Live Listen

By Charlie, 7 June, 2018

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

I have read some news reports, that, as part of IOS 12, Apple will implement "Live Listen" for Airpod users, helping to amplify surrounding sound for those, who have some challenges with hearing but are not formally using hearing aids. Has anyone in the Applevis community come across this and, if so, can you please give your initial impressions of how useful this might be? According to the reports, which apparently include Mac Rumours, this feature was not mentioned at WWDC.

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Comments

By Travis Roth on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 14:21

I do not know where they got the information about the AirPods supporting live listen...
However, Live Listen is a feature for made for iPhone hearing aids already and is described on Apple's site:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203990

The flaw I see at least in some settings is an iPhone is one expensive microphone (not to mention privacy risks) to be setting close to the sound source when you presumably are ot in arm's reach of it. (If you were in arms' reach you likely don't need the mic.)
But hey more options are always better.

By david s on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 - 14:21

Hello,

I have a pair of Starky Halos that I can use live listen with. In it’s current form, live listen is crap. Who ever said air pods with live listen can be used as a work around hearing aids obviously has not tried it. I suspect this is also why Apple did not mention it.

Live listen turns your device into a standard microphone. So what ever sound is in the room, it will be transmitted to the air pods. So the person you have a hard timehearing is now a bit louder but so is the ambient dounds. In addition, there is an echo that can also make it a bit harder for the hearing impaired person to understand when multiple people are talking.

HTH and good luck.