
Apple's AirPods and Live Listen are a revolution for the hearing impaired - okket
https://qz.com/1323215/apples-airpods-and-live-listen-are-a-revolution-for-the-hearing-impaired/
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rgbrenner
Kudos apple for this. Even though most of these (including this one) dont
benefit me, this is always good to see. So many of these accessibility devices
are ridiculously expensive, and Airpods are far cheaper than hearing aids.
Maybe a little competition will bring down the prices to something more
reasonable.

Only 1/3rd of the 15% with hearing loss are using hearing aids. That's a lot
of suffering for what is really just from poor insurance in the US:

 _High-quality hearing aids fitted by an audiologist cost between $2,200 and
$7,000 per pair. Prices vary by region, but the average cost of a mid-level
pair of hearing aids is about $4,500.10 Most private insurance does not cover
hearing aids. Only 3 states—Arkansas, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island—mandate
coverage for adults, and just 20 states require that children’s hearing aids
be covered by health insurance.11 Insurance companies say that they do not
cover hearing aids because hearing aids are “elective” or because, unlike
cochlear implants, hearing aids do not require a medical doctor’s prescription
or surgical intervention._ ...

 _Hearing loss can have a dramatic impact on work performance, family and
social relationships, and mental health. Studies have found that hearing
impairment is significantly associated with depression and social isolation,
particularly among women.16,17 A national survey found that hearing loss also
has a negative impact on household income, with a loss of earnings up to an
average of $12,000 per year, with the severity of hearing loss directly
correlated with the amount of lost income. The use of hearing devices was
found to mitigate this effect by 50%._

[https://altarum.org/health-policy-blog/millions-of-
americans...](https://altarum.org/health-policy-blog/millions-of-americans-
need-hearing-aids-why-don%E2%80%99t-they-have-them)

~~~
obelix_
Just cheaper these days to buy them from India. You could fly there, get a top
quality doc/audiologist to check you up. The same top of the line aids cost
around 2-3K max. Do the touristy stuff and fly back all for less than what it
costs to get an aid in the US. "Medical tourism" they call it.

~~~
gwern
If you are taking the trouble to look into how to save money on hearing aids,
Costco will get you audiologist testing and hearing aids at <$2000 and vastly
less trouble than a trip to India. (That's what I did for my last replacement
pair last year and so far it's worked out well.)

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csomar
I got the airpods a couple weeks ago. My main motivation was that the earpods
cable easily tangle. It's difficult to sort it out. The next motivation was to
be able to charge the phone while using the earpods since they have
lightening. And finally, because I can't get the earpods in my macbook unless
I use an adapter.

And here is my experience: It is great and feels like an Apple product.

1\. The charge lasts. It lasts around 2-3 hours + charge 6-7 more times. Can
go with the thing for a full day of usage without worrying.

2\. It is seamless to get it working. You just open the case. Done. Then you
can easily switch on the Mac after you connected it to your iPhone.

3\. The sound is good. It is not too strong. But I guess this will protect me
against my own stupidity.

4\. The airpods are water resistant (though warranty doesn't cover that). I
dropped one on my coffee cup. Still working good.

Simple. Nice. And it works. That's what I'm paying the premium for!

And yes, it is definitively worth the price. I use them for 3-4 hours per day.
So if they last for a couple year, that's like $0.22/day for something that I
use probably more than anything else.

~~~
MBCook
They really do feel like that old Apple magic from when you first got an iPod.

I ordered them when they came out and figured I’d return/sell them if I didn’t
like them. I had normal corded headphones, wasn’t sure I’d really care.

Given how long it took for them to fix supply issues that was a good decision.

But they really changed the way I do everything. They’re so small in their
case that I can just carry it with me all the time, so I never have to worry
about if I left my headphones somewhere. I always have some on me. By and
large they sound better than my old headphones (comfortable/decent sounding
$20 model, so no big surprise) but they’re so incredibly convenient.

I don’t remember the last thing I could give an unqualified recommendation to
other than AirPods. Android users don’t get some of the benefits of easy
pairing, and of course your ears have to fit the things... but they’re
fantastic.

------
anonu
The AirPods are really far and away the best truly wireless in ear headphones.
I did a bit of research before buying them recently. Ultimately my thinking
about buying Apple versus another competitor in this vertical boiled down to:
Apple is sitting on billions and billions in cash... Their R&D can never be
matched. Case in point: they built a custom chip for the airpods... Who else
can do that? The bar is high.

