Terri Ramsey Beavers Are you excited to use your new AirPods?
These in-ear wireless earphones are one of Apple’s most successful products. They’re so popular that Apple needed to double their production of AirPods Pro to at least 2 million monthly.
These things have some nifty tricks that aren’t always obvious at first glance. Today, we’re here to share 15 cool AirPods tips and tricks. The tricks will work on your AirPods no matter which generation or model you have.
1. Change Noise Cancellation
Your AirPods Pro comes with a noise cancellation feature for better listening. However, there will be times when you don’t want noises canceled out. Like when you want to have some form of awareness of your surroundings, for example.
One of the simplest AirPods tricks to change noise cancellation is to ask Siri to do it for you. You can also do this in the control center while they’re connected. Finally, you can go to the settings and turn them off in the audio menu.
2. Check Your AirPods Battery Life With Ease
Running out of battery is very inconvenient, especially when you want to enjoy your music. To avoid such an event, it’s always a good idea to check the battery life of your AirPods now and then. There are various AirPods tricks to do that with ease.
If your AirPods are still in the case, all you need is to check the status lights on the case. You can also put your AirPods in the case to check. Below, we’ve got a quick guide on what each light means.
You can also enable a widget on your iPhone to check your AirPods battery life at a glance. Another way is to open your AirPods charging case next to its companion iPhone. You’ll then see the battery life of your AirPods and charging case at the bottom of the screen.
3. What the Lights in Your Case Mean
You’ve noticed that your charging case has different lights on the space between AirPods. If you have a wireless charging case, the status light sits on the front of the case. These are status lights that show the charge status of the case.
If your AirPods are in the case, they’re showing the charge status the AirPods. A green light means that the charge is full. If you see an amber light, this means that it only has less than one full charge remaining.
There are also light signals before you use them. When your lights start flashing white lights, this means the AirPods are ready to pair with a device. If it flashes amber, it means you need to set up your AirPods again.
4. Secure Lost AirPods
The AirPods design is great for avoiding wire issues and damage. However, because of its wireless design, it seems easy to lose your AirPods. Thanks to the in-ear design of the AirPods, it’s not that common for them to fall out of your ears.
Yet, it’s not surprising for AirPods users to have lost at least a pair once in their lives. It’s such a common occurrence that the NYC subway recovered over 100 AirPods and charging cases within one year. Here are some AirPods tips and tricks to secure your AirPods if you lose them.
The best way to find them is to use the Find My iPhone feature. You can get the last location of your AirPods when they’re offline. If you want to avoid losing them first, get an AirPods strap.
5. One Squeeze (Or Two) Is All You Need
Before we continue, know that this feature is exclusive to the AirPods Pro. If you don’t know yet, the AirPods Pro has force sensors at the stem of the earphones.
This feature lets you pause and play your music or answer calls with a squeeze. You can also squeeze the stems twice to switch to the next track in your playlist. If you squeeze thrice, you go back to the track before the current song.
Long squeezes switch between noise cancellation and transparency mode. Now, you don’t have to take your AirPods out when you need to talk to someone.
6. Pair With Non-Apple Devices
An AirPod feature that keeps it flexible is its compatibility with other devices. This means you can pair your AirPods with a non-Apple device if ever need to. The first thing you need to do is to put them in the case.
With the kept lid open, push down on the button on the case until the lights blink white. On the non-Apple device, scan for the AirPods via Bluetooth.
Note that non-Apple devices won’t support some AirPods features.
7. Share Your Sounds
A major feature of AirPods is sound-sharing, whether it’s a call or tunes. Take one of the AirPods and hand it to a friend. Share the same call and/or enjoy your music with another person.
Note that you can only have one microphone. That means the other person with the other AirPods can only listen in on the call. Below, we’ll tell you more about which AirPod you can set up as your microphone.
It won’t be as romantic as sharing a pair of wired earphones as we see in the movies. However, it saves you the trouble of having to stick too close to the other person when sharing music. This wireless feature also saves the AirPods from wire damage and you from wire troubles.
