8 votes

iOS sound hijacking

Posted by tanglisha
Tags: ios, ask.advice, tablets, ipad, audio, devices.medical, hearing aids, phonak, bluetooth

I use hearing aids with Bluetooth, which is fantastic for phone call clarity, watching videos, and listening to audiobooks. I use my iPad often for watching videos, so they’re constantly paired.

My particular model of hearing aid has a flaw where the ambient sound gets adjusted during streaming in such a way that it causes a static like sound that’s loud enough to require turning the sound up to hear whatever I’m streaming. I seriously doubt this is good for my hearing.

I can go into the app and adjust the ambient sound balance, which reduces the static sound but makes the sounds around me quieter. This will reset back randomly, sometimes even when I pause. Annoying, but I can live with it.

My issue is that if I play a game on my iPad, it turns on streaming even if I have the sound turned off in the game. So I’ll be sitting here listening to static while I’m playing a card game or something, it’s loud enough that it’s then harder to hear the people around me.

Does anyone know if there’s a way to force the sound off so I don’t have to mess with switching Bluetooth on and off and having to restart the hearing aids because suddenly they don’t pair even though it was working 5 minutes ago?

3 comments

  1. [3]
    tomf
    Link
    which model of hearing aids do you have? Do you have anything like Settings > Accessibility > Hearing Devices > Automatic Streaming that can be disabled? As an absolute last resort, you could make...

    which model of hearing aids do you have?

    Do you have anything like Settings > Accessibility > Hearing Devices > Automatic Streaming that can be disabled?

    As an absolute last resort, you could make a shortcut tied to backtap that would cycle bluetooth.

    3 votes
    1. [2]
      tanglisha
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Phonak Audio L90-RL (lumity) They have old Bluetooth, I can't control them under accessibility. I've tried over and over to make that work, but no. Edit: I'm not sure what that last part means....

      Phonak Audio L90-RL (lumity)

      They have old Bluetooth, I can't control them under accessibility. I've tried over and over to make that work, but no.

      Edit: I'm not sure what that last part means. Back tap?

      3 votes
      1. tomf
        Link Parent
        backtap is handy --- Settings > Acces > Touch > Back Tap at the bottom -- either two or three. For me, I have a shortcut to toggle the torch at 1%. Three taps on the back of my device and it turns...

        backtap is handy --- Settings > Acces > Touch > Back Tap at the bottom -- either two or three. For me, I have a shortcut to toggle the torch at 1%. Three taps on the back of my device and it turns on a dim light.

        re: streaming --- is this helpful? [thread]

        If you go into the hearing aid app on your iPhone when you are Bluetooth streaming the app should show Bluetooth streaming + mic. There will be two adjustments showing volume and ambient. The ambient tab will allow you to adjust balance between surroundings and audio. Note option is only available when you are streaming

        Also, in your bluetooth settings, are they set as hearing aids? Not sure if that matters or not. I've only messed with Jabras.

        1 vote