Apps for Hearing Healthcare: Trends, Challenges, and Potential Opportunities

This chapter provides a picture of the evolution of mobile applications (apps) for hearing health care (HHC) in terms of availability, variety, penetration, offered services, and target users. Special emphasis is given to newly developed methods that might assist audiologists and hearing professionals to get meaningful information and guidance for informed adoption of apps for themselves as well as for patients and their families. The chapter also shows how these novel methods can be used to characterize and compare a variety of apps across a wide range of services and target user groups. A representative sample of apps, assessed by using such a standardized framework, is analyzed to derive a multifaceted picture of apps for HHC. The chapter outlines and discusses emerging trends and needs in the area and highlights the open challenges as well as potential opportunities for professionals, researchers, developers, and stakeholders at large.