Android Hearing Aid Support To Welcome More Users Into Its World

Google recently boasted about its more than 2 billion active Android devices in the world. The global population is, of course, much larger than that and a fraction of that total are unable to enjoy the conveniences of modern mobile lifestyles because of one physical disability or another. While tech companies naturally give more focus on their able-bodied customers, they have a responsibility, sometimes even legal duty, to make their products accessible to everyone. Just weeks after launching Android 9 Pie, Google is announcing a new specification for Android designed to deliver high-quality audio to hearing aids.

According to the World Health Organization, there are 466 million people in the world suffering from disabling hearing loss. Worse, that number is expected to double by 2050. While smartphones these days are primarily visual and tactile devices, people with such disabilities still aren't able to enjoy the full mobile experience, especially when it comes to phone calls, audio notifications, or chilling with Netflix.

The new Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA) spec for Android wants to help change that. It combines low-power Bluetooth LE with "connection over L2CAP channels" (COC) to stream high-quality audio from phone to hearing aid with minimal impact on the hearing aid's battery life. That said, the spec does allow for a bit of latency in favor of better audio quality.

That won't happen by magic, of course. It will require hearing aids to support the Android-specific feature, which means supporting a Bluetooth LE connection (and therefore Bluetooth version 5). ASHA's first user is Danish hearing aid manufacturer GN Hearing, who also helped develop the spec. No other brands have been named but hopefully they will jump in on the spec, at least for their newer devices.