Nowadays, pretty much everybody has a smartphone.
If you suffer from hearing loss in Charleston, there are some handy apps you can download for your phone.
Most are inexpensive (or free) and can make your life quite a bit easier.
Hearing Apps for iPhone Users
Hearing impaired iPhone users might want to check out the following apps, available in the App Store.
- Test Your Hearing. This app is designed to test your hearing ability and couldn’t be any easier to use; simply push a red button every time you hear a sound. Once your results are calculated, you’ll be given a “hearing age” assessment based on your score. If your hearing age is significantly older than your actual age, you might be experiencing signs of hearing loss.
- Bose® Hear. This is a companion app for people with Bose® Headphones™. It enhances conversations, allowing you to more easily understand speech in noisy environments. It also allows you to stream music and phone calls directly from your phone.
- TapTap. This app allows deaf and hard of hearing users to pick up on audio cues they might otherwise miss. TapTap causes your phone to flash and vibrate, alerting you to nearby sounds that might be too soft for your hearing aids to detect.
- Braci. Braci users can record the sounds in their home environment and have them converted into visual and sensory notifications that alert you in a way similar to the TapTap app. You can program a variety of devices such as doorbells, smoke alarms and phone calls.
- Pedius. This app takes advantage of synthesis and speech-recognition technology to enable deaf and hearing-impaired users to make phone calls. Its built-in voice recognition software translates speech, converting it to text so you’ll no longer need to rely on third-party translation services.
Hearing Apps for Android Users
Team Android? No problem! The following apps are available for download from the Google Play store:
- Hearing Test. Using a combination of pure tone audiometry, a common hearing test, and predefined calibrations, this app measures the quietest sounds you are able to hear, providing information about your hearing threshold.
- AllDeaf. AllDeaf is a social networking site created specifically for deaf and hard of hearing users, as well as individuals who rely on ASL. Users can post directly to the All Deaf forum, upload photos and send/receive private messages.
- Sound Alert. The company behind the Braci app have created a similar one for Android users. Sound Alert records sounds in your home environment and converts them to visual and sensory notification alerts, turning your smartphone into an alerting device for improved safety and comfort.
- Ava. This app uses the microphone on your smartphone to capture sounds and convert them into captions and subtitles. Ava uses cutting-edge AI technology to learn from mistakes; typing over an incorrect word teaches Ava to get it right the next time.
- Easy Talk. Easy Talk utilizes voice recognition software to transcribe conversations. Users can download it for offline use, providing the deaf and hard of hearing with communication options when wireless service is spotty or unavailable. There are both free and pro versions.
- Sprint Relay. Those looking for a more traditional relay service will find Sprint Relay to their liking. Type whatever you wish to say to an operator, who will relay message to the person you are calling and provide an instant typed response.
Because new smartphone apps are available all the time, check out the App Store or Google Play frequently.
You can also contact your Charleston audiologist for recommendations and other strategies to help improve your communication abilities.
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Our North Charleston Audiologists Office Locations
North Charleston
9185 US-78
North Charleston, SC 29406
(843) 793-6500
Summerville
298 Midland Pkwy
Summerville, SC 29485
(843) 766-7103
Windmill Station
2005 2nd Avenue
Summerville, SC 29486
(843) 459-8965