Science & Technology
A new iOS 18 feature lets you use AirPods as hearing aids l TechCrunch Minute
Apple announced that iOS 18 will include a feature allowing users with mild to moderate hearing loss to use AirPods as hearing aids. Apple has since gotten approval from the FDA, describing it as the first “over-the-counter hearing aid software.” The feature will be available to folks with the company’s latest premium earbuds, the AirPods…
@justsomenamelesssoul8097
September 16, 2024 at 12:42 pm
Lately it feels like Tech Crunch is jerking off to Apple
@davekelly6348
September 16, 2024 at 12:49 pm
How do people feel talking to someone wearing earbuds? For me, it’s like talking to someone looking at their screen. Great vid, thanks for putting this out. New subscriber!
@whoknows6918
September 16, 2024 at 5:33 pm
I personally don’t mind it if the person is responding back to me
@SovettaParmetta
September 17, 2024 at 5:33 am
I worry old people think this but tech has come far
@bubblevest1544
September 18, 2024 at 11:28 am
No different than someone wearing a hat or glasses
@don7174
September 17, 2024 at 11:05 am
I’m glad Apple is venturing into this arena as the professional hearing aid community continues to peddle junk hearing aids at exorbitant prices. My current hearing aids cost $5000 (down from 6k 3 years ago) for the pair and perform their basic function, allowing me to perceive and understand speech, quite well. When it comes to connectivity and streaming they totally suck and I feel like I’ve been ripped off as I have to disable all connectivity options due to drop outs, poor sound quality and lack of intelligent control.
When listening to music, streaming movies, watching YouTube etc. I generally revert to using my 2 Gen Airpods which are far superior to the “Professional” grade hearing aids in every way. I was really looking forward to Apple incorporating “hearing aid” capability into the Pro 2 but am disappointed to learn that they won’t help in my case as I have profound hearing loss in both ears.
I have probably spent $30,000 in the past 35 years on hearing aids and not one pair comes close to AirPod sound quality, even taking into account my hearing deficit. Please, please, please Apple go the last step and tweak the algorithm to assist those with severe to profound hearing loss.
As to the question about how do people feel about talking to someone wearing earbuds my response is if they engage you in conversation that’s a positive. For the first 40 years of my life I think people thought I was rude for not responding while in actuality I simply didn’t know they were talking to me as I was deaf. Hearing aids certainly assisted in that area but at times the alternative was better 😂. Perhaps a color coded tip on the stem could become universally recognized as denoting that the earbuds are a hearing assist device.