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AirPods Pro 2 Hearing Aids Not in Canada

In iOS 18.1 the long awaited Air Pods Pro 2 Hearing Test and Hearing Aids feature is (as of 18.1 release date) not available in Canada. When will it be available and is there any specific was as users we can make this happen?

iPhone 13 mini, iOS 18

Posted on Oct 28, 2024 12:53 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 28, 2024 4:51 PM

Both federal and provincial govts will need to deregulate the hearing aid industry. Short answer, don’t hold your breath.


Related article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/hearing-aids-over-the-counter-us-canada-1.6622197

5 replies

Oct 31, 2024 8:59 AM in response to tobianogreg

Look at the long list of countries where the Apple Airpod Pro hearing aid functionality is available. It includes many third-world countries but not Canada. This is nothing short of outrageous.


In Canada, corporate lobbies always win over consumers: the Big Three telecommunication companies are still charging an arm and a leg for internet and cell phone coverage, the big chartered banks are still charging high interest rates on credit cards and forcing a three-week pay cycle to change the due date every month and screw consumers with late payment fees, the audiologist and hearing aid lobby is still preventing consumers from purchasing over-the-counter hearing aids, 2 years after they have been made available in the US.


As I said, this is nothing short of outrageous.

Oct 31, 2024 9:30 AM in response to tobianogreg

Last year, I purchased the Sony CRE-C10 from BestBuy US and had them shipped to Shipito for re-shipping to me in the Montreal area. Last month, I bought the Sony CRE-C20 from Amazon US, and it was again shipped to Shipito for re-shipment to me in the Montreal area. To install the Sony app for these OTC-ITE hearing aids, I had to create a US Apple ID, log out from my Canadian Apple ID, and use a VPN to be able to get the Sony app from the Apple store while logged into my US Apple ID, set up my hearing aids with the app, log out of my US Apple ID, log in to my Canadian Apple ID to have access to all my purchases (music, movies, books, etc.).


Fortunately, I don’t need to repeat this process to fine-tune my hearing aids with the Sony app. Once installed on my iPhone, I can use it even when logged into my Canadian Apple ID.


But isn’t it ridiculous that I must do all this to access good OTC-ITE hearing aids in Canada? One needs to be a bit savvy to do what I did, which is not the case for many elderly Canadians who would benefit most from affordable OTC hearing aids. The more I think of this, the more outrageous it appears to me...

Oct 31, 2024 8:25 PM in response to tobianogreg

Shhh - don’t tell the Canadian health regulatory authorities. They will soon set up inspection facilities to X-ray parcels to find those dangerous OTC hearing aids! Yah - it’s insane. Dictating to Apple “no, no, no - don’t you dare improve the functionality of your top selling product - we can’t block the sale of your iPods in Canada - but we can block your automatic customer upgrade to the latest IOS ! Talk about third world behavior - this is truly over the top. The time has come to stop this anticompetitive behavior - enabled by our very own Government. The media have got to pick up on this story and start screaming like ****.

AirPods Pro 2 Hearing Aids Not in Canada

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