Comparison

Head Shadow vs HP Hearing

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Head Shadow

This app acts as a hearing aid for individuals with single-sided deafness or mild bilateral hearing loss. It utilizes your iPhone or AirPods microphone to capture ambient sounds, then amplifies and outputs them through wired headphones or AirPods.

Highlights
  • Single-sided deafness aid
  • Mild hearing loss amplification
  • 10-band audio equalizer
  • Reverb options
  • Works with AirPods and wired headphones
  • 30-day free trial
Features
Read full description

Head Shadow is a hearing aid iPhone app for people with single-sided deafness or mild hearing loss in both ears. The app captures nearby sound with the iPhone or AirPods microphone, enhances it with a 10-band equalizer, and plays it in real time through wired headphones, AirPods, or AirPods Pro. FOR SINGLE-SIDED DEAFNESS When using AirPods, activate the microphone on your deaf side. Place that AirPod in your deaf ear and the other AirPod in your hearing ear. Head Shadow captures sound from your deaf side, enhances it, and plays it in your hearing ear, providing a CROS-like listening experience. FOR MILD HEARING LOSS If you have mild hearing loss in both ears, connect your wired or wireless headphones and play the app. Head Shadow captures sound with the iPhone microphone, enhances it, and plays it through your headphones. SOUND CONTROLS The 10-band equalizer lets you adjust the frequencies used in a standard audiogram. Reverb options let you hear how sound changes in different spaces. TRY FREE, THEN BUY ONCE Try all features free. Continue with a one-time purchase. There are no ads and no subscriptions. FINAL PLANNED FEATURE RELEASE Head Shadow was first published on the App Store in 2019. This is its final planned feature release, and the app will remain available and supported. Head Shadow AI, our next-generation app for people with single-sided deafness, is now available separately on the App Store and will receive future feature development.

About

HP Hearing

This app enables self-fitting of hearing aids using an advanced ear test. It offers a focus feature for improved speech understanding in noisy environments and allows wireless control of hearing aids via Bluetooth. Designed for adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss.

Highlights
  • Self-fitting hearing aids
  • Ear ID™ hearing test
  • Focus feature for speech understanding
  • Wireless Bluetooth control
  • FDA-cleared hearing aid compatibility
Read full description

The HP Hearing App allows self-fitting of your HP Hearing PRO OTC Hearing Aids. Ear ID™ tests your hearing thresholds from low frequency to high frequency in each ear, then automatically self-fits your HP Hearing PRO OTC Hearing Aids. The HP Hearing App allows you to use the Focus feature that has been clinically validated to provide a 30% speech understanding improvement in the presence of noise. This is a significant benefit in restaurants or social situations where background noise makes understanding speech difficult. Now, at the touch of the HP Hearing App, you can switch the Focus On and use the directional microphone settings to Focus on sounds in front of you to immediately improve your speech understanding.  The HP Hearing App allows you to wirelessly control the HP Hearing PRO OTC Hearing Aids with Bluetooth® enabled smartphones operating iOS 11 or higher. HP Hearing PRO Self-Fitting OTC Hearing Aids are FDA-cleared and clinically proven to be substantially equivalent to professionally fit hearing aids when self-fit through Ear ID™ using the HP Hearing App.  NOTE: HP Hearing PRO Self-Fitting OTC Hearing Aids are for adults 18 years of age or older with perceived mild-to-moderate hearing loss. Sold in the U.S.A. Refer to the FDA safety guidelines at www.hphearingpro.com. The HP Hearing App requires HP Hearing PRO OTC Hearing Aids, Powered by Nuheara to work with it. Visit www.hphearingpro.com for more information on how to purchase HP Hearing PRO OTC Hearing Aids. WARNING: If you are younger than 18, do not use this. You should go to a doctor, preferably an ear-nose-through doctor (an ENT), because your condition needs specialized care. Over-the-counter hearing aids are only for users who are age 18 or older. ©2023 NUHEARA LIMITED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Screenshots

Head Shadow4 screens
HP Hearing4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Head Shadow at 83% against HP Hearing's 0%. Head Shadow also leads on rating (4.3 vs 1.0) and ads (none vs shown). HP Hearing's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15). On price and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Head Shadow sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. HP Hearing asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Head Shadow holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Head Shadow has 13 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of Head Shadow's written reviews are positive against 0% of HP Hearing's.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Head Shadow versus HP Hearing: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHead ShadowHP Hearing
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (13 ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews83.3% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings13 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks—
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS1511.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB123 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperIsa AsudehNuheara Limited

Customer experience

Head Shadow

All ratings13 ratings
Positive76.9%
Neutral7.7%
Negative15.4%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%

HP Hearing

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Head Shadow

One-time2
  • Free 30-Day TrialFree
  • One time purchase$3.99
None

HP Hearing

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Head Shadow free?
Head Shadow is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is HP Hearing free?
HP Hearing is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Head Shadow or HP Hearing?
Head Shadow is rated higher. Head Shadow averages 4.3 out of 5 from 13 ratings, while HP Hearing averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Head Shadow or HP Hearing have ads?
HP Hearing shows ads; Head Shadow does not.

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