~~~
bognition
> The AirPods are really far and away the best truly wireless in ear
> headphones

If they fit your ears yes, but if they don't fit your ears they're useless
because they fall out after a few moments of use.

~~~
ninkendo
Doesn't that apply to any in-ear headphone?

~~~
nicwolff
Other earphones, you can add a formed rubber cover to make them fit. Due to
the AirPods charging in their clever snug case, you can't easily use them with
any kind of cover attached.

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victor106
I read all the negativity (I am not a big fan of the touchbar on my MacBook
Pro) about Apple on HN but one thing they deserve high praise for is
accessability and privacy. Going back to the release of the first iPhone it
had great accessibility features.

~~~
mwcampbell
Just curious, what accessibility features did the first iPhone have? FWIW,
VoiceOver, the screen reader for blind users, didn't arrive until the third
iPhone, the 3GS.

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pjc50
So what does this actually do to the sound? Improve directionality?
Amplification across all bands? Speech processing? Noise reduction?

I have a set of NHS hearing aids (free and with a lifetime supply of free
batteries), and they're effectively given a custom EQ profile to match my
hearing loss (frequencies above 4khz). They also have feedback protection,
which I can occasionally hear kicking in.

~~~
MBCook
It lets you use the AirPods to hearvwhat the phone’s mic picks up.

That’s it.

It won’t replace real hearing aids all the time. The battery only lasts 4
hours after all.

But for people without hearing aids it may be useful in lour places or to hear
quiet talkers.

~~~
lev99
> The battery only lasts 4 hours after all.

Just buy two, and keep one charging at all times. Two airpods are still about
1/10 the cost of hearing aids.

~~~
emit_time
More like 1/40 the cost

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herodotus
I have been wearing hearing aids for about 6 years. They work, but are
incredibly expensive. If AirPods and an iPhone could be used as an
alternative, that would be an incredible thing. My current hearing aids come
with a blue-tooth adaptor which I never use. I don't use it because the sound
quality is very poor - I have a common, age-related high-frequency drop off.
So my aids boost the high frequencies, but do not transit the lower
frequencies: these I just get as normal. (My hearing aid dome allows low
frequencies through to my ear). So when I use the blue-tooth adaptor, all I
get is the high frequency sound: very unsatisfactory. The only objection I can
see to an AirPod alternative is that the AirPods show - my hearing aids are
the behind-the-ear type, and most people do not notice that I am wearing them.

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eagsalazar2
I'm confused about what is so amazing about this. To be clear, I have Airpods
and really love them but how is this different than any of the many
"microphone" apps already out there? I have a Pixel 2 so I can confirm there
are a million of these apps on the Play Store, is there some reason this app
isn't possible on iOS? Is it about lower latency?

~~~
notatoad
I can't really say because I haven't used either Apple's live listen feature
or any of the microphone apps on Android, but the article says live listen
doesn't just amplify sound, it isolates and amplifies voices. Which sounds
like a different thing to the standard microphone apps.

~~~
SuperPaintMan
Yeah that's pretty similar to what current/last gen hearing aids can do. My
mother has been dependent on her pair since she was 7, but a few years ago she
upgraded to a newer version. The hearing aid has a few different modes for
isolating foreground and background noise toggled by a small button. There's a
general amplification mode, conversation mode (isolates) and a crowd mode.

Now I'm very curious as to what current gen hearing aids are capable of.

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inlined
Am I the only one whose AirPods have gotten quiet over time? I use mine now
only to avoid disturbing others around me; I often have to hold them into my
ear to understand YouTube. My phone's speakers are much louder and clearer.

[Edit: the comment is meant to be relevant because this seems cool and I like
the lack of stigma, but a nearly silent headphone may not be ideal for the
hard of hearing]

~~~
philjohn
Sounds like you need to clean them [https://lifehacker.com/the-gross-but-
effective-way-to-clean-...](https://lifehacker.com/the-gross-but-effective-
way-to-clean-your-airpods-1820945258)

~~~
inlined
Ew.. since they're water resistant, I tried ear wax drops. Helps a bit, though
it's weird that my wired Apple headphones don't suffer the same way

~~~
samatman
I never got EarPods to last more than a few months; the wax would get through
the mesh, and cleaning only worked once.

I was concerned Airpods would be the same way but so far (six months) they
sound as good as ever.

------
ricardobeat
The Sony MDR-1000X/WH-1000XM2 have had a 'voice' mode for years, where noise
cancelling let's through specific bandwidths.

I use it as a safety feature when riding my bicycle, and it is nothing short
of amazing. I can hear birds tweeting in the trees around me, tire noise
coming from cars, crystal clear conversation. I'd love to have the same
feature in a smaller package.

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TheJoYo
Currently using AirPods (I call them AirBuds) to listen to ANYTHING playing on
my Roku TV. They work great on Android and Windows 10, too.

