I recently came across an app called HeardThat, which removes background noise so you can better understand conversations. As everyone with hearing loss struggles with background noise (including hearing device users), I was very excited to see what the app could do. I had an opportunity to demo HeardThat at the Hearing Loss Association of America’s convention.

I found that HeardThat does indeed do a good job of filtering out background noise. You use your phone microphone to pick up the sound of people speaking. The app has a directional mode where it only picks up a speaker right in front of the microphone or an all directions mode where the phone mic picks up any voice near enough. The app removes background noise and sends the conversation to either a hearing device or any headphones, earbuds, etc. linked to the phone.

There is a new update coming soon to HeardThat that will allow you to record someone’s voice for a few minutes, and then the app will only send through the voice recorded and filter out all other voices. You can also record and label multiple voices and click between which voices come through with a button in the app. I was able to demo this cool new feature at the HLAA exhibit hall.

The app does have a free 30-day trial where you can try it out on your device before you have to pay anything. After the trial, you can use 30 minutes a week for free. Otherwise, it is $10 a month or $99 a year.

HeardThat does sell a remote microphone specifically for the app that you can have a conversational partner wear to increase audio quality (and not have to have your phone right next to them). Unfortunately, not just any remote mic will work, but theoretically, you would not have to update microphones when you update a hearing device because the HeardThat microphone will consistently work with the app.

There is a time delay when you use HeardThat as it takes a tiny amount of time to process the sound and send it. The company recommends doing noise canceling or receiving the sound via the app so you don’t have an echo. I found the time delay was more significant when I used bluetooth earbuds instead of wired headphones. That was a little bit of a bummer because the delay was enough to change the conversational rhythm and impact lip reading.

In general, though, the app is an exciting breakthrough in solving background noise. It truly did a wonderful job eliminating background noise when I tested it in a crowded exhibit hall, which is about the best test location one could have. I also tested it in some hard to hear restaurants, and it definitely does a great job on filtering out extra noise. It’s wonderful to have something like this on the market, and I can’t wait to see where it leads from here.

https://heardthat.ai/