Apple has recently rolled out Hearing Health features for the AirPods Pro 2 with the latest 7B19 firmware update. These features include Hearing Test, Hearing Aid, and Hearing Protection options. However, the first two features are limited to certain regions due to regulations. Sadly, users in India can't access these features yet, as the country is not included in Apple's list of supported locations.
Creative Workaround Found
Despite this limitation, a resourceful group of tech enthusiasts has discovered a way to bypass Apple's geo-restrictions. Upon the release of the iOS 18.1 update, Rithwik Jayasimha (@thel3l on X) bought a pair of AirPods Pro 2 for his grandmother, only to find out that the much-anticipated features were unavailable in India. Instead of giving up on the shiny new earbuds, Rithwik and his colleagues at Lagrange Point devised a method to sidestep Apple's geolocation checks.
Technical Exploration
You can check out the complete story on how they managed to bypass Apple's restrictive geolocation measures. Essentially, Rithwik found out that iOS relies on three primary methods to determine the location of an iPhone: a GET request to a specific endpoint (https://gspe1-ssl.ls.apple.com/pep/gcc), the location of the Apple Store, and probably the device's timezone and region settings. For cellular devices, Apple also utilizes GPS and an internal database that helps calculate location based on mobile country/network codes (MCC/MNC) received from the network.
Overcoming Challenges
The first logical step taken was to simplify the identification of location from MCC/MNC. Rithwik and his team used an iPad 10th generation that only had Wi-Fi and GPS capabilities, avoiding cellular connection. However, spoofing the location turned out to be more complex than anticipated. They tried changing the device's locale, manipulating the GET request to reflect a US location, and even using Xcode to simulate location, but all efforts were futile. While the iPad did alter its apparent location, it seemed to recognize that something was amiss.
Additional brainstorming led them to realize that the iPad was likely triangulating its position using a mix of GPS, Wi-Fi SSIDs, and MAC addresses from nearby devices. They attempted to modify the Skylift ESP32 project to mimic SSIDs from Menlo Park, California, but this too was unsuccessful. Moreover, it was nearly impossible to eliminate all Wi-Fi networks from their surroundings.
The Faraday Cage Solution
For those unfamiliar, a Faraday cage is a structure that blocks electromagnetic radiation, including radio waves. A common example is a microwave oven, which operates at a frequency similar to Wi-Fi. Thus, a microwave can also act as a Wi-Fi jammer. The team's approach involved placing the ESP32 inside a cardboard box lined with aluminum foil to emit California SSIDs to the iPad. This setup was then placed on top of a microwave oven that should ideally block out 2.4 GHz signals. Initially, the iPad still recognized it was in India, but after some adjustments, it finally acknowledged its location as being in the US.
With anticipation, they opened the AirPods Pro 2 case and awaited the outcome. To their delight, the Hearing Assistance features were immediately activated on the AirPods Pro 2.
Final Thoughts
The team also discovered that the hearing aid feature essentially functions as an equalizer preset, replacing the transparency mode, and should theoretically work even with older firmware. An added bonus is that once activated using this hack, all devices linked to your iCloud account can access the Hearing Health features on the AirPods Pro 2 without going through the entire process again.
Rithwik and his team have since constructed a more effective Faraday cage with assistance from a friend and are even hosting a small camp at Lagrange Point to assist others in need. While the AirPods Pro 2 are not the cheapest true wireless earbuds on the market, they certainly provide an economical alternative for hearing aids.
If you or someone you know owns an AirPods Pro 2 and would benefit from these features, reach out to Rithwik on X for assistance.
