Apple includes many useful accessibility features in the iPhone for the hearing impaired.
Hearing is a valuable tool for engaging, connecting and building relationships with people. It helps us communicate and interact with the world around us.
Apple is known to continually improve the accessibility features of the iPhone to meet the needs of more users. If you have hearing problems, you can use the iPhone accessibility features below to help you.
Closed captions
Closed captions are textual transcriptions of dialogues and non-verbal communications for movies, podcasts, TV shows, and videos.
Some apps, like Apple TV, offer closed captions, with over 40 languages supported. Just look for the CC icon to check available languages.
You can also customize the captions with different styles and fonts, like larger options, for better readability.
Type Siri
You can type your commands, ask questions, and get help from your digital assistant all from your keyboard. To enable this, go to Settings> Accessibility> Siri and enable Tape on Siri .
Headphones accommodation
This feature allows you to customize the audio of supported Apple and Beats headphones and works with devices running iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 or later.
Headphones allow you to adjust frequencies and amplify soft sounds according to your hearing needs.
You can customize your headset audio settings by going to Settings> Accessibility> Audio / Visual> Headset fitting . This page helps you find your listening preferences through a series of listening tests or using audiogram data, if you already have them.
FaceTime
FaceTime can be a great way to communicate through sign language. With group FaceTime calls, the app can detect when you’re using sign language to communicate and put you first for everyone.
Hearing in the control center
You can add a Hearing option to your Control Center so you can easily see the audio level from your headphones. If this is enabled, you will see a headphone level which displays the audio level of your headphones in decibels.
Go to Settings> Control Center and add Audition to do this.
Many wired and wireless headphones, including Apple’s AirPods, support this feature.
Live listening
Turn your iPhone into a microphone that streams sound to your Made for iPhone (MFi) hearing aids, AirPods, or other Apple audio devices.
This feature amplifies a speaker’s voice to help you hear them better, whether you are in a noisy environment or at the end of the room, away from the speaker.
Hearing aids designed for iPhone (MFi)
Apple has partnered with hearing aid manufacturers to create advanced hearing aids designed for Apple devices, like the iPhone.
This feature allows you to control your hearing aid using your iPhone. You can apply your audiologist’s presets to various listening environments, route media and call up audio to the hearing aid, and more.
Mono audio
If you can hear better with one ear, this feature allows you to hear both audio channels in each ear instead of playing separate left and right audio tracks.
You can also adjust the audio volume balance between channels, increasing the volume on one side relative to the other as needed.
Go to Settings> Accessibility> Audio / Visual> Mono Audio to turn it on.
Sensory alerts
To help you notice alerts like text messages and emails, you can customize vibration alerts for specific people or turn on the LED flash as a visual cue for a new notification.
Go to Settings> Accessibility> Audio / Visual> LED Flash for Alerts to use it.
If you have an Apple Watch, you can also enable Taptic Engine to provide you with tactile feedback when a new notification occurs.
Sound recognition
Your iPhone may listen to certain sounds in the environment, such as a barking dog, running water, or a crying baby. You can even use this function to turn your iPhone into a baby monitor!
When this feature is enabled, your iPhone or iPad will send you a notification when a particular sound is detected.
You can also use this feature in conjunction with the Shortcuts app to perform certain actions like sending a message to people after your iPhone detects a specific sound.
