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No plan for hearing aid features in UK

D

darthbane2k

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 22, 2009
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Doesn’t appear to be any plans to launch the hearing aid / test feature within the UK. The Only mention on Apples uk site is that of hearing protection, which is ‘coming soon’.
I thought I’d create this thread to see if we ( in the UK) can offer any workarounds to enable these crucial features.
 
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You probably could but then you would have a crippled iPhone.

Assuming the 18.1 versions all over the world include all of the Hearing Aid features and are just switched on an off according to location.

I'm thinking out loud here. Maybe you could set your iPhone to the US or some other country that allows the update and switch location off? Would it cease working if you then changed the location to the UK? I don't know. Maybe you will simply have to leave the country set on the US. In the end, I wonder if it is as simple as that.

I also don't plan on trying it on my iPhone until I am 100% sure it will work and I am in no hurry. A new IOS always has bugs that settle down after the first few versions. Especially other apps that I rely on.

I don't consider the 18.1 update crucial at all. The Airpods are already working for me as hearing aids running 17.7 and I was updated yesterday night to the new firmware. I haven’t noticed any changes since the update.

Having said all that I would love to try the new AI features etc but can’t if 18.1 is going to break my hearing aids.

I was hearing on another forum that a Canadian went over to the US to update and went back.

The question is does the Hearing Aid function revert and "switch off" if you have to do something simple like a restart.

I wonder if Apple have left the lock quite easy to workaround as they want as many people as possible trying their "new" Airpod hearing aids.
 
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Likely because it doesn't meet the standard for a device to be a hearing aid in the UK.
Changing region to English (US) should be a work around and I expect it will come to the uk at a later date, albeit a fair while down the line time wise.
 
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Changing locations will not work for this. Be patient, I'm sure we'll get it at some point.
 
As of today, Monday 18th November 2024, I can confirm that Apple are yet to make an application to the MHRA in the UK for the Hearing Aid Feature.
 
drlister said:
As of today, Monday 18th November 2024, I can confirm that Apple are yet to make an application to the MHRA in the UK for the Hearing Aid Feature.
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That's a real shame but I'm not surprised.

I will continue using mine on IOS 17.7.1. They work really well without the 18.1 update. No rush to have AI but Apple are not rolling it out fully for a while yet.

RRC said:
Likely because it doesn't meet the standard for a device to be a hearing aid in the UK.
Changing region to English (US) should be a work around and I expect it will come to the uk at a later date, albeit a fair while down the line time wise.
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Changing region will not work. I believe that it's based on the location of your account where you set up your Apple ID and that is likely to be tough to work around. Not impossible though.

I have a 2018 iPad on 17.7.1 that my wife uses and I set mine up on it a few days ago. An old iPhone can do the same. Interestingly the very latest firmware was pushed to my AirPods a couple of weeks but they continue to work really well. IOS 18.1 is the culprit. Just a small update that sprang to mind as the OP mentioned Hearing Protection. In the older IOS 17.7.1 there is an Airpod feature called Loud Noise Reduction. Sound similar to me. I know it works as I have to chop food and grind peanuts a couple of times a week and the grinder is deafening. The Airpods smooth the sound right down.
 
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Apple are going to alienate a lot of loyal customers if they keep this practise up... I know it won't really effect them short term, or likely long term - but it's still a shame that features are region dependant.
 
RRC said:
Apple are going to alienate a lot of loyal customers if they keep this practise up... I know it won't really effect them short term, or likely long term - but it's still a shame that features are region dependant.
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Apple had no choice as it would have been a condition of their FDA approval.

I do agree that Apple have really dropped the ball on this as people have been buying AirPod Pro 2s to use as hearing aids and finding that they unusable in their country. Even Apple Stores are giving out incorrect advice and that is unforgiveable.
 
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RRC said:
Apple are going to alienate a lot of loyal customers if they keep this practise up... I know it won't really effect them short term, or likely long term - but it's still a shame that features are region dependant.
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Unfortunately Apple has to deal with rules and regulations in many jurisdictions as a global company. It is not always possible, or desirable, to make every product and feature available in every country.
 
mrochester said:
Unfortunately Apple has to deal with rules and regulations in many jurisdictions as a global company. It is not always possible, or desirable, to make every product and feature available in every country.
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I 100% agree with you but Apple is not handling things well on this. I read about a woman a couple of days ago on a hearing forum that a woman had gone into an Apple store in the to discuss AirPods Pro 2s as hearing aid sand asked lots of questions about them and she bought a pair.

The Apple staff forgot to mention that they wont work in the UK until they are approved.

Now that is REALLY shabby and very unusual for Apple to mess up like it.
 
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That's great but it doesn't help one little bit, does it?

I used the Mimi app from the App store for my hearing test and it was very close to my audiogram from Costco. How do I set them up as hearing aids then if I am in a country that doesn’t have approval and I am on IOS 18.1?

A couple of lads in India set them up for their mum by using a microwave oven as a Faraday cage. Now that is creative!

The only reason I was able to set mine up and use them is simply because I never updated to 18.1 when evertbody else did. I've been using them for six weeks now and they work really well.
 
I can confirm I've got the feature on my AirPods as of 23 Nov 2024, using the latest iOS 18.2 Dev Beta.
 
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Fair enough. Nothing on mine same beta.

Did have mild to no. Hearing loss if that makes a difference.
 
Pug72 said:
Fair enough. Nothing on mine same beta.

Did have mild to no. Hearing loss if that makes a difference.
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check AirPods firmware ver. BTW, I was in Switzerland when I noticed the feature. I'm unsure if it's related.
 
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