If you came here for a Hear Coach review, the most useful thing we can tell you is that the app is gone. Starkey's listening-game app has been delisted from both app stores. Here is how we checked, what the app used to offer, and what fills its place.
We checked on July 11, 2026. A search of Starkey Laboratories' published iOS apps returns My Starkey, Thrive, Hear Share, SoundCheck Live, and Relax — no Hear Coach. The Google Play listing is gone as well, and Starkey's official apps page lists the same five apps without it.
Starkey has not published a reason. Its current lineup centers on hearing aid control, sharing with loved ones, sound-level checks, and tinnitus relief, so a standalone listening game may simply have fallen outside the plan. Older articles and roundups still recommend Hear Coach, which is why so many people go looking for it and come up empty.
Hear Coach was a suite of listening games from Starkey. It held three gaming modules, each with levels that unlocked as you improved. Exercises included picking out strings of numbers and following speech as background noise varied, with your progress tracked over time.
Starkey aimed it at anyone with hearing loss or anyone wearing hearing aids — its own description never limited it to Starkey wearers. The format — short sessions, rising noise, visible progress — was solid, and it is the shape to look for in a replacement.
Some third-party download sites still offer old Hear Coach installers. Leave them alone. An app that has been pulled gets no updates, no fixes, and no support, and files from unofficial sources carry their own risks.
Nothing about Hear Coach was rare enough to justify that. Every part of what it did — speech in noise, short game sessions, progress tracking — is available in apps that are alive today.
Two free apps cover similar ground. ReDi, from MED-EL, is fully free, works with any device brand, and was updated in July 2026. WordSuccess, from Advanced Bionics, is also free for any brand, with word practice in quiet and in noise plus a placement test.
SoundSteps is our app, so this entry is not neutral. It puts adjustable background noise on every activity — word pairs, sentences, conversations, and stories — which is the closest match to what Hear Coach's noise games trained. It runs in any browser with a free version, and your first 7 days include full access with no card.
ReDi (MED-EL): free, any brand, updated July 2026
WordSuccess (Advanced Bionics): free, any brand, words in quiet and noise
SoundSteps (our app): browser-based, adjustable noise on every activity, free version
FAQ
No. As of July 11, 2026, Hear Coach appears in neither the App Store nor Google Play, and Starkey's official apps page no longer lists it.
Starkey has not published a reason. Its current apps — My Starkey, Thrive, Hear Share, SoundCheck Live, and Relax — focus on hearing aid control, health sharing, sound levels, and tinnitus relief rather than listening games.
Hear Coach was a free-standing suite of listening games from Starkey: three modules with levels that unlocked as you improved, exercises like number strings and speech in background noise, and progress tracking over time.
No. Starkey described it as being for anyone with hearing loss or anyone wearing hearing aids, whatever the brand. You did not need Starkey devices to use it.
For free options, ReDi from MED-EL and WordSuccess from Advanced Bionics both work with any device brand and cover speech-in-noise practice. SoundSteps — our app — puts adjustable background noise on every activity and runs free in any browser.
Related reading
Every listening-practice app compared: price, platforms, devices, languages.
The apps that are truly free to use, and who each one fits.
A fair roundup of listening practice apps by price, features, and fit.
Which brand apps are locked to their own devices, and which are open to everyone.
A plain answer on what listening practice can and cannot do.
SoundSteps
SoundSteps puts background noise you control on every activity. Start with the free listening check in your browser — no install, no card.
SoundSteps is designed for hearing training and practice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition. Consult a healthcare professional for medical advice.
