With iOS 26, Apple is introducing a new AirPods sleep detection feature designed specifically for people who like to fall asleep to music or podcasts. Thanks to this update, your AirPods can automatically recognize when you fall asleep and the music or podcast is immediately paused. This prevents you from draining your battery or flushing multiple episodes while you sleep.
The AirPods sleep detection in iOS 26 makes listening during bedtime a lot smarter and more comfortable. The feature automatically works with your iPhone and Apple Watch and switches seamlessly as you drift off. This allows you to enjoy your favorite playlist or podcast without any worries and you can be sure that the sound will stop as soon as you fall asleep.
Automatically pause audio when falling asleep
Apple is adding a sleep detection feature to the AirPods that will automatically stop audio playback once the user falls asleep. This eliminates the need for a manual sleep timer, which increases ease of use for people who like to listen to music or podcasts before going to sleep. Follow the steps below to enable the option.
Set up AirPods sleep detection
- Connect your AirPods to your iPhone or iPad
- Open Settings
- Tap your AirPods at the top of the list
- Enable the option ‘Pause media when you fall asleep‘ in
On a Mac, you can enable this by pairing the AirPods with your Mac and then going to  â–¸ System Settings â–¸ Click on the AirPods in the sidebar â–¸ Enable the option ‘Pause media when you fall asleep‘ in. You can also access these settings by clicking the i button next to the AirPods in the Bluetooth menu.
Support sleep detection for AirPods
The good news is that all AirPods paired with an iPhone, iPad or Mac running iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe or newer. This means that the first generation of AirPods also support this function and also the AirPods Max.