Presented herein are techniques for dynamically changing how a recipient-associated device (e.g., external component and/or user device linked to an external component) interacts with a user based on whether the external component of a medical device system is coupled to the recipient. In particular, a recipient-associated device in accordance with embodiments presented herein provides a first type of user interaction while the external component is coupled to the recipient, but the recipient-associated device provides a second (and different) type of user interaction when the external component is uncoupled/decoupled from the recipient (e.g., dynamically adjusting a user interface provided by a recipient-associated device based on whether the external component is coupled or decoupled from the recipient).