Apple recently announced that AirPods Pro 2 can be used as a hearing aid. Here is a list of 100 countries where this function works. Canada is not among them.
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This function is blocked and does not work if you live in Canada. Why? This AirPods Pro 2 function is considered an over-the-counter hearing aid (OTC) that is not allowed to be sold in Canada by government regulation.
This video shows how the app should work.
What is OTC hearing aid?
Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids are a new category of devices that consumers can buy directly without visiting a hearing health professional. These devices help adults with mild to moderate hearing loss.
Over-the-counter devices are not available in Canada. Unlike the United States, where the FDA has approved OTC hearing aids for adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss, Canada has no similar legislation or regulatory framework.
What is a hearing aid?
A hearing aid is a device that improves hearing by making sound audible to a person with hearing loss. In Canada, the devices are classified as medical devices and are regulated.
How they work.
Modern hearing aids, including AirPods, are computerized electroacoustic systems that transform environmental sound to make it audible to people with hearing loss. They utilize sophisticated digital signal processing to improve speech intelligibility and comfort for the user. Such signal processing includes feedback management, wide dynamic range compression, directionality, frequency compensation, and noise reduction.
Fitting need
Modern prescription hearing aids require configuration to match the wearer's hearing loss, physical features, and lifestyle. They are fitted to the most recent audiogram and programmed by frequency. This process, called "fitting,” is done by a Doctor of Audiology, also called an audiologist. In simple cases, it can be performed by the user.
Why are hearing aids expensive?
Audiology clinics sell prescription devices in Canada. The device's price includes a free audiogram test, fitting by the audiologist, free accessories, and a free annual re-fitting visit.
Over-the-counter hearing aids
Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids are not legally available in Canada, although anyone can order them abroad. OTC devices, including AirPods, cost a small fraction of the prescription devices and are intended for people with simple age-related hearing loss. This is not allowed in Canada, presumably to protect the public from harm from incorrectly used hearing devices.
This is an obsolete concept since modern hearing aids are easily configured and present no risk to users. Apple provides software to perform hearing tests and assist users in configuring the device. The Canadian regulation is thus designed to protect the monopoly of audiology clinics at the expense of elderly people who need low-cost treatment for hearing loss.
Apple Airpod 2 Pro as a hearing aid
Over-the-counter hearing devices are not available in Canada and are presumably illegal. Therefore, Apple blocks the Hearing Health function of the AirPods in Canada. They do not tell you that. If you purchase the AirPods with the intent to use them as hearing aids, you will spend hours trying to configure them, only to find that Apple blocks this function in Canada.
Advantages of AirPods.
Disadvantages of AirPods
I have many articles on this blog that affect people's acoustic comfort. One deal wit problems in new homes.
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