AirPods as inexpensive hearing aids in iOS 12
Hearables
As part of its focus on accessibility, Apple is planning to support AirPods as a listening tool when paired with an iPhone.
Apple’s wireless headphones branded as AirPods have dominated the market since they became available in December 2016. The company is now offering a new accessibility feature for AirPods that will make them a relatively inexpensive means of hearing normal conversation. They are, however, not intended to be a replacement for medical grade hearing devices.
The new feature is called Live Listen and will enable AirPods to be used in iOS 12, the latest version of the operating system for iPhone and iPad. Until now, only “Made for iPhone” certified hearing aids could be coupled with this option.
Live Listen is an easy-to-use feature. Once AirPods are paired with an iPhone and this feature is enabled, people can use their smartphone as a microphone and have the audio streamed directly to their ears. The user can also pass their phone to another person so that they can speak directly into the device. This should prove very helpful in relaying sound in noisy environments.
There are of course significant differences between AirPods and high-tech hearing aids in terms of sound quality. Despite this, there may a place in the market for this type of product that comes at a considerably lower price than high-level hearing aids.
Source: Techspot; Digitaltrends
