The 6 “hidden” features of the AirPods that you may not know. AirPods are among the best-selling Apple products ever, thanks to a mix of design, integration and audio quality. Apple earphones also offer several more little hidden features that not everyone knows about.
Subscription iPhone: Is Apple’s Service Coming in March?
Hearing in Control Center
If you haven’t already, make sure you go to the Control Center on the iPhone (Settings > Control Center) and add the Hearing toggle. This will unlock the first three features we’re going to talk about.
Live listening
You can use your iPhone as a microphone for your AirPods and hear conversations that are within about 2 meters. Open Control Center, tap the ear switch you added, and select “Live Listen.” Place your iPhone in front of or near where you want to hear more clearly, and you’ll then start hearing audio from that area into your AirPods.
Monitor decibels
In the Hearing switch in your control center, Apple has also included a real-time decibel reader. This player can be used to measure the volume of sounds around you. The decibel reader is always on by default if headphones are plugged in – just go to the hearing switch and you’ll see it change based on volume.
If the audio you are listening to in real time exceeds the level of 80 decibels, the icon will change from green to yellow.
Background sounds
In the same Control Center menu you will also find a section dedicated to background sounds, dedicated to the so-called white sounds. Tap the appropriate section and you can choose from six different ambient noises and also change the volume level. Ideal for relaxing.
AirPods automatic settings menu
When your iPhone is connected to your AirPods and you open the settings menu, Apple displays your AirPods settings front and center. This is a very useful shortcut, which we don’t always remember having at hand with a couple of clicks.
Speaker in AirPods Pro 2
The new AirPods Pro 2 have maintained a practically identical design to the previous model, but Apple has added two very interesting hardware components. The first is a small lanyard slot, which means you can buy a lanyard to place right on your AirPods case. Additionally, there’s a new speaker at the bottom of the AirPods that fires in three instances:
- When you place AirPods Pro 2 on a wireless charger or connect a cable
- If you put an AirPods in a case that doesn’t belong to you.
- To find an AirPods lost between the sofa, in the car or who knows where, using the Where’s app
Noise canceling in one ear
If you only want to enable noise cancellation for one ear, you can do so in your AirPods settings. Go to settings, then go to Accessibility and turn on noise cancellation with one AirPods. In some specific conditions, it may be useful to activate this option.
And you, how do you use your AirPods?
