apple watch to stream phone calls into my hearing aids?
It can. You get two connections in BT. Most folks (I think) give one to the phone and the other can float around to things. I tried with an older watch I’d borrowed from my son last year with my P90Rs and found it never gave up the connection and forcing it to drop was awkward. If you plan to go with out the phone a lot, this may work for you. I almost always have the phone within reach.
To pair, go to settings app in the watch, and then to bluetooth. Power cycle your bt master HA (usually the right one) and when it has come up it should appear on the display as an option to pair. Hit that and you should be on your way.
WH
At least with the Paradise, the watch is very limited in what it can do. It only allows some app type functions (volume controls) and not streaming. Streaming would be nice, and some other brands are set up for it.
The first question is, what type of phone do you have? If it is an iPhone, the usual setup is to have a Bluetooth connection from the iPhone to both your Lumity aids and to your Apple Watch. That is the setup that I use. My Apple Watch was not purchased with cellular added, since I always plan to carry my phone with me. If there is an incoming phone call, I can check on my Apple Watch to identify the caller, and then can use ear-tapping on my Lumity aids to either accept or reject the call … keeping the iPhone in my shirt pocket.
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It is possible to stream from an Apple Watch to your Lumitys. I’m doing it with an Apple Watch Ultra and the trial version of the Phonak Lumity 90R.
I find in general to stream from anything to the Lumitys that I want to go into my iPhone BT settings, find R-Phonak hearing aid, and disconnect from that.
I haven’t streamed podcasts to the Lumitys that way. I always use my iPhone for that. But I stream Siri’s voice from the watch to my HA’s all the time that way. If I’m exercising and not streaming from my iPhone, the Workout app will also stream workout progress announcements to your HA’s as you go along, etc., such as lap times and speed.
Use AirPods and other Bluetooth accessories with Apple Watch – Apple Support (UK)
I’m lazy. The above is the first Apple support link that a search turned up on streaming from an Apple Watch to a classic BT headphone device - but there are a bunch of other related Apple support articles on doing the same
Edit_Update: Forgot one point about successful streaming from an Apple Watch, WatchOS 9.x. Make sure the audio output from the watch is directed to your HA’s, not to the watch speaker(s).
To do this, swipe up from the bottom face of the watch to make the Control Center your main screen. Scroll down the Control Center screen until you see what I take to be the Audio Output icon (some Apple expert, tell me the correct name!). See red circle below. Tap on that icon.
On the audio output connections screen that come up next, if the R-Phonak hearing aid button is not checked, tap on that to make it the preferred output for streaming instead of the Apple Watch (speakers). See following image. I have no idea why there are two such items. Initially when the screen comes up, if the Apple Watch (speakers) are checked instead, there is only one R-Phonak hearing aid choice.
With your Phonak HA’s as your chosen output device, try asking Siri a question like “What’s the time?”
As I posted somewhere else on the forum, media output volume is separate from Siri voice volume. If you say, “Set the volume to 30%,” you’ll change the media output volume. Asking Siri a question is just a quick way to check that streaming to your Phonak Lumitys (or Paradises or Marvels) is now working.
If you want to change the volume of Siri’s voice, which by default if 53% on my watch and VERY loud, say something like “Siri speak at 30%,” and she’ll reply something like “I’ll dial it down” or “I’ll speak softer.”
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To be honest (and in my own opinion), unless your watch has Cellular, it’s a bit pointless and would be just an extra drain on the watches very limited battery. You would be just daisy-chaining the call via your watch to your HA’s, which you can just get (more clearly and more reliable) directly from your phone.
For me, I have all audio (and most other function) switched off on my Apple Watch ver 7 45mm, to conserve as much battery life as I can get. With all my audio default to my HA’s directly from my Phone.
Thank you all for the comments on this subject. My watch music will stream while I am running. I do have cellular on my phone but when a call comes in it will not stream from my watch to my hearing aids and I cannot hear the person on the watch.
Since the Apple Watch Series 8 has BT 5.3 hardware, I’m hoping that Apple can eventually make the Apple Watch BT LE Audio-capable and allow streaming from watch to BT LE Audio-capable HA’s. With the Apple Watch 6, I wasn’t impressed with calls on the relatively tiny, tinny watch speakers. The speakers on the Ultra are much bigger. I answered a call from my wife while in Sam’s Club. I was wearing ReSound Omnias. The call on the watch was as if it were on speakerphone to the store, quite loud and crystal clear. I was holding the watch about a foot in front of my face, Dick Tracy mode, not up to my ear. I’m sure anyone close to me could hear what my wife was saying, too! Another reason streaming directly to HA’s would help! 