With Apple’s AirPods, you can listen to your favorite music, audiobooks, and podcasts just as with any other pair of true wireless earbuds. But if you know the right tricks, you can do much more, such as talk to Siri, control music playback, and enhance the audio. You can also check and preserve the battery charge on your AirPods and hunt them down if they’re missing.
Below are 17 tips to help you get the most out of your AirPods. AirPods Pro have a few more bells and whistles than the standard AirPods. But don’t worry, the tips here apply to both versions of Apple’s earbuds, though certain ones require the third-generation AirPods.
Top-Rated Apple AirPods
1. Pair AirPods With an iPhone
Connecting your AirPods to a new iPhone is quick and seamless. Make sure Bluetooth is enabled on your iPhone. Open the lid of the charging case on your AirPods but don’t remove them just yet. A card flashes on your phone telling you that they’re not connected to this iPhone. Tap Connect.
Next, press and hold down the button on the back of the charging case but make sure the lid stays open. A notice pops up saying that the AirPods are paired and connected. Tap Continue, pull out your earbuds, and tune up your favorite music. The next time you want to use them with your iPhone, just remove them from the case, and they’ll automatically connect.
2. Pair AirPods With an iPad
If you want to use your AirPods with an iPad after pairing them with your iPhone, Apple does the work for you. When you pair your AirPods with an Apple device, iCloud syncs that pairing with any other Apple devices connected to your Apple account. On your iPad, swipe to display the Control Center, then long-press on the Music card. Tap the music source icon and change it to your AirPods to use them with your iPad.
3. Pair AirPods With an Apple Watch
There’s no special trick to using your AirPods on an Apple Watch. Pairing them with your iPhone also pairs them with your Apple Watch. Open Bluetooth on your Apple Watch to check their status once they’ve been removed from their case. Make sure the AirPods are connected. If not, tap the entry for your AirPods to connect them and then fire up your favorite music or audio app.
4. Use Your AirPods With an Apple TV
You can watch a video or listen to music on your Apple TV and send the sound to your AirPods. To do this, open your AirPods case. Press and hold the pairing button. Open Settings on your Apple TV. Click the setting for Remotes and Devices and then choose Bluetooth. Select your AirPods from the list of Bluetooth devices. Wait for the connection, and the sound from your Apple TV is piped to your AirPods.
5. Connect AirPods to a Mac or PC
(Image: Apple; Shutterstock/Lukmanazis)
Apple’s wireless earbuds can connect to laptops via Bluetooth, too. Here’s the rundown for connecting them to a Windows PC and a Mac.
6. Rename Your AirPods
By default, your AirPods are named after you, as in Jack’s AirPods or Jill’s AirPods Pro. If you want to name them something else, turn to your iPhone and go to Settings > Bluetooth. Tap the Info icon for your AirPods, tap the Name field, and then type the new name. Tap Done to apply the change and then tap Back to return to the previous screen.
7. Call Up Siri
You can always activate Siri by pressing a button on your phone or by saying the activation phrase, but your AirPods also have the built-in means to trigger Apple’s voice assistant. Double-tapping an AirPod or pressing the stem of an AirPod Pro activates Siri. Speak your question or request through the built-in microphone, such as asking for the current temperature, and Siri will respond.
8. Control Your Music
If you want to pause, play, or jump forward and back a track, you could ask Siri to do it, but you can also tap or press an AirPod to control your music. On any generation AirPods Pro and the third-generation AirPods, music control is automatically available. On the first- or second-generation AirPods, you need to enable it. For that, go to Bluetooth and tap the Info icon for your AirPods. At the next screen, tap the entry for Left in the section for Double-Tap on AirPod and change it to the audio action of your choice—Play/Pause, Next Track, or Previous Track. If you wish, do the same for the right AirPod and change it to a specific action.
Now when you play music or other audio, you can control it by interacting with your AirPods. With any generation AirPods Pro and the third-generation AirPods, press the stem of either AirPod to play or pause the audio. Double-press the stem to skip ahead to the next track. Triple-press the stem to skip back to the previous track. With the first- or second-generation AirPods, double-tap your left or right AirPod depending on the action you chose when you set up the audio control.
9. Improve Sound With Headphone Accommodation
A feature known as Headphone Accommodations enhances the audio from your AirPods by boosting softer sounds and certain frequencies. You must be running iOS 14 or higher on your iPhone and have either second- or third-generation AirPods or AirPods Pro for this feature to work.
