Apple watch series 5 and MFI hearing aids

I’m having the same problem with my Resound Quattro.

At first even the IPhone iso update 13.1.2 made my hearing aids lose Bluetooth connectivity with the hearing aids and the Resound 3D app. Solution to that was going to settings>Privacy>Bluetooth>Enable Smart 3D.

I’ve still haven’t found a solution to the Apple Watch though. I bought the watch because it’s suppose to be easy for the Hearing Impaired to use along with the Resound “Made for IPhone” device. BTW - Resound Customer Service is non-existent on this issue.

Doesn't sound like the Apple Genius had any background in hearing aid issues. This has been a long running issue with many many threads. I will be delighted if it comes in 6-8 weeks but also amazed.

Some discussions say the problem is that the bluetooth protocol used in hearing aids is not 'low energy' BT and so not suitable because it would flatten the batteries too quickly. If this is correct it will probably need hardware

changes

This thread has more content than most threads on the subject:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8535003

You could add your voice to the requests to Apple via apple.com/feedback/ 

In WatchOS 6.1, Apple just removed the MFI hearing aid option in Accessibility. Looks like there won’t be MFI support after all.

Direct independent connection of watch to HAs (without phone) has been the subject of many threads here. So I think if the AW5 had introduced this capability there would have been something said somewhere. Hope I am wrong!

The AW5 dialogue box in Accessibility literally offers to Connect MFI hearing aids to the watch. So I would think it highly likely this will eventually work with MFI hearing aids, as many of us have been hoping. Since MFI on iPadOS 13 and iOS 13 is incredibly buggy so far, it comes as no surprise the watch version isn’t even working yet.

Update:

I managed to be able to control the hearing aids via Mirroring (iPhone and Watch)

ie: I launched the Smart 3D app on my IPhone and then launched the same app on the Watch simultaneously. Not the best solution, but at least it hints that the capabilities are there.

Ive since written to Resound and I’m waiting for their reply. Hoping for the best to us all.

I spent an hour on the phone with Apple support today (2 different calls) and finally learned that MFI hearing aids generally aren't working with Apple Watch 5. It could be a software/firmware issue on Apple side or Resound side, but there is nothing to do but wait for updates. The ReSound Smart 3D app does work on my watch, but is of no use when trying to listen to something downloaded on watch without using iPhone. Unfortunately, Apple support is not very transparent about these things; if they were, it would have saved me and them a lot of time. ReSound support, in my experience over the past year, is non existent. They simply refer everything to your audiologist. My audiologist knows nothing (less than I do) about Apple products or the app,.