Iphone Hack: How To Use Your Airpods As Listening Device
The phrase What will they think of next? is thrown around a lot these days, and today, the answer is this.
As it turns out, you can turn your iPhone into a Live Listening device, with the help of your AirPods and the new iOS 12.
Whats a Live Listening device? Simply, its an aid to hearing. Which is not to say its a hearing aid its just a way to enhance your hearing in situations where a bit of extra ear-power would come in handy. In a crowded room, when youre struggling to hear what your conversation partner is saying to you, this method will let you hold your iPhone up and listen through the AirPods to bring greater clarity to the chat.
The process is simple: set Live Listen up by opening Settings, selecting Control Centre, then Customize Controls, then Hearing. Youll now be able to access Live Listen from the Control Centre. Then its just a matter of turning it on when you need it, holding your phone up close to the person youre straining to hear after telling them what youre doing so you dont come across as a lunatic and enjoying the wonder of stereosonic hearing assistance.
Were not advocating we all become mega creeps and start abusing this new-found feature, but its interesting to note how quickly something intended for good can be reappropriated into a sinister device for the purposes of trickery.
What will they think of next?
Hear Hear Not Just Music But What People Are Saying
When Apple launched the AirPods in 2016, the truly wireless earbuds attracted a lot of attention . While the Cupertino tech giant has not really upgraded the earbuds, it has been subtly adding features here and there to keep adding value to them and make them stand out from the crowd. Last year, Apple introduced wireless charging with a new case for the earbuds, and this year the change is more software oriented. With the introduction of iOS 12, the company has added a very neat touch to the AirPods which allows you to turn these truly wireless earbuds into makeshift hearing aids, using a feature called Live Listen.
The feature picks up audio using the microphones present on the AirPods for calling purposes and then enhances and delivers it through the speaker on earbuds, thus allowing you to hear the sounds around you more clearly and at a higher volume. This feature is not only handy for people with mild hearing problems but can also be used when one wants to converse in a noisy environment without having to shout.
New Feature Turns Your Airpods Pro Into A Makeshift Hearing Aid For Conversations
This is a big week for AirPods Pro features. Along with expanded Find My support for tracking down lost earbuds, the latest firmware has also unlocks Conversation Boost that amplifies the sound of the person talking in front of you.
Conversation Boost uses your AirPods Pro microphones and computational audio to zero in on the sound of the person youre speaking with. It works in tandem with Transparency Mode but instead of amplifying all sounds like Live Listen, Conversation Boost pinpoints human voices directed at you. Youre also able to adjust the level of ambient sound to help you focus.
Heres how it works, First make sure your AirPods Pro are on the latest firmware, version 4A400. You can check by connecting your AirPods to your phone, then going to Settings, About, tapping on the name of your AirPods, and looking at the firmware number. If its not 4A400, you can put your AirPods in the case, plug it in or place it on a wireless charging pad, and wait for them to update. Theres no way to force an install, so it might take a while.
Once theyre updated, youll find Conversation Boost in the Accessibility section of Settings. Scroll down to AirPods, then Audio Accessibility Settings, and Headphone Accommodations. On the next screen, tap Custom Audio Setup, then Continue to adjust the Transparency Mode settings to adjust the volume, balance, and tone. Finally, switch the Conversation Boost toggle to green.
- Related:
- Headphones
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How To Turn Off The Live Listen Feature
To turn off Live Listen, simply:Step 1. Open your Control Center by either:
- Swiping down from the top right corner of your screen
- Swiping up from the bottom of the screen
Step 2. Tap the Hearing icon.
AirPods Accessing the Hearing icon in the Control Center
Step 3. Tap Live Listen to switch the mode from On to Off.
AirPods Turn off Live Listen
Step 4. Return to your home screen by tapping out of the box and tapping or swiping out of the control panel. Happy listening!
Recommended Airpods Alternatives Android Users Will Love
Even with some restored features, the AirPods efficiency is still lacking when paired with Android devices. And without these highly optimized features, they lose their unique appeal.
So, instead of insisting on using AirPods, you could just go for wireless earbuds designed for Android devices. By using an OS-compatible device, you get to maximize all the products features.
