In iOS 12, the Live Listen feature comes to AirPods,. It’s a great feature that can really help those who don’t necessarily need a hearing aid but are having trouble hearing others in a difficult situation. Here’s how to get it working.
- Launch Settings > Control Center > Customize Controls.
- Search for the “Hearing” control and add it to your Include list by selecting the (+) sign next to it.
- Just add Live Listen to your Control Center to use the feature with your AirPods.
To use Live Listen, do the following:
- Make sure your AirPods are connected to your iPhone (check your Bluetooth settings).
- Open Control Center (Low vision users can swipe down from the upper right on iPhone X, or swipe up from the bottom edge on older iPhones. VoiceOver users can single finger swipe down from the top edge until first haptic vibration on iPhone X, or touch status bar and 3 finger swipe up from the bottom edge on older iPhones)
- Select the Live Listen icon, which looks like an ear. If your AirPods are connected, you should see them listed along with a little sound level monitor.
If Live Listen is active, you’ll see a little sound meter. If you are a VoiceOver user than you will need to silence VoiceOver because the audio from the screen reader comes out through the iPhone speaker while the Live Listen feature is on in the current version of iOS 12.
