If you have AirPods Pro 2 or above and IOS 26 and up, you can get help with hearing as well as translation from other languages.
(To pair your AirPods to your iPhone, open the AirPods case near your iPhone, ensure Bluetooth is enabled in your iPhone’s settings, and follow the on-screen instructions that appear. If the setup animation doesn’t show, you can manually connect them through the Bluetooth settings)
First take a brief hearing test in a quiet place. Then sounds can be automatically adjusted to your personal hearing profile. To take the test, place the AirPods in your ears and connect the to Bluetooth and then click the lower case “I” next to “connected”. The page shows Take a Hearing Test. Select that and follow the instructions. You can save your audiogram if you desire. Your device will also help in determining if you have a good fit with the AirPod tips. If the test doesn’t indicate a good fit, you may need to try a larger or smaller tip.
Further down the page in the Audio section of the AirPod features page, you can adjust a Personal Volume, Conversational Awareness and Adaptive Audio. Conversation Awareness will automatically lower media volume and enhance nearby voices when you start speaking.
For translations you’ll need an iPhone with Apple Intelligence enabled which includes iPhone 16 Pro and Premix an later models. Older models do not have this feature. The AirPods rely on the phones for the intensive work to translate.
In the Control Center (swipe down from upper right corner of you iPhone screen) you’ll see an “ear” icon. Select the icon to see the battery level, Background Sounds, Hearing Assistance, an Live Listen options. Live listen uses your phone as an extra mic and Hearing Assistance is the hearing aid feature where you can customize a number of features.
An alternative is to go this route: Settings>select the AirPod>Hearing Health>Hearing Assistance.
The stems on you AirPods can be used to change functions. Settings>Accessibility>AirPods (in Accessories Section). You can also change what happens when you press the stems at Settings>AirPod Name. Here you can change the functions of the stems.
When you need to communicate with a person in a different app, open the Apple Translate app and select the languages (11 at this time) for you and the other person. Or if you have already done this, start by saying “Siri, start Live Translation”
For the person you’re talking to, there are three communication options. They can see a translation of what you’ve said on your iPhone screen; you can tap the Play icon to read that translated text aloud; or, if they too have AirPods Pro 2 or 3 and Live Translation, they can use the same feature to hear the translated text in their AirPods Pro. For better results be near the person speaking and avoid lots of background noise for best results. There’s even a Play button that will read the translated text for you.
They are also great for listening to music too. 🙂
To get the desired results you’ll have to practice some to see how it works. Here are some YouTube Videos to help.
https://youtu.be/lGyDyxH1Aqo?si=bqDDZAjWFISn6rC3
https://youtu.be/FwOxnWeBdIk?si=9jWx7fzuml4ct8Z-
https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/airpods-owner-youre-missing-out-if-youre-not-using-these-tricks/