Bluetooth connection issues Oticon hearing aids

Hi skycap,

welcome to this community discussion

Commiserations on your plight! Am no expert, yet Apple Support have knowledge / documentation that may be helpful. Please excuse, if all is already familiar. (It may help others who visit the discussion looking for answers).

Re: "this lack of compatibility between Oticon and iPhone really has me stumped as well".

Wondering if your Oticon model is one of those listed as compatible by Apple:

The Made for iPhone (MFi) hearing aids listed in Apple Support's article are compatible with iPhone and iPad. (Those marked with an asterisk (*) are also compatible with Mac.): List of Made for iPhone hearing devices - Apple Support

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Re: "I can be listening on my iPhone - loose the audio and then find that the Oticons have paired with my iPad without reason"

You may want to check with your hearing-specialist or the hearing-aid manufacturer (Eg: contact "support" on their website) for a possible hearing-aid firmware update, or, if you use an app, check for an app update.

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Else: Use Made for iPhone hearing devices - Apple Support

says (amongst many other things):

"Hearing device disconnects unexpectedly

• When using your hearing device, make sure that your paired Apple device remains nearby.
• If your hearing device is paired with more than one Apple device, it might switch (hand off) to the other Apple device when it detects an incoming call on that device, or when you start playing audio on the other device. You can control this by changing the Audio Handoff setting in Hearing Devices settings on your iPhone or iPad.
• Check the battery level of your hearing device. You might need to replace or recharge the batteries.
• Check for wireless interference."

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More info. on Hand off tasks between iPhone and your other devices - Apple Support. Eg: says:

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"Hand off from another device to your iPhone

1. Open the App Switcher on iPhone. The Handoff icon of the app you’re using on your other device appears at the bottom of the iPhone screen.
2. Tap the Handoff icon to continue working in the app."

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"Hand off from iPhone to another device

On the other device, click or tap the Handoff icon to continue working in the app.

The Handoff icon of the app you’re using on iPhone appears in the following locations on other devices:

• Mac: The right end of the Dock (or at the bottom, depending on the Dock position).
• iPad: The right end of the Dock.
• iPhone or iPod touch: At the bottom of the App Switcher screen."

All the best :-)

I found out recently that if I am having trouble connecting my hearing aids to my iPhone, I need to turn off all other devices that I have set up to work with my hearing aids. iPad, MAC, etc.

Hi evans045,

welcome to the Apple (user-to-user) Community.

Re: Oticon hearing aids won’t stay connected to my phone.

Thank you for your post, and for letting us know the firmware has been updated :

You might want to try restarting your iPhone:

ie: restarting will sometimes clear the way if something's not working right.

Restart your iPhone

Troubleshooting:

You can also try turning Bluetooth off, and back on to re-establish the connection

Check the: Settings > Accessibility > Hearing Devices controls are set as you wish.

As your hearing aids connect but don't stay connected, this article may help:

Resolve Wi-Fi and Bluetooth issues caused by wireless interference – Apple Support

If needed:

Apple's Accessibility Support Website

(NB: You can "Get Support" from the link at the bottom of their website:)

Accessibility Support - Official Apple Support

All the best :-)

To evans045 and brbo,

I too just lost the connection from my iPhone 8SE and my oticon hearing aids. I tried many times to reconnect using the recommended Settings approach and they never reconnected. Fortunately I found this post and finally turned off and on the iPhone itself per brdo's suggestion. THAT WORKED!! Thank you.

Thanks, I shut BT off on my iPad and was able to pair my hearing aids.

Hi OlaHull,

Welcome to the discussion thread: wondering which model phone and which Oticon Hearing Aids, and what you have and have not tried so far:

You may want to check in: Settings  > Accessibility  > Hearing Devices controls.

Apple support have many useful tips in their article (link below): Eg: You can make sure your hearing aids are listed correctly, and are available there, for connection

Then hearing-aids need to be in pairing-mode, and may need to be moved closer to iPhone in order to connect :

See: Use Made for iPhone hearing devices - Apple Support

iPhone may need the latest software update, (Check: Settings > General > Software Updates to see if there's an update ready to install)

and / or

hearing aids may need the latest firmware update ... check with hearing specialist or Oticon support website.