Heres a selection of true wireless earbuds weve tested that have proven to be good AirPods alternatives:
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Use The Find My Network To Locate A Lost Earbud
Individual AirPods can be easy to lose, but thankfully you can track them down using Apple’s Find My app. If your AirPods are linked to your Apple ID and you’ve set up Find My on your iPhone, you’ll be able to view your AirPods’ last location on a map. If you happen to lose one AirPod, you can also prompt it to play a sound so that you can find it as long as it’s near your other Apple devices and connected to Bluetooth. You can do this by launching the Find My app, navigating to the Devices tab, tapping on your AirPod, and pressing the Play Sound option. With iOS 15, Apple is extending the range of Find My so that you can locate a lost AirPods Pro or AirPods Max before they’re even within Bluetooth range
What Headphone Accommodations Does
So does this new feature suddenly enable AirPods Pro to work as hearing aids? For starters, from an FDA approval perspective, the answer is a resounding no. In order to access a product that is FDA approved as a hearing aid , one must go through a licensed audiologist and obtain a prescription. That may change with the eventual issuance of FDA guidelines for the 2017 Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act. However, at this point, there are no OTC hearing aids approved by the FDA. Some products tout that they are FDA registered, but that is somewhat of a meaningless designation as explained by TruthInAdvertising.org:
Class I devices are generally not subject to any premarket review by the FDA but still must register with the FDA. These products are sometimes marketed as FDA registered or FDA listed, but thats like saying youre on a guest list for entry into a nightclub that pretty much everyone gets into.
Headphone Accommodations or not, AirPods Pro are neither FDA approved, nor registered. However the feature does offer some basic hearing assistance. As suggested by the images below, the app takes the user through a brief hearing assessment. From that process, it creates a customized audio setting that can be toggled on or off by the user:
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What Is A Hearing Aid
As we traditionally know them, a hearing aid is a device that allows someone to hear certain frequencies that they have naturally lost the ability to recognize. When we experience hearing loss, we experience our decibel threshold increasing to unnatural levels.
Sounds are made up of waves of energy that travel at specific frequencies and have a natural power or force that they present with. That force or power is called a . Decibels are the measurement of how loud or forceful a sound presents itself as. Think of talking to a close friend who has a very soft-spoken voice.
When you are in a quiet environment, your voice is being produced at a natural decibel level that you can easily recognize and hear. However, if you move to, say – a subway terminal, then theres going to be a lot of sound pollution that can overcome your friends voice and drown it out.
This is an example of a decibel threshold, like your friend’s soft-spoken voice naturally became too quiet to hear over other sounds. A hearing aid focuses on the specific frequencies that are no longer recognizable and boost them to a decibel that can be recognized again.
There are two ways of getting these devices by purchasing them over the counter or getting them via prescription. The differences between prescription hearing aids and over-the-counter hearing aids are very vast.
How To Turn On Headphone Accommodations
Firstly, youll need a device running iOS 14 or iPadOS 14. On your device, open Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Visual > Headphone Accommodations.
You can then set your own custom audio settings turn on Phone to apply these to phone calls, and turn on Media to apply these to music, films, podcasts, audiobooks, Siri, Voicemail, and Live Listen.
You can then use Custom Audio Setup to listen to audio samples and choose which one sounds better to you, applying these settings to your headphones alternatively you can adjust the EQ balance slider manually to adjust the sound.
You can also use your audiogram data from the Health app to customize your audio settings, changing the left/right balance of your audio if you have one ear thats better than the other.
As we mentioned, these features work with all Apple headphones, but to use your earbuds as makeshift hearing aids, youll need the AirPods Pro true wireless earbuds specifically.
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Fennex Launches Hearing App For Use With Apple Airpods
Aug 18, 2017 | Amplified & Caption Phones, Hearing Products, Office Management Systems, Over the Counter, People | 7 |
Fennex AG, a Swiss-based start-up, has reported in a press statement the development of a new hearing aid app called Fennex, which they say is a hearing amplifier for the digital age.
The hearing aid app is designed to help users customize volumes, create balance, identify compression and equalize high and low frequencies, among other features, when used in conjunction with Apple AirPods.
According to Fennex, users do a 3-minute hearing test that allows the free app to customize their experience. From there, the sound around the user is personalized, amplified, and equalized based on their hearing loss for specific frequencies. Several standard settings for environments like a car or a meeting are available, and advanced features allow for customization based on specific needs, says the company.
Fennex is for people with normal hearing or mild to moderate hearing loss that occasionally struggle in noisy situations and arent ready to spend up to $3,000 for a hearing aid, said Co-founder and CEO Alex Mari in the press statement. You can focus on single or group conversations, balance sound reception between the left and right side of the speakers, boost volume, and adapt treble, mid, and bass. Its a stylized win/win.
Click from the iTunes store.
Fennex
Do Airpods Work With Android
Yes, you can use Apple AirPods with Android devices!
Unlike what many people think, AirPods dont use specialized technology to power their wireless connectivity. Like most mobile devices, they use standard Bluetooth technology. This means you can connect your AirPods to any Bluetooth-enabled Android device.
However, there is one catch that comes with this convenience.
Although you can use AirPods on Android devices , the features will be limited. This means that many of the advanced features available to iOS users wont be accessible.
