AirPods Hearing Test not showing on iPhone

You need iOS 18.1 and the AirPods Pro 2 need to be running 7B19. I had iOS 18.1, but the brand new AirPods Pro 2 were running 6F8 or something like that. Once they updated to 7B19 the hearing test popped up.

When you run the hearing test make sure the room is very quiet. A dog walking by or the doorbell ringing will pause the test. You'll get a "It's too loud" alert, and won't be able to resume the test until the test detects it is quiet. Even heavy breathing will make the test pause.

Today is 29 October, and Apple release the update 18.1.. i using newest airpods pro 2 firmware...still no hearing health option yet... but if you restart the iphone and go to the airpods pro 2 menu, its there but grey out and after couple second, it gone.... here i attach mine..

I wasn’t sure how to add a photo with the location of the new hearing test. Tap on Bluetooth and if your airpods are connected then it will show below the Bluetooth line. Tap on Airpods and you should see the main screen that shows Name, Noise control and Hearing health. Take a Hearing test is the third option down .

I bought a pair of Apple AirPods pro2 because Apple said the hearing test feature would be available in Canada. Now after waiting for the update now you tell us this feature will not be available for us Canadians. Very disappointing. I didn’t need just a pair of AirPods. I bought them specifically for that feature.

I'm in South Africa and it isn't available even though I'm on 18.1 and 7B19. Bought the Air Pod Pro 2 especially with the promise of hearing test being available in Fall (October I guess), and finding it not available in my region is a bit frustrating and jarring. When will it become available for South Africa and what is the reason for the delay?

gerrardsans wrote:

My country isn't listed in the compatibility list. Makes me wonder, how come this hearing feature can only available in some countries? It doesn't make any sense.

There are so many reasons why the hearing function is not available everywhere. Some countries have restrictions. Others outright ban certain functions. In the US, the hearing function had to be approved by the FDA. It could be that some countries are waiting for similar approvals from their government agencies.

ThomasTouhey wrote:

I just bought the airpod pro 2 for the hearing aid feature and it does not show. I thought it said it was available in Canada.

Not very nice APPLE

Canada is not listed on the page that shows which countries support the hearing aid function. But it's not Apple who is disallowing it. You can search to see what the hold up is with the Canadian government.

Oh and by the way, you are posting to an Apple user to user community forum. Apple is not here and rarely reads these posts.

richardw1224 wrote:

Thank you Carol. I hadn’t seen the country list link before. No UK. And no hearing test.

I wonder if this to do with monopolies exercised by hearing aid companies and/or practitioners.

No. It has to do with Apple needing approval from the country's appropriate government agency. In the US, it was the FDA.

Just purchased AirPods Pro 2 and wanted to use them as an additional hearing aid. iPhone has been updated to iOS 18 but when I go to the AirPods menu, there is no option to have them give me a hearing test. Is this not available yet? If so, where can I find that option.

What we need is someone from Apple to tell us when Australia

and Canada will have the Hearing Aid capability.  Also, I would like to know who I might

contact within Australia to ask to get any approvals necessary done soon.

I live in the US and bought an iPad Pro and AirPods Pro 2 just to try out this hearing aid feature and the Hearing Test is still not showing up on 18.1 and 7b19. Is Apple doing A/B testing with this feature? Do I need to factory reset the iPad?

I am having the same problem. My apple products are registered in the U.S. and my address is in the U.S., but I am currently traveling. It's not working for me. I meet all of the requirements and still the products does not show the applicable menu. OS has been updated to 18.1 and the firmware is the correct number as well.

Not really. They were released and have had the hearing aid option since 2022 and they are very good BUT Apple didn’t have FDA approval as Over The Counter (OTC) hearing aids. In the UK there is no such thing. We have to go to an audiologist for hearing as do people from many other countries.

100 countries do have approval.

I am really happy with the Airpods but I stuck with IOS 17.7 and the geographical locks etc didn’t appear until IOS 18.1 appeared.

The only way you will them to work is to roll back your iPhone to pre IOS 18. I don't think that's possible from what I have read but maybe you can try a different iPhone that is running IOS 17.7 or earlier. I have been using the Airpods as hearing aids for over a month now but it's been available since 2022 without the latest restrictions.

I had the same problem. Multiple tries in very quiet environments with the same frustrating error message. I was able to use a free app called Mimi to do the hearing test. Then manually transfer the results into the hearing assistance software on the phone.