Please help me understand Made For iPhone hearing aids

I have never experienced mfi hearing aids, but when I had them, they were hearing aids from phonak, using classic bluetooth. I've never had to worry about voiceover cut or latency, both were as good as with airpods. Plus the music listening quality is still unmatched by any airpods imo :)
But I am in Montreal, I have 0 idea of which brands you can get funding for in uk / anything outside my quebec. But I really think most hearing aids that do not use mfi use the correct bluetooth protocol for audio ble lc3 (I am probably 99% wrong about the name here). This was my experience back then in 2018-2020.
Another advice, if you can, don't ever get hearing aids with rechargeable batteries, get those with swapable button cells. Your life will be way easier.
To answer your question, depending on the brand... My hearing aids ever since the first model which didn't even have a companion remote for bluetooth (back in 2013) had this mode that could be both manually and automatically triggered where it would change a bit how the mic was capturing sounds from around you but anything very close to it, headset, phone, was heard with little to no feedback and would partially isolate outside noise.
Both models I experienced also had a 3 pin connecter (1 per hearing aid) to standard jack 3.5mm for wired connection though I used it less as with bluetooth it was very easy and conveniant to use both my iphone and laptop to study in school.

mFI aids are made for iPhone specific and yes certainly work with iPhone. They tend to work with VoiceOver very well with little latency as long as VoiceOver is speaking. Most will conserve power when VoiceOver stops speaking after 2-3 seconds and there can be a tiny lag to get going with the next utterance but this has really improved. Current mFI models do support what is called two-way communication in the iPhone world so you can use it hands-free. I have had some bad sound quality issues, well more my callers have had, so I don't use it currently but this is constantly changing so you should certainly try it with your new aids. One-way is very good at least, this streams the audio to your aids, and you use the phone's microphone to speak back. I believe you will find this helps a lot with hearing and understanding.
As for other Bluetooth, two things: there is classic Bluetooth, e.g., what a headset often uses. The only company that uses this in hearing aids is Phonak. This does work with VoiceOver, some people love it, some not so much. Then there is the new Bluetooth Low Energy Audio (Bluetooth LE Audio) that is better than mFI both for one way and two way communication. This works with Android phones, and even modern Windows laptops, you can also buy USB dongles to retro fit any PC. Sadly iPhone does not support Bluetooth LE Audio. The good news is many of the new aids that support mFI also support Bluetooth LE Audio. For example, my Starkey Edge AI (now a generation behind the newest Omni) can do both protocols. I use them to stream audio from my iPhone and laptop interchangeably daily.
Most importantly of all though, get aids that help you hear better in your daily life. Consider how it sounds chatting with people, how your environment sounds, how traffic sounds if you do that, etc. The connectivity to your iPhone an be sorted out, this is a secondary issue to everything else. Also get aids with as many buttons as possible so you an control as much as possible from the aids. The one thing to know, audiologists have fallen in love with mobile apps to control the aids. This is impractical for a VoiceOver user as using VoiceOver has to toggle the aids into streaming mode which
then the app can't control other things such as switching to a Crowd program. And many apps are not accessible, or barely. So make sure you can control things including volume and switching programs via the aid directly.

Hi, that was the other poster. I've used both kinds ,and have rechargeable now. The advantage of disposable is you can just carry a packet in your pocket and swap them out. Rechargeable requires a bit more management at times. Depending on the model. Phonak for example, tends to run 16 hours, whilst Starkey will go much longer. Nevertheless, it is getting more and more difficult to get disposable battery powered aids even if you want them. I'd say you're probably as well off starting with rechargeables because that is where you will end up anyway.

What you can do is promptly install fresh batteries and immediately resume whatever you were doing. Or, if you prefer, with rechargeables you get to wait . . . how many hours?

I've had a baha hearing aid before.
It depends which kind you're getting.
the baha was like on the back of the head with a band and meant I could still wear my airpods.
Are these in ear ones?
that you need?
if they're not I'd recommend not connecting your phone to them as it really drains battery.
Best to just let the hearing aid to do its thing and use normal earphones or headphones for your phone.
but if you're getting in ear hearing aids I couldn't say.
Sorry I can't be more helpful.

For mild-moderate hearing loss they will take less power and even the shortest run-time rechargeable aids will likely be fine. Your audiologist should know what model aids provide the sound scape that both works with your hearing prescription and what you want to hear. From what you are saying I would take a guess at Widex which claim to have some of the widest range and claim to be natural sounding. Almost all hearing aids to emphasize speech understanding and focus a lot on compression - moving high frequencies down into a frequency range that the ear can still hear.
If you have the option, take a couple models for test drives. You may need an audiologist that sells multiple brands but at least hear in the U.S. you can get 30-day trials which is pretty easy when you do not need custom earmolds which it sounds like you do not need. As you have already observed yes, each manufacturer
takes a little different approach to sound processing and each sounds a little different. What works for one person doesn't always work for another and vice versa.

Also ask your audiologist for at least three profiles. I usually have three: one for normal bacckground noise for when I'm listening to what people are saying; a second to hear better when people are talking where there is a lot of noise, e.g., in a car on the highway or in a crowded restaurant; and, a third for listening to music with as much fidelity as the hearing aids and the audiologist can bring.

Good luck!

