Modern Hearing Aids and Android vs. iOS Devices

[gwwilk]

I recently acquired new hearing aids, bilateral Bernafon Zerena 9's with custom ear-molds from Costco, and discovered a very interesting difference between Android devices and iOS devices. Using Bernafon's 'EasyControl-A' app with iOS on my iPad Pro allows seamless streaming to my new hearing aids via Apple's built-in 'Accessibility/MFi Hearing Devices'. I was shocked when instead of playing Pandora through my iPad's speakers the sound streamed directly to my connected hearing aids! This took me completely by surprise, I suppose because I didn't research this sufficiently. This is similar to, but not identical with, how Apple's AirPods connect to their devices in lieu of a headphone jack.

Because the Android OS is so fragmented and fractured by individual vendor's proprietary versions there's no corresponding built-in streaming functionality in Android devices. I was faced with a decision regarding my LG V30+ Android cell phone which is less than a year old: trade it in for an iPhone or purchase a Bernafon 'SoundClip-A' add-on in order to stream calls and music to my new hearing aids. The cheaper option was to go ahead and get the streamer, with which I'm now listening to Pandora through my LG V30+ -> to my streamer -> to my hearing aids.

One benefit of the streamer is that it allows me to turn off my hearing aids' microphones while streaming, which I'm also doing right now. An additional benefit of my new hearing aids is that because I have moderate to severe age-related hearing loss the custom ear-molds can also when desired act as very effective ear plugs during exposure to loud ambient noises/sounds.

Of course, now cell phone calls also go directly to my hearing aids and the streamer's microphone picks up my end of the conversation.

There may be an iPhone in my future, but for now I'm very happy with my current setup.

Here is a list of MFi compatible devices and hearing aids.

[NC_amateur_euph]

Thanks for the info. New/upgraded aids are in my mid-term future and this info will factor into the purchase decision.
While getting old sucks, it still beats the alternative.