8. Save AirPod Battery Life
Your AirPods give you only 5 hours of listening time every charge and they charge fast in the case. However, some people are frugal with battery life. Did you know that you can save your AirPods battery life by wearing only one of them?
This function is great for those moments when you’re stuck in transport with no charging port in sight. It’s also one of the best AirPods functions when your charging case is also low on battery.
9. Set Your Mic Side
Are you used to having your microphone on a specific side? The AirPods allow you to choose which side you want the mic to be on.
Open Settings > Bluetooth > My Devices > blue “i” icon next to AirPods. Go to the Microphone option. Set the mic to either “Always Left AirPod” or “Always Right AirPod”.
10. Rename Your AirPods
Have you ever wanted to rename your AirPods something funny? If you already have a hilarious name in mind, the process of christening your AirPods is easy.
A lot of people have a habit of labeling what’s theirs. Thus, the default name of your AirPods often includes your name. However, you can always personalize them or rename them something witty if that’s your style.
If you want to change this name, connect them to an iOS device and look in your settings. Open Bluetooth and go to your AirPods settings. Look for the blue “i” icon in the AirPods settings.
Now, tap on Name and change it as you wish.
11. Listen to Your Messages
The Announce Messages with Siri feature is a hands-free way to listen to messages received. This activates only when you’re wearing your AirPods. You can also reply to the message with only your voice.
This feature is, by default, disabled. To enable it, go to Settings > Siri & Search > Announce Messages. When you respond, Siri will read back to you the reply to confirm.
You can only activate this feature if your AirPods are of a later generation.
12. Connect to a Mac
Do you often watch movies on your Mac computer? Are you used to working on projects while listening to music on a Mac? Like with other Apple devices, you can connect your AirPods to a Mac.
On your Mac, you can even switch the output with the Volume icon in the menu bar. You can also set customizations for your AirPods on Mac. Find out more about connecting AirPods at https://setapp.com/how-to/connect-airpods.
13. Pick Your Double-Tap Function
Did you know that you can switch out your double-tap function for your left and right AirPods? You can find it in the same setting where you toggle automatic ear detection. Open the Settings app, go to Bluetooth, and click the blue “i” icon under My Devices.
Tap on Double-Tap on AirPod. This section lets you adjust what happens if you double-tap your AirPods. This neat AirPods tips and tricks lets you customize your AirPods on a deeper level.
You can choose between activating Siri and playing/pausing your music. You can also choose to switch to the next track or go back to the previous track. If you don’t want to use the feature, deactivate it.
14. Toggle Automatic Ear Detection
Like we said earlier, you can find the automatic ear detection settings with the double-tap settings. To do this, connect your AirPods with your iOS device. Go to the Settings application.
Under Bluetooth, check My Devices, and tap on the blue “i” icon. Look for the option titled Double-Tap on AirPod. Next, find the toggle button for automatic ear detection.
This option is for those who don’t want their iPhones to connect to their AirPods once they wear them. Note that when you turn this off, you’ll need to connect your AirPods yourself.
15. Update AirPods Firmware
Apple releases a new firmware update for AirPods several times a year. It’s important to keep your AirPods firmware up to date. The best thing about your AirPods firmware updates is you don’t have to do a manual update.
You might not even know it but you’ve already updated your AirPods firmware several times. All it takes is to put your AirPods in the case near a synced iPhone. Within 30 minutes, your firmware is ready and updated.
Use These AirPods Tips and Tricks Now!
Now, you know how to use your AirPods like a pro. It takes a while to memorize these nifty AirPods tips. Once you know them all by heart, it becomes easier to use your AirPods.
Whenever you feel lost, don’t hesitate to go back to this list of AirPods tips and tricks. And, if you enjoyed this guide, feel free to check out our other helpful content today!
We recommend reading the article – AirPods Pro 4 Release Date.