You Can Use AirPods Pro As a Temporary Hearing Aid
Apple’s AirPods Pro are great for listening to music, receiving phone calls, and even as dynamic earplugs , but they can also act as a reliable hearing aid. This does not mean that they can replace real hearing aids: if you suffer from hearing loss, you should consult your doctor and get the treatment they recommend. However, if your hearing aids are missing or you’re just looking for help listening to a conversation, AirPods can be a temporary replacement.
How to use AirPods Pro as a hearing aid
You will need to set up your AirPods Pro to work as hearing aids. To do this, put on your AirPods and wait for them to connect to your iPhone. On your phone, go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Video > Headphone Placement > Custom Audio .
You will first be asked to add an audiogram if you have one after the hearing test. Your iPhone will then use these results to create a custom audio setup for your AirPods. You can skip this step if you do not have an audiogram.
The steps on the screen will guide you through the sound test on your AirPods. The tests measure how well you can hear quiet sounds and whether you can clearly hear different frequencies when listening to music. If at the end of this test your iPhone tells you that the default settings work best for you, then you don’t have any signs of hearing loss. If you are asked to use custom settings, you can adjust other settings to make your AirPods act as a listening device.
This means that you need to select “Weak “, “Moderate ” or ” Strong ” – options for enhancing quiet sounds. Please note that these options will only work if you are using AirPods in Transparency mode . If you have turned on the noise canceling mode, you will not be able to use it.
On the same settings page, select “Transparency Mode” and adjust the “Gain” and “Ambient Noise Reduction” sliders to the values that suit you. Take a screenshot of this page in case they ever reset and you forget your settings. You can also turn on Conversation Boost to make it easier to hear the people you’re talking to. This feature works by isolating people’s voices from background noise, which can help you better follow conversations in noisy environments.
On the other hand, there is the Live Listen feature, which aggressively amplifies all the sounds around you. You can enable Live Listen by going to Settings > Control Center and adding Hearing . You can then open the Control Center by swiping down from the top right corner of the screen, tapping on the ear icon, and selecting Live Listen .
Apple has two versions of AirPods Pro on the market: AirPods Pro , the original that introduced Apple headphones with active noise cancellation, transparency mode and replaceable silicone tips, and AirPods Pro 2 , which improves on these settings, adds a larger battery, improved Bluetooth, volume control and additional size of silicone tips.