~~~
philjohn
I've found they lose sync on Windows, as in, you hear an echo as left and
right and perfectly aligned. Could be the bluetooth dongle I use I suppose,
but it's an Asus rather than a no-brand off Amazon.

~~~
satysin
I had no end of trouble with AirPods and a Killer 1535 wireless card (WiFi and
Bluetooth) but replacing that with an Intel 9260 and it has been perfect.

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pohl
I got my pair as soon as they became available, and I’ve slowly realized that
at the rate that I had to replace the old, wired EarPods (due to failures in
the cable or accidentally laundering them) I’ve probably already crossed the
break even point, making the AirPods surprisingly more cost-effective. And,
yet, I use them so much more — very nearly all day.

~~~
lwansbrough
Let me know how cost effective they are when the battery wears out or you
accidentally launder them.

~~~
robin_reala
Batteries are replaceable for $49:
[https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair/service](https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair/service)

~~~
userbinator
Judging by how they're put together,

[https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/AirPods+Teardown/75578](https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/AirPods+Teardown/75578)

...I bet the $49 "battery replacement" is really more like "small discount on
a new AirPod or case".

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delbel
Can somebody help explain this to me? Can I buy AirPods (looks like they are
$159?) and then use them with android? or do I need an iphone? Which Iphone do
I need? Is there one without a contract that has this software? Will I
eventually be forced to upgrade the phone or it will stop working? Does the
software allow me to adjust for the frequency that I need help in? How much do
I need to spend?

~~~
wlonkly
Buying an iPhone for this feels expensive to me. You might be interested in
PSAPs, which are basically hearing aids that haven't gone through the FDA
hearing aid bureaucracy: [https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-personal-
sound-amplif...](https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-personal-sound-
amplification-product/)

But to answer your question: You can use AirPods as headphones with Android,
but the "Live Listen" feature in the article is an iPhone feature.

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voidmain
Hopefully the FDA will not move to block this.

~~~
elil17
They won’t, there are already unregulated audio amplifiers. But everyone
should know that trying to use headphones as hearing aids is exceedingly
dangerous. Hearing aids are carefully tuned by doctors to prevent the loud
noises they produce from accelerating hearing loss. The Live Listen feature is
best used with hearing aids, not AirPods.

~~~
drewg123
This contradicts what I've heard from my wife's best friend who was diagnosed
with hearing loss several years ago & has been using hearing aids. According
to her, hearing aids themselves are dangerous, expensive & flaky. She
complains there is no "one size fits all", and she needs at least two or three
different ones. Eg, she has one which is great for indoor conversations, but
is very susceptible to wind noise, which she said gets amplified so much it is
dangerous. On the other end, she has one she wears outdoors that is great for
rejecting wind noise, but she says is useless for indoor conversations with
lots of people talking. These are devices which cost thousands.

I'm going to forward this article to her; hopefully she has an old phone she
can install the beta on and try this.

~~~
elil17
I work in an audiology research lab. It is true that hearing aids can degrade
your hearing. But if it is tuned by an audiologist it can do significantly
more damage. Of course that does little good for people without health
insurance - hearing aids are so expensive. But if you can possibly afford to
see an audiologist and care about maintaining your hearing (which not everyone
does) you should absolutely not use untuned audio amplifiers.

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JosephHatfield
Is this enabled in the iOS 12 Beta 3? I can't find it.

~~~
alexfringes
It does seem like it is absent from Beta 3. In Beta 1, I had added it to
Control Center but at some point in time since then (Beta 2/3) it was removed,
it seems. Not exactly a promising sign.

Edit: it seems that the feature only appears when AirPods are in proximity.
Seeing it in Beta 3 now that I’ve gone home and am close to the AirPods.

~~~
Cauchon
Yup, I was able to get it when I had my AirPods out > Settings > Control
Center > Add "Hearing". Then turn it on in Control Center and boom!

