Bluetooth wireless connectivity and direct streaming features within hearing aids have been around for nearly a decade, when ReSound was the first to introduce 2.4GHz technology in the world’s first Made for Apple® hearing aids. There have been several evolutions of technology over time, including adding Android compatibility.
While these Bluetooth features represent a major breakthrough in hearing aids and provide great benefits to hearing aid users, it does have some “issues” from time to time.
In this video, Dr. Cliff explains the truth about hearing aid Bluetooth issues and why they happen. He says most of the time you are having Bluetooth connectivity problems, it probably has more to do with your smartphone or tablet, not your hearing aids.
Regardless of the cause, we are always happy to help you get reconnected. Please call us at (800) 248-4327.
We hope you enjoy this helpful video!
4 thoughts on “The truth about hearing aid Bluetooth issues – a helpful video by Dr. Cliff”
I want to be able to use my hearing aids for Bluetooth only when *I* want it. I don’t want my phone to default to ringing in my ears or my audiobook to default to my hearing aids instead of to my car speakers. Is there a way to set that? I am so aggravated by this that I just turn the Bluetooth off altogether and used wired headphones.
Hi Nancy. Thank you for reaching out to us. To better assist you, can you please send us a direct message on Facebook or send our Customer Service Teams an email at consumersupport@gnresound.com with the following information: the type of phone you have and the operating system your phone has?
For iPhone:
• Phone Model: Found under Settings > General > About Phone
• iOS Version: Found on the same page
For Android:
• Phone Model: Found in Settings > About Phone
• OS Version: Found in Settings > About Phone > Software Information
We will be happy to provide you with the next steps once we learn more. If you have any additional questions, please contact our Consumer Tech Support Team at 1-888-735-4327 and choose option 1. Thank you so much!
I have called to troubleshoot with a Resound rep and have worked with my audiolgist to correct the issues with my hearing aids and have had no luck. I have not updated my Iphone in 6 months. I have only had these hearing aids for 8 months and have had ongoing problems with them. This is my second pair (had battery Resound for 6years before these).
They continually shut off. I’ll be out and won’t be able to hear or they will whistle loudly, and I realize one (or both) are off. This is multiple times a day. When I talked with the Resound rep awhile back, they said to turn off the Bluetooth on my Ipad and computer. Obviously, that has not made a difference.
I’m very frustrated. Not being able to hear is exhausting and I feel like I have gotten 0 support and spent another $6000.
I am switching my audiologist because she is a 40-minute drive for me and it’s crazy to not have these working correctly and have to drive that distance. I found an office through my same ENT(MOSA) that is very close to where I live. I called to switch, and they are happy to take me on, but they have Phonak hearing aids.
I’m worried this is never going to be resolved. Please advise.
Hi Renee. Thank you for reaching out to us. It is possible that your phone is sending audio to the hearing aids, causing them to switch to their audio streaming program (which, by design, decreases the aids’ amplification). It can be helpful to test with Bluetooth turned off on your phone for a few hours to see if that impacts the behavior.
Or, you could change these settings on your phone on a more permanent basis to see if this impacts the behavior.
1. Settings > Accessibility > Hearing Devices > ensure Play System Sounds is turned off.
2. Within Hearing Devices, tap into Audio Routing > Media Audio > change to never hearing devices.
This will change the automatic behavior of the phone so that the phone does not try to play sounds from different apps into the hearing aids. You can still manually route media audio through the following steps, and this will not affect audio for phone calls.
You can manually select the output device via the following steps from support.apple.com. Please note instead of “AirPods”, you’d be looking for hearing aids or HAs.
On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:
1. Open Control Center on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
2. How to access Control Center – https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202769
3. Touch and hold the audio card in the upper-right corner of Control Center to control audio.
4. Tap the AirPlay icon, then choose the device that you want from the list.
If the behavior continues after testing in this way, we encourage you to reach out to your hearing care professional. They could call our Audiology Fitting Support team. Thank you so much!