Hearing test not available in Australia after iOS update this morning

Hi Mashmool,

Wonderful to read how your Dad has you to help! Thank you for sharing.

As we are all Apple users, like yourself, in the community, Apple itself is unlikely to read your carefully prepared plea here.

Seems we need to continue being patient until Apple either makes an announcement, or, more likely, includes the hearing test, and / or the hearing-aid feature to more of the latecomer-countries in its frequent software updates.

With the various computers and devices, and many software versions in use worldwide, am grateful to see Apple continues to gradually add countries to its long availability list. (ie: AirPods Pro 2 - Hearing Health Feature Availability - Apple)

Expecting we'll see Australia on the list before too long, as UK was added promptly when the time was right for all concerned.

The earlier hearing features that were released quite some time ago (eg: Live Listen / Conversation Boost etc.) continue to be available for use. (Seems they did not require approval from local authorities.)

If you wish you could send feedback to reach those who work on the software behind-the-scenes at Apple. (They will likely not reply.) Feedback - AirPods - Apple

A work around might be to change the region of your device... this will effect other things, so do at your own risk.

While we wait for full hearing assistance tech to be made available in Australia, here is an article on the use of the 'Headphone Accommodations' feature which does seem to work (I just tried it)  also an interesting recent article on the hackaday electronics DIY website

[Edited by Moderator]

Seems the UK has been added to the availability list.

(Australia is not the only country still watching and waiting.)

AirPods Pro 2 - Hearing Health Feature Availability - Apple

I was able to input my hearing test results and that made a significant difference to the sound quality

I did not carry out a test using my iPhone

still early days but it seems to work quite well boosting speech even while listening to music etc

👍

this is correct .. for example a trip to NZ will unlock the feature

From Page 1 of this discussion thread:

"Wondering whether or not marketing and Health Authorities in Australia are still looking into authorization".

Not all health items can be ordered from the US for delivery to Australia.

I also spent an hour or so talking to technical support a couple of weeks ago. The person I spoke to had no idea that there was a problem. I can’t blame Apple for the TGA taking so long but I can blame Apple for omitting to inform us about the situation. Nothing on the Apple website, nothing communicated by Apple staff at point of purchase and technical support that didn’t have a clue that there was an issue. The fact that the technical support person was located somewhere outside of Australia added to the problem. Very disappointing customer service.

I have been following this for sometime now and must say it is another form of Australian government protectionism. The only reason they have not let Apple implement this software upgrade presumably is to protect some local interest in regular hearing aids which cost upwards of $6000 in Australia. Hardly surprised that they won’t allow this simple upgrade to the Apple air buds which cost < $400!

I have bought a pair and fully expect Australia to agree to allow Apple to market the product

This was the reply I got from the TGA today

”Thank you for your enquiry of 14/11/2024 to theTherapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

Due to confidentiality the TGA does not disclose information about current applications and cannot advise whether an application has been received or is in progress. The information that the TGAcan lawfully provide about a product is publicly available on the TGA website.

You may wish to contact the sponsor or manufacturer for further information about their intentions to submit an application to the TGA for registration of this product.”

not very helpful or informative as tax payers we should be able to see what they are doing with the money we have provided for this service rather than hide behind some dubious confidentiality clause

I saw the multiple YouTube videos talking about this feature. I bought the pro2 and looked forward to setting up with this.

when I got them there was no feature in the 18.1.1 update. I rang Apple and they tried for an hour to figure out the problem. Finally we figured it out. The software is not available in Australia.

so like $400 later I am back to zero. Thanks for the heads up when I purchased these Apple. NOT

TGA has approved

https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2025/airpods-as-hearing-aids-a-step-closer-for-australians.html#:~:text=Australian%20users%20of%20Apple's%20AirPods,Therapeutic%20Goods%20Administration%20(TGA).

It’s frustrating! Easy to criticise the TGA but it seems Apple is stricken by its own bureaucracy. Now more than a month since TGA! Nothing but silence from Apple. Ironic given it’s about a “game changing” hearing innovation

AQUAJIM wrote: "...JUST DO IT APPLE for all the people in Australia"

AQUAJIM ~ Apple are unlikely to do anything unless you tell them. We're all just users in these user-to-user communities. Use these links:

How to contact Apple for accessibility support

Feedback - AirPods - Apple

Product Feedback - Apple

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Seems iOS 18.3 made a hearing-aid feature available in U.K.

If I remember correctly, U.K. approved the feature prior to Australian regulators giving approval. Other countries are waiting also ...Perhaps it is a relief to know the late-comers are gradually being taken care of as well. (Over 100 countries gave approval before the release of the new hearing-health features.)