Starting with iOS 14, AirPods can automatically switch between the iPhone and iPad depending on your usage. Sometimes useful and sometimes not at all. This is how you turn this function on and off.
AirPods automatically switch between devices
If you’re running iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, the AirPods are a bit smarter again. Both the regular AirPods and AirPods Pro can now independently switch between devices.
They do this depending on audio being played. Do you listen to music via your AirPods on your iPhone and then turn on a video on your iPad? Then the AirPods will automatically pair with your iPad and pause the music on your iPhone.
That makes it a useful feature for people who use their AirPods with both an iPhone and iPad. However, it can also be annoying for people who, for example, use AirPods to listen to music via an iPhone and in the meantime turn on a video on their iPad, the sound of which they do not need to hear. Fortunately, the feature is easy to turn on and off.
This way you prevent AirPods from automatically switching
- Connect your AirPods to your iPhone;
- Open the Settings app;
- Tap on ‘Bluetooth’;
- Tap the ‘i’ behind your AirPods that are connected;
- Tap on ‘Connect to this iPhone’;
- Choose ‘automatic’ or ‘when last connected to this iPhone’.
If you choose the other option instead of ‘automatic’, your AirPods will work exactly as in iOS 13. They are automatically paired with the same device and you can switch this manually. The new pairing feature works with all devices running iOS 14, iPadOS 14 and macOS Big Sur and newer.
More new AirPods features in iOS 14
In addition to this new switch function, there is more news to experience with AirPods this year. The AirPods Pro have been equipped with ‘spatial audio’ (or Spatial Audio) since iOS 14, with which you get surround sound. By moving your head you hear the audio coming from a specific place. Apps must first support this feature until you can use spatial audio with it.