The newly added accessibility tools will come in handy for many
The first developer preview of Android 14 came out yesterday, and while we’re still diving in, we’ve already got to check out a ton of convenient features, ranging from smarter dual-SIM management to app cloning. In line with Google’s efforts to make Android more accessible to those who need hearing ads, Android 14 looks like it’s introducing a new settings page dedicated to hearing devices, including a couple of neat features to make hearing aids work better with your phone.
Esper’s Mishaal Rahman first spotted the new settings page in Android 14 DP1, and after enabling a flag, you can find this “Hearing devices” screen under the Accessibility section of the phone’s Settings app. This page aims to be your one-stop shop for pairing and managing your connected hearing aids.
The first option up top is pretty straightforward, and pairs new hearing devices over Bluetooth. “Hearing aid compatibility” improves audio for compatible hardware, but we’re not clear yet how exactly that is achieved or how it differs from the existing “Sound Amplifier” option available under Android 13’s accessibility menu.
If you want a handy shortcut to quickly access this “Hearing devices” page, you can use the toggle here to add one. This way, you won’t have to dig into the Accessibility settings each time you want to find the options to control your hearing devices.
If you’re interested in trying out Google’s latest software for yourself, you can get started by installing Android 14 Developer Preview 1 on a compatible Google Pixel phone.
