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Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages

lagrangepoint.substack.com

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Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages

#61

Post by userbinator »

nfriedly wrote: post #55
userbinator wrote: post #54

It appears that the Hearing Aid feature is actually an equalizer preset that is pushed to the AirPods and will replace your transparency mode. Apple could've just not marketed these as "hearing aids" or used the medical terminology, as every other TWS with parametric EQ and transparency mode can do the same thing, and they wouldn't have the regulatory hawks going after them. They only lose the marketing edge, but per…

> I'm surprised there hasn't yet been any TWS advertised with open-source firmware Let me introduce you to the PineBuds Pro: https://pine64.com/product/pinebuds-pro-open-firmware-capabl...

User can flash in PINE64 community open firmware when becomes[sic] available.

I did manage to find the firmware, but it says that it doesn't have ANC, which the factory firmware does. Good start nonetheless.

Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages

#62

Post by username135 »

thel3l wrote: post #53
vintagedave wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Awesome article. This kind of hacking casually showing iOS app behavior is another world, especially because I thought they were so locked down. How did you get started, any recommendations? Since you did not end up having bought yourself a very expensive set of earphones, what earphones do you use — or want to get?

haha, I think I've got many miles to go before I'm qualified to answer this :') I've just been hacking away at things since I was in middle school, am lucky that there's some transfer. LLMs have also been a huge unlock—really cool to be able to try things at near speed of thought! > what earphones do you use — or want to get? I'm very happy with my Shure Aonic 3s, a very loyal IEMs guy!

In the true spirit of 2600!

Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages

#63

Post by userbinator »

sneak wrote: post #9
nixosbestos wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Completely ignorant question, but what does it come down to? What if I released this feature but didn't call it "hearing aid", nor positioned it as medical device? Is a phone with optical zoom, a "vision-enhancing device" and regulated like eye wear?

Does it look like a duck? Does it quack like duck? In-ear devices with speaker and mic that look like hearing aids that perform hearing aid function for those with hearing loss? Hearing aids. Phones, that look nothing like glasses or contacts, and don't serve the same purpose? Obviously not. Don't be silly. Judges aren't.

In-ear devices with speaker and mic that look like hearing aids that perform hearing aid function for those with hearing loss? Hearing aids.

By that definition every TWS with transparency mode and parametric EQ is a hearing aid.

Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages

#64

Post by JSR_FDED »

thel3l wrote: post #31

Hey! I'm Rithwik, one of the authors of the article, happy to answer questions etc!

Loved the article, thank you for sharing. How happy are the grandparents with the hearing aid functionality? Is it working well for them and how is the battery life?

Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages

#65

Post by observationist »

alistairSH wrote: post #52
miki123211 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the certification required for things labeled as hearing aids, or for things that perform hearing-aid-like functions? Could you sell a "heering eyd" or an "in-ear sound amplifier that lets ornithology enthusiasts hear faraway birds better", which incidentally functions as a (non-insurance-covered) hearing aid, at least for those who can Reddit?

In the US, it's a bit of a mix. There are ~3 categories of hearing devices in the US... 1. Prescription hearing aids - go to audiologist, pay $$$$$$ for devices 2. OTC hearing aids - AirPod Pro etc - less money 3. PSAP - Personal Sound Amplification Product In theory, from top to bottom, you loose features and complexity. But, I haven't been able to find a good summary of technical requirements for each tier of devic…

The only real constraint now is volume - there's still a hard db limit of 111 db because of the technicalities of medical device categorization. Software and hardware patents are entwined with the medical device nonsense and the hearing cartel is incredibly litigious. They make FAANG look like playground bullies if they feel their territory is being infringed on, and have an absurd breadth and depth of patents covering every possible iteration and permutation of audio technology they can possibly get away with.

Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages

#66

Post by blkhawk »

samatman wrote: post #5
josephcsible wrote: post #2

[flagged]

So your theory is what, malice? Apple makes AirPods the cheapest hearing aids by a long shot, except for some customers that they hate? The problem is simple: hearing aids are regulated products, and countries tend to insist on individually certifying them. Getting the right to market AirPods as hearing aids in the US wasn't cheap, I'm sure. There needs to be international harmonization of these regulations. It isn't…

Then don't bloody call it a hearing aid then in those countries - call it "adjusted transparent mode with equalizer". Stuff that coincidentally works as a hearing aid is not regulated as far as I can tell anyway simply because I never heard of a government that would confiscate an amplifier with an equalizer function build in as soon as somebody plugged headphones and a microphone into it.

Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages

#67

Post by myself248 »

This is fantastic! We're building a walk-in-closet-sized Faraday cage at i3Detroit, though of course we're in the US so we won't need it for this specific hack, there's a zillion reasons it's fun to have one!

Off the top of my head:

The biggie is that we're right down the street from WOMC's transmitter, which is 135,000 watts EIRP. It gets into EVERYTHING and makes other RF measurements more difficult, so if you're trying to align an amplifier or something, it's nice to start from a quiet place and get the basics solid, and only THEN add sources of potential intermod and stuff.

Debugging wifi, bluetooth, and other wireless stuff without a zillion other nodes in view. Yes you can filter the output of a sniffer, but it's more fun to filter the input. ;)

Lighting up a 1G or 2G cellular network without worrying about spectrum licensing.

Practicing offensive wifi techniques or other stuff that might interfere with the hackerspace's existing network.

Playing with GPS spoofers in an FCC-free zone. Or anything else you might find amusing but want to do responsibly.

Locking an iPhone in there to see if it reboots itself... (rofl)

Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages

#68

Post by kristofferR »

observationist wrote: post #37
kristofferR wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No good reasons for medical device certification? That's absurd, be glad that machines like that are tested to work as described. The certification process is often flawed and should be improved, but letting random people build medical devices for sale in their garages and sell them without certification is way more flawed than the current solution.

Hearing aids should not be qualified as medical devices. There are devices that should be. You are capable of following sensible instruction and operating an audio equalizer. Audiologists are capable of existing in a world where interaction with them is voluntary and it's not going to lead to terrible mishaps. Hearing Aids can be dangerous, especially at the severe to profound levels of amplification, but that can be…

> There are devices that should be.

Ah, I thought you were arguing for the opposite.

Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages

#69

Post by cheschire »

userbinator wrote: post #54

It appears that the Hearing Aid feature is actually an equalizer preset that is pushed to the AirPods and will replace your transparency mode. Apple could've just not marketed these as "hearing aids" or used the medical terminology, as every other TWS with parametric EQ and transparency mode can do the same thing, and they wouldn't have the regulatory hawks going after them. They only lose the marketing edge, but per…

They may have been trying to target the crowd that uses FSA/HSA to pay for medical related expenses.

Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages

#70

Post by darreninthenet »

userbinator wrote: post #54

It appears that the Hearing Aid feature is actually an equalizer preset that is pushed to the AirPods and will replace your transparency mode. Apple could've just not marketed these as "hearing aids" or used the medical terminology, as every other TWS with parametric EQ and transparency mode can do the same thing, and they wouldn't have the regulatory hawks going after them. They only lose the marketing edge, but per…

But can you play Doom on them?
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