Apple released iOS 10.2 earlier this month with an all-new "TV" app, a range of new emoji, bug fixes, and other improvements, including one that was not mentioned in the changelog — improved support for MFi hearing aids.

mfi-hearing-aids
After updating to iOS 10.2, Reddit user dshafik noted Find My iPhone pings now come through the iPhone's speakers, while FaceTime rings for outgoing calls through his ReSound 9-Series hearing aids.

On previous software versions, Find My iPhone would ring through the hearing aid itself, making it harder to find a lost iPhone, while FaceTime would ring on the iPhone's speakers for outgoing calls, despite the actual call being routed through the hearing aid.

The accessibility improvements are good news for those with hearing aids, and certainly show attention to detail.

Related Forum: iOS 10

Top Rated Comments

BMcCoy Avatar
95 months ago
Apple's attention to accessibility issues is certainly one area they do well, and far superior to some other manufacturers. Credit to them.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RedTomato Avatar
95 months ago
My Naida Q50 UP were about $3,000 for the pair but insurance covered the cost. I'm quite happy that Apple works hard on accessibility. Thank you, Apple!
Good to see Apple improving their support and paying attention to the details in this area.

I have Naidas too, the V UP model. I work mostly with deaf people / hearing signers at the moment so I rarely wear them, though I would use them more if I was working with non-signers.

The Nadas irritate me because they don't have an on/off switch, fiddling with the battery holders annoys me and traps my hairs, and I can't hear the volume adjustment beeps or the max volume beep. so I don't know where I am on the volume settings. It's exasperating that an advanced device made for very deaf people like me can be so user-hostile.

To be honest, the old analogue hearing aids from 15 years ago had a far better user interface paradigm with controls that were more navigable, even if their sound output was **** compared to today's hearing aids.

I shouldn't complain though, I got mine for free on the NHS (which gets them at a huge discount thanks to bulk-buy). Mine are a couple of years old which means they probably won't work with iOS and other fancy stuff, much to my disappointment.

There's a list of Apple compatible hearing aids here: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201466
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FreakinEurekan Avatar
95 months ago
Nice, I had reported that bug regarding FMiP. I've also seen improved support of Bluetooth streaming with 10.2, seems less prone to flipping back to my aids - though, I switched iPhone 5s to iPhone 7 Plus literally just a couple days after installing 10.2 so I can't say if the improvements are from 10.2 or the new phone. I have the ReSound Linx2 9-series. @Weaselboy these were north of that figure by a bit :) but yes, covered by health insurance.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MH01 Avatar
95 months ago
Always respected apple stance on accessibility. Less emoji and more of this!!!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RedTomato Avatar
94 months ago
Since there are a few Macrumors deaf readers here, am popping back into this thread with a warning. Last Black Friday I treated myself to the ChromeCast and the Amazon Fire Stick, but didn't get round to playing with them till the Xmas break.

I was expecting to use the ChromeCast for most things, but sadly its subtitle support is lacking. It plays media files from my laptop (via Chrome browser) but won't pick up the subtitle files. Some other web players didn't relay subtitles to the TV either. Am disappointed, as was looking forward to playing media from laptop on TV without needing to hook it up with wires.

I was expecting the Amazon Fire Stick to only be a backup, but the apps for it are turning out to have better subtitle support than the ChromeCast. I've not yet sideloaded Plex on the Fire Stick but apparently that will play subtitle files.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
carlgo Avatar
95 months ago
Check out Costco's price for iPhone compliant hearing aids. Vastly cheaper. And with the membership you can buy giant bottles of good Vodka cheap...
[doublepost=1482374740][/doublepost]I did not previously upgrade to 10.2 because all Apple talked about were those #@$%^&* emoji things and I wanted to hold off having them infesting my phone for as long as possible. Now I will get 10.2 for the usefulness of the hearing aid app.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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