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Troubleshooting:

✽ Trying turning Bluetooth off, wait a few seconds, and turn bluetooth back on.

✽ Try restarting the iPhone to re-establish the connection.

See how to: Restart your iPhone - Apple Support

What to do:

If you can't connect a Bluetooth accessory to your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

✽ Solution below was posted in another discussion thread:

(Worked for some who tried it, but also did not work for others.)

Bluetooth issues on my iPhone adter iOS 1… - Apple Community

Solution to Bluetooth not connecting.

turn off wifi

turn off cellular

turn off bluetooth

turn on Bluetooth only

connect to Bluetooth device

turn on wifi

turn on cellular

All the best :-)

I had to delete them amd then open accessiblilty. Pair hearing aid. Go to setting. Accessibility then hearing aid

Interesting thing as I was trying to resolve similar issues with my hearing aids and iPhone. I had my iPhone and iPad near each other as I was trying to get them to work. I found if I turned the Bluetooth off on one I could stream to my aids on the other device. If I then reversed the set up, turning on BT for the one that was off and then turning the other one off, I could get the other device to stream to my aids. It seemed like when both units had BT turned on at the same time, they fought each other.

For whatever reason, whether the changes were implemented from the Apple or the Oticon side, there has been significant improvement in connectivity with the most recent iOS and Mac OS releases. I am now able to connect reliably to my phone and to my MacBook laptop. Switching between the two isn’t as automatic as I’d like. If I connect to the laptop, it overrides the phone connection. Disconnecting from the Mac in order to reconnect to the phone is a bit awkward; it requires turning Mac Bluetooth off temporarily to force a disconnect. Once I do that I’m back automatically with the phone. At this point, connecting to the laptop does not require using the ConnectClip dongle.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply, evans045,

and for letting us know all the above has been tried with no success..

You might want to send feedback to Apple, to reach those who work behind-the-scenes. They will likely not reply, yet your feedback will reach those who can make changes. If other people are experiencing this issue, and also let Apple know, we are more likely to see changes in as future update.

There's a web-form online for feedback:

Feedback - iPhone - Apple

Mine have the disconnect reconnect issue plus I must keep the phone in my breast pocket. Trouser pockets for iphone and both connect and disconnect randomly. Very disconcerting and seems to me in pocket the bluetooth is blocked by association with my body -- but they haveplenty of range with phone on a table.

Commiserations, BrameldPF. Thank you kindly for your reply, and your information.

Also, for outlining your predicament. As we are all Apple users, like yourself, there's not a lot we can do to help, beyond the words we can write here.

You may want to reach out to Apple for Accessibility support : eg phone, online chat

How to contact Apple for accessibility support - Apple Support

Intermittent left and right Bluetooth connectivity problems with my Oticon More 1 to my iPhone 12 Pro, especially while walking and listening to music. It seems to be a function of the relative positioning of the aids and the phone. It acts like antenna problems and/or poor Bluetooth receiver sensitivity of the hearing aids.

This problem has gotten significantly worse with iOS 17.1.1 on the iPhone 15 pro max. The Oticon minirite hearing aids used to work pretty well as Bluetooth earphones. Now they are completely unreliable. If I pause an audiobook and start it up again five minutes later, invariably one of the hearing aids has gone out and I only get

mono from the other one. Turning off Bluetooth and turning it back one sometimes fixes it, till the next time I pause, but just as frequently all it does is switch the mono reception to the other ear. Doesn’t matter what app. And yes, before you ask, I’ve tried everything: restarting, re-pairing, both multiple times, turning Bluetooth off and one, etc etc. Nothing works. Incredibly frustrating because there’s absolutely no way to know whether the problem is with Apple or with the Oticon firmware. This only a problem with Bluetooth streaming from my iPhone. There

are NO functional problems with my hearing aids as hearing aids.