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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
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.
The Sony CRE-C20 OTC ITE hearing aids are a valid upgrade over the CRE-C10. The most significant change is the rechargeable battery and the water-resisting factor now that the enclosure is sealed. I would not dive in a swimming pool or a lake with them, but they will resist rain or sweat, and it will not be the end of them if you forget to take them off before taking a shower.
On the functionality side, they are better at focusing on your spouse's or friend's speech while in a busy and noisy place like a restaurant. The hearing test has been modernized and appears more accurate. The rest of the app is pretty much the same.
The issue that needs to be clarified is whether Apple looks at GPS data to determine where you are located when you attempt to configure the AirPods Pro. I could log in to my US Apple ID using a VPN and then download the Sony app and configure my hearing aids—all that from my location north of Montreal. But I don’t know if the Apple process is the same. Remember that when you log in to a different Apple ID on one iPhone, you must first log out of your Canadian Apple ID. If you have the lockdown feature set, you have to wait an hour before being able to log in to your US Apple ID. It’s better to turn off lockdown mode before you begin this process. You can reactivate lockdown mode after you’re done.
I’m sorry Lucster - but this response makes zero sense, particularly after reading all of your other comments on this thread.
You say:
“The update to IOS and the AirPods firmware is not blocked in any way, shape, or form in Canada. What is blocked is the hearing aid functionality of the AirPods Pro by Apple …”
My point is this: you say the “hearing aid functionality is blocked by Apple”. But according to the Apple Store tech supervisor Genius that explained it to me in Vancouver, it is the IOS UPDATE that gives the AirPods that precise functionality!!! That is why the 18.1 update is “not available” in Canada, using GPS locating to prevent access to that update to the firmware for users of AirPods in Canada! Apple may be the one actually doing that - but the person I spoke to that the Government of Canada required that.
Makes zero sense that Apple would just voluntarily block the 18.1 IOS update without being told to do so by Health Canada. They would want to introduce this enhanced functionality to ALL of their IPod users!
AirPod pros are no more a “medical device” than they were before. Health Canada is overreaching - and should be called out in the loudest way for their anti-competitive and anti-consumer behavior.
If it’s good enough for the US regulatory authorities - it’s good enough for Canadian regulatory authorities.
lakedogs_2000 wrote:
That is why the 18.1 update is “not available” in Canada, using GPS locating to prevent access to that update to the firmware for users of AirPods in Canada!
Are you saying that iOS 18.1 is not available in Canada at all? That's not what I've read anywhere or heard from my Canadian friends.
If it’s good enough for the US regulatory authorities - it’s good enough for Canadian regulatory authorities.
I thought it was only U.S. citizens who thought that Canada and the U.S. were just alike and practically the same country. ;-)
I only bought the pods, because i knew the feature was coming out. If i had known it wasn't going to be supported in Canada, i would never have purchased them. It sounds like it may be months / years or never. I wonder if there is a way to return the pods due to them not meeting my needs?
Noeffix wrote:
« I hope this addresses your concerns » no it dosent. You explained why jut youre my mp so I want you to push for it to change.
The person you're responding to is not the MP. They were quoting the response they received from their MP.
Remember that iPhone models before the Model X are incompatible with IOS 18.
Yes they are but an old iPhone 12 running an older IOS than 18.1 will allow you to set them up in hearing accommodations. My wife's 2018 iPad on 17.7.1 set them up with no problems.
Some people here mistakenly label the AirPods Pro's transparency and noise cancellation functionalities as the hearing aid functionality. It’s like Live Listen, which has existed for a very long time, whereby you could use your iPhone to pick up sounds and relay them to your AirPods. These functionalities are fine but not the same as the hearing aid functionality.
The only way to get the hearing test and the hearing aid functionality is with IOS 18.1 and up and AirPods Pro firmware 7B19 and up, in a country that allows OTC sale of hearing aids.
I tried to set up my AirPods Pro 2 with firmware 7B21 with an older iPhone 1ù2 with IOS 17.7.1 yesterday, and YOU DO NOT GET the hearing test and the hearing aid functionality.
There is a lot of misinformation being spread here about this.
Some people here mistakenly label the AirPods Pro's transparency and noise cancellation functionalities as the hearing aid functionality. It’s like Live Listen, which has existed for a very long time, whereby you could use your iPhone to pick up sounds and relay them to your AirPods. These functionalities are fine but not the same as the hearing aid functionality.
The only way to get the hearing test and the hearing aid functionality is with IOS 18.1 and up and AirPods Pro firmware 7B19 and up, in a country that allows OTC sale of hearing aids.
There is a lot of misinformation being spread here about this.
You are incorrect on so many levels here and you are splitting hairs. You have been able to apply your audiogram to your AirPods since September 2022 and I notice you conveniently missed that bit off.
When you go to, say, a Costco audiologist, they will check your ears and give you a hearing test and then apply the Audiogram to the hearing aids they have decided will be good for you. It's exactly the same principle and as long as you have mild to moderate hearing loss Airpods should work well for you if you get on with them.
I do agree with you that you cannot use the Apple Hearing test but that is easily sorted by downloading the Mimi hearing test app from the App store to do your test.
OR you can use your AirPods so they are even MORE like REAL hearing aids by applying your professionally created Audiogram to the Airpods.
The AirPod Pro 2s are sounding more and more like real hearing aids to me! The only difference is that back in 2022 were not selling them as REAL hearing aids and they didn't have FDA approval.
By the way. My AirPods are running the firmware 7B21 and over the six weeks I have been using them with IOS 17.7.1 the firmware has changed three times with NO change in the function of them.
I tried to set up my AirPods Pro 2 with firmware 7B21 with an older iPhone 1ù2 with IOS 17.7.1 yesterday, and YOU DO NOT GET the hearing test and the hearing aid functionality.
That is incorrect. You do. I have them set up on my 15 Pro Max and they work extremely well for me.
Last week to prove that they still work I set them up on an iPad 2018 running on IOS 17.7.1.
Just sitting here typing away with my hearing aids (Airpods) in my ears listening to a podcast and they sound great.
You won't lose any hearing assistance but only from what I have read, you won’t be able to change any of the Airpod settings, which of course, is the whole point.
I now have mine setup on a 2018 iPad and my iPhone and both are running 17.7.1.
Image 1. In Canada the Hearing Test feature is not on the menu. Image 2. In the United States and other countries the feature is activated and shows on the menu.
I'm trying to work out what your point is?
IOS 18.1 has added a geographical lock to the iPhone in Canada. And the UK too.
There are three ways to get around it.
The older IOS is the simplest way. IOS gives some extra volume but apart from the difference in menus, not much is different and they work really well.
Please let us know if travelling to the US works - thinking to try the same.
I tried everything you described above. I upgrade to 18.1 on my phone in Canada. Thinking of getting a used phone and upgrading the IOS while in US or when it thinks it's in US.
Remember that iPhone models before the Model X are incompatible with IOS 18.
I appreciate that rasg has taken the time to try to be helpful. You’re correct in much of what you say Luckster but your observations shouldn’t be directed at rasg.
AirPods Pro 2 Hearing Aids Not in Canada
