Android 10 Allows You To Use Hearing Aids Like Bluetooth Headsets

Saanvi Araav - Sep 06, 2019

Just like a pair of Bluetooth headset, now Android 10 will allow you to use your hearing aids for voice calls and stream music.

The new Android 10 has come with lots of new and cool functions such as more privacy controls and dark mode for the whole system. It also has some amazing accessibility features. Among those additions is the feature to helps those with hearing aids to utilize their devices like a pair of Bluetooth headset.

ASHA

The protocol named ASHA (Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids) will allow individuals to use Android smartphones to make phone calls or stream music directly to the hearing aid devices. Basically, this protocol turns the hearing aids into a Bluetooth headset.

Hearing Aid Mobile Phone Compressed — ASHA (Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids) will allow individuals to use Android smartphones to make phone calls or stream music directly to the hearing aid devices

What is more to it? This process will happen over Low Energy Bluetooth (BLE). Therefore, both your phone and the hearing aids will spend less energy transmitting the data. With BLE, your devices' battery could last you the whole day.

At release, this new functionality is available on Pixel 3a XL, Pixel 3a, Pixel 3 XL, and Pixel 3 in linking with Beltone Amaze and ReSound LiNX Quattro hearing aid products. It is also compatible to link up with the sound processor Cochlear Nucleus 7. The search giant is also open-source this platform at the moment. Hopefully, this will lead to more hearing solutions and Android devices supporting this protocol in the future.

Google's Effort

Over last year, the search giant has been making a lot of efforts to make Android more accessible to individuals with hard of hearing. This February, Google launched an application named Sound Amplifier that basically allows you to use the Android smartphone as a hearing aid device.

Sound-Ampliifier-android — This February, Google launched an application named Sound Amplifier that basically allows you to use the Android smartphone as a hearing aid device

Then this July, Google expanded the app's availability to include other devices which are non-Android 9. There is clearly a high demand for this type of feature and app. According to data from WHO, about 466 million people worldwide suffer hearing loss, and that number is growing rapidly.