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Visual > Headphone Accommodations and turn on the switch. Tap Play Sample to start playing music, which will allow you to tune the audio for a balanced tone across a range of frequencies, a vocal range for middle frequencies, or brightness for higher frequencies. You can also boost softer sounds slightly, moderately, or strongly.
10. Go 3D With Personalized Spatial Audio
Available for any generation AirPods Pro and for the third-generation AirPods, the Spatial Audio feature tries to lend a three-dimensional quality to the music you hear to make it seem as if it’s coming from different sources around you. To hear how this sounds, go to Bluetooth and select the Info icon for your AirPods. Swipe down the screen to the section for Spatial Audio and tap the link for See & Hear How It Works. At the next screen, tap the button for Spatial Audio to hear the difference between that setting and regular stereo audio. Tap Done. To enable Spatial Audio while you’re listening to music, swipe to display Control Center, press down on the control for your AirPods and then tap the icon for Spatialize Stereo. You can then try it in Fixed mode and in Head Tracked mode to hear which sounds better.
11. Automatically Transfer Audio to Your AirPods
When you put your AirPods in your ears, you may want to automatically hear any music already playing on your iPhone or iPad. And when you take them out, you might want the music to pause. You can set this up on your iPhone by going to Settings > Bluetooth > [Your AirPods info icon] > Automatic Ear Detection and turning this feature on.
Now you can place your AirPods in your ears and the music will bounce from your device’s built-in speaker to the earbud. If you remove one AirPod the music will pause. Put it back in your ear, and the music resumes. Remove both and the music stops. If you have iOS 14 or higher, your AirPods will also automatically switch among your iPhone, iPad, and Mac as long as they’re all pointing to the same iCloud account.
12. Change the Microphone Source
Your AirPods come with a built-in microphone in both the left and right buds so you can make calls and talk to Siri. By default, the microphone can automatically switch between the two AirPods, but if you want to set the mic to a specific ear, go to Settings > Bluetooth > [Your AirPods info icon] > Microphone and change it from Automatic to Always Left AirPod or Always Right AirPod.
Recommended by Our Editors
13. Share Audio With Apple’s AirPods
With the past several versions of iOS and iPadOS, Apple offers an Audio Sharing feature that lets you share with a friend what you’re listening to on your Apple AirPods or select Beats headphones. Here’s how it works.
14. Preserve the Battery Charge
Do your AirPods lose their battery charge too quickly? That can happen if you use both earbuds a lot. If you don’t mind listening through just one AirPod, you can make the charge last longer by removing one and putting it back in the case. When the current charge runs out, swap in the fully charged one.
15. Check the Battery Charge
You can check the current charge on your AirPods and the charging case. Place at least one AirPod in the case. A card appears on your iPhone’s screen to indicate the case and AirPods’ charge level.
You can also check the Batteries widget. Swipe to the right on your iOS device until you reach the Widgets screen. Tap Edit at the bottom of the screen and then tap the plus sign at the top. Look for and add the Batteries widget. When done, you’ll then be able to see the battery charge for your AirPods and case anytime you swipe to the Widgets screen.
16. Find Your Lost AirPods
Did you lose your AirPods again? Don’t worry. You can track them down through your iPhone or iPad. On your iOS/iPadOS device, open the Find My app. Make sure you’re signed in with your Apple account. Tap the entry for your AirPods, and the map should pinpoint their location.
If the earbuds are out of the case and paired with your iPhone or iPad, you can also find them with a sound. Tap the Actions link, then tap Play Sound. Your AirPods emit a beeping noise to help you locate them.
17. How to Reset AirPods
(Credit: Apple)
Having trouble connecting your AirPods? Can’t get them to charge? Before giving up, try the usual technology fix: turn them on and off again. To reset your AirPods, put them in their charging case, close the lid, and wait 30 seconds. Put them back in your ears, and on your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > Bluetooth or Settings > [your AirPods]. If your AirPods appear there as connected, tap the Info button and select Forget This Device and tap to confirm. Then, pair them again.
If they don’t appear as connected, put your AirPods in their case, but keep the lid open. Press and hold the setup button on the back of the case for about 15 seconds until the status light flashes amber and then white. Place your AirPods close to your iPhone or iPad, and follow the steps on your device’s screen to reconnect.
Hands On With the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)
