Connecting with hearing appliances
QI rely on expensive, professionally fitted hearing appliances. My current iPhone is connected by its headphone socket to a special adaptor, which transmits its audio output to those appliances. If I were to get an iPhone 7 which lacks that headphone socket, how could I connect this adaptor?
AAlthough the iPhone 7 doesn’t have a headphone socket, for around £9 or a little less you can get a Lightning to headphone socket adaptor cable, which should then connect happily with the special adaptor which you use to transmit the audio to your hearing appliances.
The snag with this is that an iPhone only has one Lightning port, so you can’t use that single port for audio output when you want to charge the iPhone, for example. There are more expensive adaptors available which address this: for example, the Belkin Lightning Audio + Charge Rockstar, which costs around £35.
You should also discuss this with your audiologist who deals with your hearing appliances: there are now more than 20 manufacturers who offer ‘Made for iPhone’ appliances which connect wirelessly and directly with iPhones and iPads using Bluetooth. Apple provides a full listing at apple.co/2puksuE, where it also explains what you need to do to pair them for use.
For example, Starkey Halo appliances are available in the UK, and are detailed at starkey.co.uk/hearing-aids/technologies/ halo-wireless-hearing-aids. Once paired with your iPhone, the company’s TruLink app enables you to use extra features such as Live Listen, which allows you to use the iPhone’s built-in directional microphone to acquire sound which is then transmitted by Bluetooth to your appliances.