If you’re ready for the latest in tech and hearing loss, take a look at these apps.
Hearing loss affects millions of people worldwide, and technology is continually changing to provide innovative solutions that help manage and improve hearing loss accessibility. Several apps are available to assist those with hearing loss. Whether you’re looking for new innovations or updated classics, here’s a roundup of some of the best hearing loss apps in 2024.
Hamilton Mobile™ CapTel®
The Hamilton Mobile CapTel app for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets allows you to read captions of what’s said to you during phone conversations. Hamilton Mobile CapTel delivers the reliability and confidence customers have come to love about the CapTel service. The feature-rich app provides fast and accurate captions on incoming and outgoing calls, syncs with your device contacts and enables you to access your call log and review captions later.
SoundPrint
SoundPrint is a hearing assistance app and a tool that helps users locate quieter places to socialize. It crowdsources noise-level data from users to create a database of quiet locations. In 2024, SoundPrint expanded its database and improved its noise detection algorithms. It offers a database of quiet environments for socializing, noise level detection and recording, user-submitted reviews and noise ratings, and GPS integration for location-based searches.
Hush City
In a similar manner, Hush City is a free app that allows users to upload sounds around them to help others find peaceful, quiet areas locally. This app is available on a few different platforms and is free for users. It’s a great way to find quiet areas in your neighborhood where you can relax and enjoy quiet conversations.
Decibel X
Ensuring you’re in a safe hearing environment is important to everyone. With apps like Decibel X (available on the App Store and Google Play Store), you can ensure the sound level in your immediate area is safe for your hearing. This app can accurately detect external decibel levels and will tell you if you’re at a safe or unsafe noise level. This is important to protect your hearing health. If you like data, this app is for you; it shows the noise levels as they’re happening in bar graphs or sound wave levels.
Tunity
Tunity allows users to stream audio from muted TVs directly to their smartphones, which is perfect for noisy environments like gyms and restaurants. In 2024, Tunity enhanced its audio streaming quality and expanded its compatibility with more TV channels. Tunity features streaming audio from muted TVs to smartphones, improved audio streaming quality, expanded TV channel compatibility, and easy setup with a user-friendly interface.
Sound Amplifier
Google’s Sound Amplifier app has been updated in 2024 to provide even better sound enhancement. It amplifies and clarifies sounds from the environment, making it easier for users with hearing loss to engage in conversations and hear important sounds. Sound Amplifier now offers amplified and clarified environmental sounds, customizable sound settings, a noise reduction feature, and compatibility with wired and Bluetooth headphones.
Live Transcribe & Sound Notifications
Google’s Live Transcribe & Sound Notifications app has been a game-changer since its release. The app uses speech recognition technology to provide real-time transcription of face-to-face conversations. In 2024, the app has received significant updates, enhancing its accuracy and adding new language options. The sound notifications feature alerts users to important sounds like alarms, doorbells, and more, ensuring they don’t miss crucial auditory cues.
CapTel Captioned Telephones
While you can get CapTel captions with the Hamilton Mobile™ CapTel® app (see above), a variety of CapTel captioned telephones are also available for your home or office setting. CapTel shows you real-time captions of everything a caller says, taking the guesswork out of telephone conversations for people with hearing loss. It’s like captions you see on TV for your phone calls. CapTel includes hearing-friendly features like powerful amplification, enhanced sound frequency tuning, and hearing aid-compatible handsets, all designed to make phone calls accessible and easy.
Technology continues to improve and offers more assistive options for those with hearing loss. The apps listed above are just some of the latest advances available. Whether you’re looking for transcription services, amplified sound, or simply a quieter place to enjoy a meal, these apps can be helpful tools in your hearing loss journey. For more hearing loss tips, make sure to take a look at the CapTel blog.
When using Hamilton CapTel on a smartphone or tablet and not on Wi-Fi, a data plan is required. Hamilton CapTel may be used to make 911 calls but may not function the same as traditional 911 services. For more information about the benefits and limitations of Hamilton CapTel and Emergency 911 calling, visit HamiltonCapTel.com/911.
