What are your favorite apps for hearing loss or tools you use?

Posted by futuretech @futuretech, Oct 2, 2020

Hi all, technology is moving so fast right now, and I have never felt like my audiologist has been on the cutting edge. Personally, I have had hearing loss for thirty years, I know there is not one solution or one specific hearing aid that solves everything. I'd love to learn about the small things people have found that have made a difference. For me zoom captions have helped a lot lately, but masks are hard when in public. Any tips are appreciated!

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@julieo4

I've heard good things about Live Transcribe and Otter ai.

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@mickey5909
Live Transcribe is only for Android phones. Otter ((free version) has 600 free minutes per month and resets monthly with no carry over of unused minutes. Voice to text is another. I use all 3 with Otter having the ability to pick up speech at a greater distance in my experience. I usually go for Live Transcribe first .

FL Mary

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@imallears

I found live transcribe on my iPhone. Does it have a red background and a white elephant on its icon?

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@mickey5909

@imallears

I found live transcribe on my iPhone. Does it have a red background and a white elephant on its icon?

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@mickey5909, NO! That is NOT the Live Transcribe that we talk about. The one we refer to is the Live Transcribe that is currently only available on the Android platform. It's a Google product. Sad that two different products can be called the same thing. Otter is what I recommend for people with iPhone.
Tony in Michigan

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@tonyinmi

@mickey5909, NO! That is NOT the Live Transcribe that we talk about. The one we refer to is the Live Transcribe that is currently only available on the Android platform. It's a Google product. Sad that two different products can be called the same thing. Otter is what I recommend for people with iPhone.
Tony in Michigan

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Thank you for the clarification! As for Otter, I have bluetooth hearing aids which work with my iphone to become headphones when I use my phone. I always use this for my meetings when using zoom. Will I be able to use the Otter app to record these meetings even if I use my hearing aids as headphones?

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@mickey5909

Thank you for the clarification! As for Otter, I have bluetooth hearing aids which work with my iphone to become headphones when I use my phone. I always use this for my meetings when using zoom. Will I be able to use the Otter app to record these meetings even if I use my hearing aids as headphones?

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Yes, you will be able to record the transcript. I've attached a small procedure that may help.
Tony in Michigan

Shared files

Using OtterVoice (Using-OtterVoice.pdf)

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Should my audiologist know about all this stuff? I try to keep track but I'm wondering where is the line. My responsibility or can I trust them to point me toward the new stuff that people have been mentioning here. Thanks for this thread!! It's been on my mind a lot recently

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@woogie

I lost my microphone cover off my hearing aid. I went to get another one. There was a new girl working. I asked her the name of the previous gal who worked there. With her mask on, she replied: "Spider", I said 'SPIDER' ??? She said, no, "Skylar". That's how I hear. I hear what sounds like. I have completely different conversations with people--thinking they are saying something entirely different. My daughter used to tell me: "Mom, you answer people with the wrong answers because you don't even hear them." That's so true! I saw the look on some people's faces--shocked is what they were. I guess I didn't even know what we were talking about. That's before I had any hearing aids. They have certainly helped, but I still hear: sounds like!

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You are another example of someone who would benefit greatly from learning lip reading. All the nitty gritty basics of practical lip reading. Watch for new online course coming soon, sponsored by two non-profits

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Back to the apps question, rather than assisting devices which much of this somehow got to, my favorite apps are: DecibelX, for avoiding noisy environments; Live Transcribe or Otter for transcribing voice to text, and InnoCaption for my phone, which captions incoming and outgoing calls. Simple, easy to install and very helpful. I am almost deaf, wear two very powerful Starkey hearing aids, BTW, and teach practical lip reading. Info about my new company can be learned via my email, speechreader2@gmail.com.

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@tonyinmi

Yes, you will be able to record the transcript. I've attached a small procedure that may help.
Tony in Michigan

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So I tried using Otter but it only seem to work if I wasn’t using my hearing aids as a Bluetooth on my phone. I dial into the zoom meeting in my phone in order to hear through my hearing aids. It only seemed to work if I didn’t use the phone but my computer. And at that point I can’t actually hear the presentation so I think my best option at this point is to use my aids through my phone. I think I pick up the majority of what is said and don’t need to rely on the text part at least at this point in my life. But if someone knows if I can use this while using my aids through the phone please let me know.

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I would think Otter needs to hear the words on a microphone that is hearable. If you pipe it directly to you with no outside sound, Otter won't hear anything, I don't think

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