Live Listen: AirPods as a Hearing Aid
If you have a mild hearing problem, where you sometimes can’t understand someone in the hustle and bustle, Live Listen can offer a solution. This function has been around for years and works with Made for iPhone hearing aids. These are hearing aids that are connected to your iPhone and have special iPhone functions. If you don’t have such a hearing aid, you can also use Live Listen with AirPods! How do you set this up and how does it work exactly?
What is Live Listening?
Live Listening is, as the name suggests, a way to listen to conversations live, but via your iPhone and a connected hearing aid. Live Listening uses the microphone of your iPhone. Your iPhone picks up the sound and sends it wirelessly to a connected hearing aid. This can be a ‘real’ hearing aid, but also a set of AirPods.
So it’s kind of an extension of a regular hearing aid. This listening function is especially useful in noisy environments or if you want to hear what someone is saying across the room. However, you can also use it to eavesdrop on someone – although Apple itself won’t say this. A function that is related to this is conversation amplification, where you can make voices sound clearer.
What do I need for Live Listening?
To use Live Listen you need the following:
- An iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 12 or later
- AirPods or a compatible Made for iPhone hearing aid
There are many brands of hearing aids that are suitable to work with your iPhone. The best known are the devices from ReSound and Cochlear. To use the AirPods in combination with the Live Listen function, you need at least iOS 12.
How do I set up Live Listen?
If you want to use Live Listen, the steps are different when using a hearing aid or AirPods. Setting up for a hearing aid is done via the settings, but for AirPods you use a button in the Control Center.
Set up Live Listen with AirPods
Here’s how to use Live Listen with AirPods:
- Make sure your AirPods are paired and turned on.
- Go to Settings > Control Panel.
- Add Hearing.
- Now open the Control Panel and tap on the newly added Hearing button.
- The function will now be active immediately.
The dots indicate how much sound is being detected. You can also turn the function off at any time. All sound that your iPhone picks up is played through your AirPods. If you are talking to someone, it will sound like you are having a phone conversation with them. However, the sound quality is much better and the other person will sound crystal clear.
In the video below, Apple explains the steps again.
Set up Live Listening with a hearing aid
Here’s how to set up Live Listen with a hearing aid:
- On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Accessibility > Hearing Devices.
- Select the connected hearing aid.
- Tap Start Live Listen to launch the feature.
Then, hold your iPhone near the person you want to hear better. This will allow their voice to reach you directly through the connected hearing aid, without you being disturbed by ambient noise.
We have more tips about AirPods:
- Here’s how to update your AirPods (and manually update firmware)
- Here’s how to control the AirPods Pro with the pressure sensor in the stems
- Listen together: Here’s how to share audio with two pairs of AirPods
- AirPods Problems: Best Solutions for Poor Audio, Connection, and Battery Life
