Project Activities

To Enroll

  • To enroll in the study, you need to install the Apple Research app from the App Store on your iPhone. In the app, you’ll find the studies you can enroll in. You will need to select the Apple Hearing Study and go through the introduction and consent process.
  • You will be asked to provide informed consent and permission for us to collect certain types of data. These data include information from your Health app, sensor data and other device related information, and Research app data.

To Participate

  • You will be randomly assigned to one of two arms of the study:
    • Arm 1: participants will have ability to review personal headphone and environmental sound exposure levels in their Health app, or
    • Arm 2: participants will additionally receive notifications prompting review of their personal data patterns in their Health app when loud exposure is noted.
  • You will also be asked to complete occasional surveys and hearing tests that help researchers understand the relationship between your sound exposure and hearing health, such as below:
    • Scheduled Surveys: You will be asked to provide some information about yourself, your headphone use, your hearing ability, and your environmental sound exposures. Survey responses will be requested when you first join and then every six months, and may take between 5-15 minutes to complete.
    • Scheduled Hearing Tests: You will be asked to participate in two different kinds of hearing tests using headphones with your iPhone. The first, tone audiometry, measures how loud a sound needs to be for you to hear it; this test requires use of EarPods (such as those that came with your iPhone) or AirPods. The second, speech-in-noise, will measure how well you hear words in the presence of background noise; this test can be completed with any headphones that you use with your iPhone. Hearing tests will be requested when you first join and then every three months, and may take between 5-10 minutes each. Data from these hearing tests will not be made available to you.
    • Other Requests (for Participants in Study Arm 2): In instances where loud environmental or headphone sound exposure is detected, you may be asked to review your hearing data in the Health app and take a brief survey including a short hearing test.

Get the app.  Join the study.  DOWNLOAD THE RESEARCH APP