Osia Smart vs BeAware Deaf Assistant
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Osia Smart
Manage your sound processor settings and personalize your hearing experience directly from your smartphone. Adjust volume, treble, mid, and bass, activate wireless streaming, and even locate a lost device. Access support and daily tips for optimal use.
- Change sound processor programs
- Activate wireless streaming
- Adjust volume, treble, mid, bass
- Control accessory volume
- Link programs to locations
- Locate lost sound processor
- View status and usage
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Control your Osia Sound Processor directly from your iPhone and personalize your hearing experience. Note: To use the Osia Smart App, you first need to pair your iPhone to your sound processor and wait for pairing confirmation. Visit www.osiasmartapp.com for instructions. With the Osia Smart App, you can... - Change programs on your sound processor and activate wireless streaming - Adjust the volume and treble/mid/bass on your sound processor - Adjust the volume of your Cochlear™ Wireless Accessories - Link a personalized program to specific locations - Locate your lost sound processor - View sound processor status and usage - Access support information and daily tips Compatibility For up-to-date compatibility, visit www.cochlear.com/compatibility Note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.
BeAware Deaf Assistant
This app offers advanced communication tools for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. It features real-time voice-to-text transcription, customizable alerts for loud noises, and a unique text-to-speech function for phone calls. It also includes a notepad with preset phrases and an emoji board for easier communication.
- Real-time voice-to-text transcription
- Customizable noise and alert notifications
- Text-to-speech for phone calls
- Note-taking with preset phrases
- Flip text for easy viewing
- Emoji and image communication board
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BeAware is the most advanced communication tool for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community with the latest features that do not exist on other apps! It even hit top 5 on Ycombinator's HackerNews! Are you tired of using apps with bad user experience, while being forced to watch ads and paying $50 a year for functionality that you need to use everyday? Look no further, BeAware is the only free, privacy-safe, no-ads, open-source, completely offline, battery-efficient app designed for Deaf users. With a proven and award-winning development process, BeAware was built from the ground-up with the deaf community in mind. It would not have been possible without the help of 100's of volunteers, testers and dozens of design and development iterations. - BeAware comes with a customizable Alert tool, that can detect loud noises and communicate that to the deaf using vibrations, LED flashes, and sending notifications to your phone and connected Apple Watch. So now, a Deaf new mom can leave the app running and get alerted if her baby is crying, or a Deaf delivery driver can move to the side to make way for emergency vehicles. - BeAware comes with the fastest Speech-to-Text transcription tool that is optimized for accuracy and works in any language that is set in the device Settings - The Text functionality is the best note pad app for the Deaf. The "Preset phrases" feature can make note taking a breeze and the "Flip Text" provides ease while showing the note. Enjoy your custom order at the coffee shop, without having to retype it every time, or having to turn your phone around. - Play Text - The Text tool also comes with a unique ability to Play the Text that you type in through your voice and video phone calls! So if you are not able to speak over the phone in an interview, you can just type out your responses and have the phone play it to the other side of your call. The language of the speech depends on the one selected in your settings - Emoji Board allows you to communicate with people who don't use ASL using emoji or images uploaded from your photo gallery *Users with Usher Syndrome can switch the phone to dark mode to view the app designed to accommodate them.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: BeAware Deaf Assistant at 59% against Osia Smart's 9%. BeAware Deaf Assistant also leads on rating (4.5 vs 2.0) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 8 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
BeAware Deaf Assistant holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 44 and 192 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 9% of Osia Smart's written reviews are positive against 59% of BeAware Deaf Assistant's.
Osia Smart ships an update every 8 months, BeAware Deaf Assistant every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Osia Smart | BeAware Deaf Assistant |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.0 (44 ratings) | 4.5 (192 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 8.9% of reviews | 59.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 44 | 192 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 210 MB | 39 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Cochlear Limited | Saamer Mansoor |
Customer experience
Osia Smart
BeAware Deaf Assistant
Bugs and requests
Osia Smart
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
BeAware Deaf Assistant
Reported bugs
11 issues- Speech recognition is finicky and not exact
- App crashes regularly
- Microphone does not capture sound for transcription
- App consumes battery very quickly
- App makes iPhone extremely hot
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- Does not work in noisy environments
- Icon options are cropped with larger text display zoom
- No audio when typing in texts and hitting iPhone's play button
- Transcription is full of errors and often makes no sense
- Turning app off with blue/red dot does not work; transcription continues
- Cannot have an entire conversation, only line by line recording
Requested features
5 requests- Improve speech recognition/transcription accuracy
- Implement true AI system for better accuracy
- Add automatic punctuation (commas, periods, question marks)
- Allow paragraph breaks for better text structure
- Distinguish between different voices
In-app purchases
Osia Smart
No in-app purchases
BeAware Deaf Assistant
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Osia Smart free?
Is BeAware Deaf Assistant free?
Which has better reviews, Osia Smart or BeAware Deaf Assistant?
Do Osia Smart or BeAware Deaf Assistant have ads?
Which is updated more often, Osia Smart or BeAware Deaf Assistant?
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