At our Cochlear Family event in Birmingham, UK, recipients inevitably got talking about their Cochlear™ Implants and sharing ideas with one another. We think some of their tips are worth sharing with all Cochlear Family members. So, here are six of the more original tips our recipients shared. Do you have any more?
Get the most from your Cochlear Wireless Mini Microphone 2+
Our recipients take advantage of the Mini Microphone’s 25 metre connection distance:
- When I am having dinner with a large group, I want to hear the conversation from everyone. I click my Mini Microphone onto a flower vase or table decoration in the centre of the table. Then I hear the whole conversation just like everyone else. It’s much more discreet and, once it’s there, everyone forgets about it and relaxes.
- When I watch TV or listen to the radio, I connect the Mini Microphone 2+ using the jack plug and then I can hear the sound streamed to my sound processor. It’s really crisp and easy to understand. My kitchen is right next to the living room as well, so I leave the door ajar when I make a drink and I can still hear my programme!
- When I was using the Mini Microphone at work during a presentation, I discovered I could use my Nucleus® Smart App to adjust sound levels, even though I was in the middle of the room, 10 metres from the presenter.
Turn your iPhone into a microphone!
If you are a Nucleus 7 user, how about this ingenious way of turning your iPhone into a microphone? (Maybe ‘no phones on the table during dinner’ doesn’t apply to you!)
- I use the iPhone Live Listen feature which, effectively means I can stream sounds that are going on around me to my Nucleus 7. You can find it in the iPhone accessibilities settings or, once your Nucleus 7 or hearing aid is linked to the iPhone you can triple click the home button and then it comes up at the bottom of the menu to select it. (For the iPhoneX, there is no triple click, the hearing aid icon needs to be added to the swipe down screen.)
Use flight mode to your streaming advantage
If you want to immerse yourself in a movie on your iPad or you want to watch or listen to downloaded content during a flight, this tip is for you!
- When the cabin attendants on a flight tell you to turn your phone off or switch to flight mode, did you know that you can then turn Bluetooth back on so that you will still be able to stream your chosen downloaded audio content to your Nucleus 7?”
- If I don’t want to be disturbed by messages while I’m watching a movie on my iPad, I switch to flight mode and then turn the Bluetooth back on. That way, I’m streaming to my Nucleus 7, but all the other wireless connections are off.