Nonetheless, if youre still eager to use AirPods with your Android device, heres a guide to pairing them properly.
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Use Live Listen With A Hearing Aid Or Device
You can also use an Accessibility Shortcut for Live Listen by going to Settings > General > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut. Then just triple-click your Side or Home button to access it!
To Turn Off Live Listen on MFi Hearing Devices
You Can Pair Them With Non
Notice that small, flush button on the back of the charging case? That’s what you’ll use to pair AirPods to an Android device or anything else that doesn’t work with Apple’s proprietary chips.
To start pairing to anything new, put the AirPods in their case, then flip the lid up and press and hold the small button on the rear of the charging case until the little LED light starts pulsing white. They should then show up in any Bluetooth-pairing settings on an Android phone, or computer, or TV. Complete instructions can be found here.
Keep in mind that when you’re paired with a non-Apple product, they lose some of their magic. Taking an AirPod out of your ear won’t pause music, and playback controls won’t work either. Android users can install this app for checking AirPods battery level.
To go back to using AirPods with your iPhone, just reselect “AirPods” from your iPhone’s Bluetooth settings and they’ll re-pair.
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Airpods And Airpods Pro Have Live Listen
There is a setting on your AirPods called Live Listen. It allows you to listen to the sounds around you and have them amplified as if they were coming through your speakers. Unfortunately, the AirPods do not have a microphone in them like regular hearing aids.
Instead, you need to connect your AirPods to your iPhone. Your phone picks up sounds the same way it would if you were talking on speakerphone. It then transmits the sounds it picks up into your earphones.
How Do You Use Live Listen With Airpods Heres What You Should Know
Dan Helyer April 12, 2021
If you have trouble making out what people say to you in a crowded room and you dont want to use a hearing aid, live listen for AirPods might just be for you!
Apple officially supports this accessibility feature for hearing devices on its AirPods wireless earbuds. iOS 12 and above.
AirPods users can even use their iPhones as a microphone and listen via their AirPods headphones, even when away from their iPhonesfor example, if you leave your iPhone in one room and walk into another room.
As long as the AirPods are still in-range of the iPhone, you can still hear whats being said in the other roomalmost like spying or eavesdropping!
Heres everything you need to know.
Contents
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Airpods Features That Will Not Work When Connected To Android
AirPods are fun, innovative devices that bring a new level of efficiency to your listening experience. And thanks to the built-in Apple-enhanced software and hardware, iOS users can enjoy tons of fantastic features.
But, lets be honest. Android users face far too many inconveniences due to missing features. In contrast, the only thing iOS users probably have to worry about is how to keep their AirPods clean.
The good news is that while certain iOS features of the AirPods arent natively compatible with Android, you can still restore some of them by installing Android apps.
Heres an updated list of AirPods features deemed unavailable on Android devices:
Can Airpods Be Used As Hearing Aids
AirPods utilize a feature called Live Listen that uses your iPhone as a microphone. Live Listen helps drown out background noise and amplify sound so you can hear better in a crowded space or hear someone speaking across the room more clearly. If you ever have trouble hearing someone at dinner in a noisy restaurant, this feature could benefit you.
While this feature helps you use your AirPods to enhance hearing, it does not replace a hearing aid. Hearing aids do more to amplify sound and are highly specific to your particular type of hearing loss, ear anatomy, and needs. An audiologist can help you determine what is right for you. For those with more severe hearing loss, getting the right equipment is extremely important people who let hearing loss go untreated are at a greater risk for depression and dementia.2
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Select Your Hearing Device
Were surrounded by technology in the modern world, making it easy to send the audio signal to the wrong device accidentally.
To check where Live Listen is going, open Control Panel on your iOS device and look at which accessory is highlighted.
It should be next to the AirDrop button. If you see a different accessory to the one youre using, just touch the name of it and select your hearing aid or AirPods from the list.
If youre still having trouble with Live Listen you might need technical support for more help.
Do Airpods Work With Android: What To Expect
We break down which AirPods features will work with Android and which ones wont. Plus, tips on how to restore some of those features.
Since their release in 2016, AirPods have surpassed all other headphone brands in terms of popularity . And with the percentage of iOS users in the US at 58%, their influence is only expected to keep growing. So much so that the buzz around these devices has penetrated even segments comprising dedicated Android users.
Heres the catch, though: since Apple AirPods are made for iOS devices, there are a lot of questions about their compatibility with Android devices, making many Android users hesitant to splurge on a pair of AirPods, despite the undeniable curiosity.
Worry no more! Well tackle everything you need to know about this unlikely pairing. Well also answer all your questions on whether or not Airpods can work with Android.
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