Hey! I'm Rithwik, one of the authors of the article, happy to answer questions etc!
Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages
31–40 of 202 posts
Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages
#32Does anyone know what the Hearing Protection mode does? It's not available in Norway (or anywhere outside of NAmerica).
I've used the AirPods Pro 2 as hearing protection for some stuff before, it works fine. Is it just due to the words ("Hearing Protection") which they are only allowed to use only in America or is it actually better than regular Pro 2 noise-cancelling?
Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
Non sequitur. You could say that about any high quality set of headphones since they're capable of much higher power output than hearing aids.
I'm not saying it makes sense, but that's the idea.
It's still a non-sequitur because regular earphones are not subject to such regulations.
Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
That would definitely invite lawsuits. Do you think competitors who sell hearing aids for $2500 today would allow Apple to sell their $200 device without medical device certification?
Medical Device certification is regulatory capture. There's no good reason for it except to exploit a source of cash. Hearing Aid companies are among the most evil on the planet.
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.
Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fair enough - that certainly explains the situation in the US, where they were allowed. It just seemed surprising to me that every country in the world has medical device certification for anything that calls itself a hearing aid, forcing apple to restrict it to just 2 or 3 countries. You'd think in some it would be linked to what's covered by state medical care, or sold with a particular emblem or... Actually, could…
In the US, and nearly everywhere else this type of hearing assist tech is sold, the Hearing Aid cartel is responsible for lobbying and influencing and bribing officials to maintain a stranglehold on their cash cow. Retired, elderly people with extra cash get screwed over with markup rates of 40,000% or more (yes, that's the right number of zeros.) Hearing aid technology, along with DSPs and specialized high quality,…
> There is no valid, rational basis in fact for the medical device classification or the rationalizations used to justify it.
I wouldn't be that certain. The situation with stuff like fakes and knock-offs is already bad enough as it is - at least for anything classified as "medical devices", be it condoms or hearing aids, the threat of the law is keeping bad actors reasonably at bay. You go and buy a hearing aid, you can at least rely on the thing and its delivery chain having been through multiple very experienced hands checking everything on it.
Additionally, it's about stability. People's lives can matter with hearing aids - of course, users are responsible for keeping their batteries charged, but at least a hearing aid should be reasonably well enough made to not randomly lock up and leave someone without adequate hearing in a situation where they're operating some machinery.
I agree that the price margins on medical products are ridiculous and even the additional certification and paperwork doesn't warrant even a tenth of the price tag. But dismantling the regulatory framework around medical stuff comes with serious side issues.
Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages
#36Does this reset itself after a certain amount of time or is it one and done? I'd be worried about the feature being removed when the iPad or airpods decide they've been in India for too long.
Heya! One of the authors here. Nope, its a one time thing. When the feature is enabled, a flag is set on the iCloud account, so you can travel anywhere and have it work. At the same time, a EQ profile is pushed to the transparency mode of the Airpods, enabling the hearing aid features. Once done, it sticks with the Airpods, unless you reset them. However, an interesting quirk is that if you enable this on someone's a…
Very cool, glad it sticks.
Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Medical Device certification is regulatory capture. There's no good reason for it except to exploit a source of cash. Hearing Aid companies are among the most evil on the planet.
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 trivially handled in software and manuals.
Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages
#38Hey! I'm Rithwik, one of the authors of the article, happy to answer questions etc!
Mainly just wanted to say, this is an absolutely fantastic hack and I loved reading about it - thank you for sharing!
I guess if I have one question, it would be... what else are you planning to do with your new Faraday cage?
Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
The FDA has to certify the devices for use as hearing aids in the U.S Other countries have similar regulatory bodies the certify the use of a medical device. Hearing aids (and things sold as it) are medical devices.
Who cares? Call the feature something else, enable it everywhere and move on.
> That would definitely invite lawsuits. Do you think competitors who sell hearing aids for $2500 today would allow Apple to sell their $200 device without medical device certification?
Re: Bypassing regulatory locks, hacking AirPods and Faraday cages
#40Hey! I'm Rithwik, one of the authors of the article, happy to answer questions etc!
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?