Apple’s AirPods Pro are among the most popular wireless headphones on the market. Although seemingly very simple to use, the Cupertino company’s true wireless headsets hold many secrets. Here’s everything you need to know to tame them.
One of the main advantages of choosing AirPods over other wireless headphones when using mainly Apple devices is undoubtedly the extreme simplicity of their configuration and use. You will have to do almost nothing since, after unpacking them, all you have to do is open the case of the headphones and put each of the AirPods in your ears to start enjoying listening in complete freedom. In the Apple ecosystem, the Bluetooth pairing procedure is simplified to the extreme when it is still often necessary to carry out the operation manually with the competition.
But behind this apparent simplicity, the AirPods Pro contain many secrets. The headsets of the Cupertino company indeed offer a multitude of options often ignored and which, when mastered, allow you to take full advantage of all the potential offered by Apple. In the following lines, you will discover hidden tips and functions that we hope will allow you to exploit the full potential of your AirPods Pro.
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1. Customize the name of your AirPods
By default, when you first pair your brand-new AirPods with your iPhone, iOS automatically names them “AirPods Pro by” followed by your first name. However, you can customize the name of your AirPods very easily.
To do this, open the iOS Settings, go to the Bluetooth menu and press the “i” button. Then tap Name and customize the name of your AirPods.
2. Choose the right bits
Apple ships its AirPods Pro with three different pairs of tips, in three different sizes: S (small/small), M (medium/medium) and L (large/large). By default, the size M tips are already in place on the headphones. If you’re not sure which earmold size fits your ear canal, you can take Apple’s Earmold Fit Test.
To find it, insert your AirPods into your ears, open iOS Settings, then in Bluetooth tap the “i” button associated with your AirPods Pro. Then choose the Eartip Fit Test.
Press Continue, then press the Play button displayed at the bottom of the Eartip Fit Test window. Stop touching your AirPods Pro and listen to the short music playing. You will then know immediately if the tips used on the AirPods fit correctly in your ears or if you need to change them for the smaller or larger models.
3. Control the music from the earbuds
As small as they are, Apple headphones embed a physical control system on the branches of each headset. You can indeed control the music by pinching the branch of one or the other of the earpieces, at the level of the flat part.
One press lets you play or pause, two presses skips to the next track, and three presses skips back to the previous track.
4. Customize AirPods Stem Action
The stem of the AirPods Pro can also be used to manage the noise reduction control or to activate Siri, by performing a long press. You can customize the action of a long press on the branch of each earphone to, for example, activate Siri with the left earphone, and manage noise control with the right earphone.
To customize these settings, go to iOS Settings, then in the Bluetooth menu, enter your AirPods details by pressing the “i” button.
In the Pinch AirPods stem section, enter the Left and Right menus in turn to set the actions you want to assign to each earbud.
5. Manage your AirPods options from Control Center
When listening to music from your iPhone, you can easily manage whether noise cancellation is enabled or choose to listen to your content by enabling spatial audio directly from Control Center. This requires a long press on the volume bar to access the detailed settings.
You can then activate or deactivate Noise Reduction, use the Transparency mode or select the spatial audio mode of your choice.
6. Adjust the sound rendering
If you don’t use Apple Music, and therefore don’t have access to the equalizer, you can still adjust the sound of your AirPods. To do this, open the iOS Settings, enter the Accessibility menu, then in the Physical and motor skills section, enter the menu dedicated to AirPods.
Then go to the Audio Accessibility Settings menu and enter Headphone Adaptation to activate the option. You can then optimize the tones, range or brilliance to revitalize the different frequency ranges concerned.
It is also possible to customize some audio settings. Tap Custom Audio Setup to start the Headphone Audio Settings Customization test.
Tap Continue, choose to Don’t use the audiogram (unless you have one), then follow the various on-screen instructions to set the audio settings you like best.
7. Use AirPods as a hearing aid
If you sometimes have trouble hearing what is being said around you, know that you can use your AirPods as a hearing aid.
If it is not already done, it is necessary to add the option Hearing in the iOS Control Center. To do this, open the Settings, then enter the Control Center menu. Find the Hearing option and tap the green + button to add it to Control Center and then close iOS Settings.
Now expand the iOS Control Center by swiping down from the top right corner of the screen, and tap the Audition button. Then tap the Live Listen option. You should then hear what’s going on around you more clearly thanks to the sound picked up by the AirPods’ built-in microphones.
8. Easily check the load
To check the battery charge of your AirPods and their case, you can simply open the latter with the earbuds in near your iPhone to see the dedicated pop-up appear. By removing an AirPod from the case, the pop-up displays the charge of each of the earphones separately.
But you can keep an eye on the charge of your headphones very simply using a Widget. Tap and hold on the iPhone home screen to enter edit mode and tap the + button at the top left of the screen.
Scroll down the list of widgets and select the Batteries widget. Choose one of the three widgets offered and press Add widget. Then confirm by pressing the OK button.
Now you can keep an eye on your headphones’ charge right from your iPhone’s home screen without having to put them back in and out of their case.
9. Locate your misplaced AirPods
If you’re the airheaded type, chances are you’ve misplaced your AirPods before. Never mind, Apple has integrated an option to them that allows you to easily locate them and even ring them remotely.
Simply open the Find My app on your iPhone and select your AirPods from the list of Apple devices attached to your iCloud account. You will be able to locate their position on the map, but also make them sound remotely by pressing the Play sound option. However, this will require the earphones to be removed from the case.
10. Control your AirPods from your Apple Watch
If you’re lucky enough to own an Apple Watch, you can take control of your AirPods from it.
While playing content from iPhone, raise your wrist to activate your Apple Watch and tap the AirPlay icon displayed at the bottom left of your watch screen.
You should thus access a menu from which you can manage the activation of noise reduction or transparency mode.
Alternatively, if your iPhone is warm in your pocket, you can easily increase the volume in your headphones by acting directly on the digital crown of your Watch.