Here, i have Phonak, i used both the rechargable batteries and the regular batteries,
one of the worest things for me is the rechargable batteries, because sometimes 16 hours are not good enough, and also, when i use them for streeming, this time decreases.
unfortunately, the newer models do not have disposable batteries, i think because they need us to change the hole sim, ot just batteries.
there is some latency here but it is ok for me.

I have the oticon intent 2's and the battery lasts about 22 to 25 hours with a little less if you stream a lot; it takes about 2 hours for a full charge and 30 minutes for a nice top off say when your in the car. The case is a little larger than airpod pro case. The main reason i did nott get phonak is because even though they use classic bluetooth they are not auracast ready nor do they have a T coil.

I don't know either :)
Just to clarify, I was a hearing aid user for about 10 years, in Quebec all funded through RAMQ. My latest model was with the companion phonak remote for bluetooth in 2018. I am not aware of anything newer. I also have some experience with phonak roger pen and the receiver too. Thank god I no longer need any of this after a couple surgeries but I keep an ear into all this sometimes just to follow.
And I really, really don't like the new trends I've been hearing about for 2-3 years. Smartphone companion apps?! Rechargeable batteries non user replaceable?! Enshittification at its peak!
Anyways, my best wishes to OP. Let us know your experience.

T Coil is used for older phones, or the t loop system some buildings have its been around since the 80's i think. Auracast is the same idea but using bluetooth LE audio, business can have a ton of transmitters for a fraction of the cost a Tt coil like airports, train stations, sporting events ETC. You'd use the app and search the auracast broadcast you want and connect. You can also get personal auracast USB receivers though i have not used one, yet.

to landline phones and stuff like that.
But maybe this is a tty thing? I know nothing about all this cause I never used it.
Wow interesting, so for audio descriptions in cinemas where they give a weird receiver it's this tech that's being used then?

My hearing loss is also mild to moderate, and I got my hearing aids in 2022 via the NHS.

I have the Oticon Engage Minirite, which are Made for iPhone. As far as I'm aware they do not support classic Bluetooth unless you use the Connect Clip, which is a separate purchase and is primarily intended as a clip-on microphone you could give to someone to help you hear them more clearly, but it does allow you to connect other Bluetooth devices to the hearing aids as well. I'll just focus on how they work with the iPhone here though.

First off, I don't experience any latency what so ever with VoiceOver. However, what I do sometimes experience is a significant drop in audio quality, usually while using my Braille display. VoiceOver will go incredibly crackly and stuttery through the hearing aids, or will sometimes stop coming through altogether and you're left with no audio. A quick reboot of the hearing aids usually fixes this, and it doesn't happen all the time, but if you're using Braille often this will definitely become an annoyance for you pretty quickly.

The microphone on the hearing aids cannot be used as a microphone for your phone. So if you use Siri, the speech and sounds from Siri will come through your hearing aids, but it's listening through your phone's mic. Calls work in a similar way. By default, calls will come through your hearing aids when you answer them, but you would need to speak into your phone's mic for the person on the other end to hear you. I personally ended up disabling this and have calls always route to my phone because, while the call is going through the hearing aids, the phone's microphones will work as if you are on speaker phone, meaning they're likely to pick up on more background or room noise. Even with the noise cancelling option enabled, the quality for the caller on the other end is still degraded compared to holding the phone to your ear or using another device (earbuds for example). In my case, holding the phone up to my ear doesn't cause any feedback, though this might depend on how your hearing aids are configured i.e. what frequencies they're boosting and how good the fit is in your ears.

Regarding audio quality and using AirPods, the quality is fine for VoiceOver and podcasts, but frankly pretty terrible for music. The Engage Minirite have a very thin wire that goes in at the top of the ear, so AirPods and most other earbuds can simply slot in your ears underneath them and you can use them without needing to remove the hearing aids. VoiceOver will switch to your AirPods when they connect, and fall back to the hearing aids when they disconnect. It can get a bit uncomfortable if you're wearing both for a long period of time, but overall it works well.

I haven't tried any other brands or models, but this is my experience with the Engage Minirite. I didn't have much of a choice in what hearing aids I got but even if I did, I wouldn't have known what I was looking for and more than likely wouldn't have done my research as I was extremely reluctant to get them in the first place. I'm glad I have now of course, but at the time they were the last thing I wanted.

Hope this helps.

I have the oticon intent 2. The spatial awareness is quite good and, one reason for this is because Oticon's use something called 4 D sensors. These sensors focus the mics sounds based on your head movement among other things, it is very settle but really does help focus your directions. Your audiologist can change how aggressive this is for each program.

I find the spacial awareness to be absolutely spot on with these. My audiologist had a pretty good understanding straight away that I would need something that gives me the most natural sound possible, including directional. As I understand it (and I could be wrong about this), some hearing aids modify the sound essentially making it mono so that it can be heard clearly in both ears, but these don't do that at all.

And before anyone says that realisation of needing the most natural sound possible should be obvious, you'd be surprised...

Yes you are correct natural sound is not as easy as one would think. Also, have you gotten tap controls to work? Also has anyone successfully selected voice isolation while on a call? I go to where it says services in use, i see Standard, automatic, and voice isolation. It does not appear you can select isolation am i wrong?

i have a few presets I like to use. The one major issue is, the oticon companion app is not easy to use on the iphone at all. I have emailed Oticon app support detailing the issues so they are aware. If anyone else is having the same experience please email them so they know.