With today’s huge advancements in technology, it seems like a small smartphone can handle just about any task you put to it. This is even true for hearing aids, although there are some small caveats.

If you have trouble hearing, or more specifically differentiating between words, being able to use your smartphone as a hearing aid to help you understand what others are saying would be incredibly useful.

Instead of having to ask everyone to write down what they are saying, you could simply pull out your phone.

Luckily, this technology is now built into almost every new smartphone, Android and iPhone alike. While there are probably dedicated apps for something like this, it can be as simple as opening up a new email or any app where you can type text.

There is usually a microphone icon on the screen, just tap that, and start talking. Once the person is done talking, it’ll take a second or two for it to transcribe, but then it will appear on the screen.

Like we said, this isn’t perfect though. Often times the phone will “mishear” the words and output incorrectly. Usually it gets enough of the words for you to get the idea however.

Secondly, while they are good at handling background noise, you won’t be able to simply put the phone down on the table in a restaurant and see what everyone at the table is saying. Finally, there won’t be any punctuation unless the person speaking specifies it, meaning they would have to say “period” at the end of their sentence, for example.

If you can get by these few drawbacks, you may have a new transcription tool already in your pocket. Next time you are having trouble understanding what someone is saying, take out your smartphone and give it a try.

If it wasn’t what you were hoping for, you may need more advanced help. For more options call us at MDHearingAid today at 1-888-670-HEAR (4327) and find out more from our on call audiologists.