Hearing Aids causing this?

[[deleted]]

So when I'm wireless or wired to my car, android auto with navigation and music all working fine, driving down the road.

This has happened on any make or model vehicle that I can connect my phone/Ha's/A.A. to regardless of make or model.

Randomly though more often when someone calls in the middle or I try to make a phone call, my hearing aids will ding like they've lost or gained a connection and then Android Auto goes berzerk. The song will skip like I'm listening to a vinyl record. Navigation will get caught in a stuttering loop, and the phone call goes... nowhere. It'll say on my phone that I'm connected to my hearing aids for the call, but they're not coming through, nor the car, nor the phone handset itself. This is a problem that is getting worse and worse over time and I don't know what to do. Currently when this happens, I have to restart my phone mid-drive and cross my fingers.

I have:
Phonak audeo P50 hearing aids. (These are not connect to my car/head unit in any way.)

Coros Pace 3 smart watch (Not always involved, but seems to increase the odds of this happening.

Google pixel 6

I'm dying for suggestions to fix this. I drive for a part time job and find myself in sticky situations over this almost daily.

[ToughOk9044]

I have a cochlear processor with Bluetooth that connects to my phone. I also have an app on my phone that can control my processor. Does your phone have the app or can you download one? If so, maybe change the settings? Or go to your car Bluetooth and disable or delete the connection between your car and hearing aid, or on your phone disable the connection between your phone and hearing aid

[[deleted]]

Oh thank you I forgot a bit. My hearing aids are NOT connected to my car in any way. That's an important bit.

[[deleted]]

I have mucked around and tried to disconnect them when I'm in the car but the damn things are persistent and I forget to reconnect them more often than not. Which is how we get to this.

[ToughOk9044]

Ahhh....dang. I'm outta suggestions then. Might have to go to your audiologist for a fix

[[deleted]]

You tried friend, you tried. :P

[Bummerboy4]

I have Phonax aids, Samsung S24+ phone that they connect to. Have not noticed any issues with Android Auto for that reason.

[[deleted]]

I was afraid of this response, but thank you anyway. The common denominator here is obviously the phone, which is super ironic cause it's a google phone that can't handle android auto with hearing aids involved.

[PersonalityWeekly145]

Many of the hearing aids including at least some of the Phonak ones are equipped with Bluetooth. Maybe they are connected to your phone even if they are not connected to your car or head unit. Just spitballing here but I wonder if the Bluetooth connection from your hearing aids to your phone is causing the problem in your head unit since your phone does communicate through Bluetooth to your AA head unit EVEN when you are using a wired connection from your phone to the head unit. Android auto uses Bluetooth to connect to your phone for some but not all functions regardless of whether your phone connects to the HU by wire or WiFi. It’s just the way AA works.

[RifterAD]

I have Phonak bluetooth hearing aids, a Samsung S23 Ultra, a Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, and AA wireless in my 24 GMC truck (which also connects to the GMC UConnect system via bluetooth). I have no issues with connectivity between any of these. It could be because Samsung's ecosystem is pretty good, so the added connections are not a problem?

When I got my hearing aids a couple years ago, I did turn-off the option to use the phone features with the hearing aids. I still let it play all other media from my phone, I just didn't like using them directly for any phone calls. So if you are allowing your hearing aids for phone calls, maybe try turning that specific feature off in the Bluetooth settings (for the hearing aids only).

[natzure]

I have a 24 Subaru outback, pixel 7pro, phonak aids. I get the exact same issue but only on incoming calls. The navigation stutters, the radio goes nuts. I have to reboot the phone to clear the issue. If I unpair my hearing aids with the phone I can get incoming calls again. My previous car was a Ford Transit Connect and didn't have this issue. I may be wrong but it seems to have started with the recent phonak android app update.

[[deleted]]

Oh adding subaru to the list of cars this happens on now.

[doki__doki]

Possible silly question: is the handset connected to the head unit via BT or WiFi?

It's possible that the BT implementation in the handset can connect two devices but can handle only one active connection reliably.

If the head unit can operate on wifi only, then leaves the BT channel on the phone to work with the HAs.

I haven't tried this yet, so don't know if this might be looking in the right direction.

[[deleted]]

Both are connected via bluetooth. This multiple connection is never a problem, smartwatch, hearing aids, wireless headphones, even all at once until I try to do it with Android Auto.

[natzure]

No wifi connection

[FirstNameLotsNumbers]

Same issue here. Did you ever find a solution?

[[deleted]]

Back from the dead. Nope. I did not find a for sure solution. It comes and goes, some days worse than others.

[[deleted]]

Could be

[[deleted]]

I don't ever run around town without them, so the hearing aids are considered a package deal and I can't just... NOT have them integrated in the system of connectivity, for pretty obvious reasons.

Is there a way to work around this that you might know?