How to Use Your Smartphone to Cope With Hearing Loss (2025): Tips for iPhone, Android

Additional features alteration by telephone manufacturer. Look for proceeding assistance compatibility (HAC) to spot what your telephone supports. For example, present is the Google Pixel proceeding assistance compatibility page. Some proceeding immunodeficiency tin present watercourse euphony and podcasts straight to proceeding immunodeficiency from Android phones, but it’s omniscient to cheque compatibility earlier you buy.

When utilizing proceeding immunodeficiency with Pixel phones, you should besides unfastened the Phone app, pat the 3 vertical dots for Menu astatine the apical right, and pat Settings > Accessibility to toggle Hearing Aids on.

If you don't yet person a proceeding assistance but deliberation you mightiness request one, work our usher connected however to bargain a proceeding assistance and our Best Hearing Aids guide. We besides person a usher connected however to watercourse audio to proceeding immunodeficiency and cochlear implants.

How to Use Real-Time Text With Your Phone

Some folks whitethorn similar to benignant responses connected a call, and you tin bash this with the real-time substance (RTT) feature. Sadly, availability depends connected your portion and carrier. If there's nary RTT option, you volition apt person Teletype (TTY) enactment instead. (RTT is much precocious and tin transmit audio arsenic you type.)

On Android phones, unfastened the Phone app, pat the 3 vertical dots for Menu astatine the apical right, and pat Settings > Accessibility to crook connected RTT oregon TTY. If you take Always Visible, you tin pat the RTT icon (a superior T) aft dialing idiosyncratic to commencement an RTT call, and you tin pat to motorboat it during a call. To reappraisal transcripts of calls connected Android, unfastened your Phone app and pat Recents, take the telephone you want, and past Call Details > See Transcript.

For iPhone, you tin crook connected RTT oregon TTY successful Settings > Accessibility > RTT/TTY, and you tin prime Software RTT/TTY oregon Hardware TTY. You tin besides take RTT/TTY Call erstwhile calling idiosyncratic and pat the RTT/TTY icon (looks similar a landline phone) to reply a telephone oregon power to substance during a call. To reappraisal transcripts of calls connected iPhone, unfastened your Phone app and pat Recents, past the i adjacent to the call. You volition spot the RTT/TTY icon adjacent to calls with transcripts successful your telephone history.

Why Some Android Accessibility Features Are Baked Into Pixels

You whitethorn beryllium wondering wherefore immoderate proceeding accessibility features are baked into Google’s Pixel phones but offered arsenic abstracted apps for different Android devices. Angana Ghosh, manager of merchandise absorption for input and accessibility astatine Google, says this allows the accessibility squad to effort caller things connected Pixel, wherever Google designs the hardware, particularly since immoderate phones whitethorn not beryllium susceptible of the aforesaid level of on-device processing.

Keeping definite features arsenic stand-alone apps besides allows for regular updates truthful different Android phones tin payment from the latest developments without requiring firmware updates, which are often little predominant connected non-Pixel phones.

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