Discover These Hidden AirPods Features and Boost Your Listening Experience

When Apple first announced the AirPods, I admired the technology but certainly didn't need them. Now, my AirPods Pro are always in my pocket and ready for listening to music and podcasts, or even just to take advantage of the great noise cancellation to reduce the clatter of everyday life.

And yet there's more to AirPods than just replacing wired earbuds. 

Read on to take full advantage of AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max and some models of Beats earphones. And don't forget to clean and sanitize your AirPods the right way.

Do you struggle to pick out people's voices in crowded environments such as restaurants? An accessibility feature in iOS can use your iPhone's microphone to filter and enhance nearby people's speech and relay it to your AirPods. It's not the same as wearing dedicated hearing aids, but it can sure help.

Conversation Boost on the first- and second-gen AirPods Pro enhances voices and applies noise cancellation to background sounds. To activate it, make sure your AirPods Pro are connected to the iPhone and do the following:

1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual > Headphone Accommodations.

2. Turn on the Headphone Accommodations switch.

3. Tap Transparency Mode at the bottom of the screen.

4. Turn on Conversation Boost.

5. Place the phone in front of you near the person or people you're talking to. The phone can be locked and the feature still works until you turn it off.

One unheralded feature of the Apple TV is the ease of sending audio to a set of AirPods or Beats headphones. You can stay up late watching TV and the sound won't wake up anyone else in the house.

Apple TV 4K models can wirelessly connect up to two sets of headphones, making them perfect for couples who want to catch up on their shows after the kids have gone to bed. Press and hold the TV button on the Apple TV Remote, select the Audio Controls button and select and activate your headphones. Next, select Share Audio and follow the instructions.

This sharing feature also applies when you want to enjoy music from your iPhone or iPad with a friend. That way you're not intermingling AirPods or risking yanking wired earbuds as you both bounce to the beat.

Similar to Conversation Boost, the Live Listen feature amplifies audio captured by the iPhone and plays it in your AirPods, Powerbeats Pro or Beats Fit Pro. The difference is that Conversation Boost also applies noise cancellation. Live Listen is great if you want to hear a person speaking at the front of a large room, like during class or a panel.

First, open Control Center on the iPhone or iPad and tap the Hearing button. Make sure your AirPods are connected, and tap the Live Listen button. Then place your iPhone or iPad near the speaker -- making sure it's in a secure spot where you're comfortable no one will walk away with it, of course.

Many of the audio features described here are tucked away in iOS' Accessibility settings, which take a few taps to bring up. For a shortcut, add the Hearing control to your Control Center.

Go to Settings > Control Center and scroll down to the More Controls list. Locate the Hearing control and tap the + button to add it.

Now, when you access Control Center (by dragging from the top-right corner of the screen, or swiping up from the bottom on devices with a Touch ID button), tap the Hearing button to view controls such as Headphone Accommodations and Background Sounds.

Setting up the Hearing control in Control Center gives you a shortcut to some of the audio features, but it can also help you maintain good hearing health.

When you're playing audio from your phone to your AirPods, the Hearing button displays a live graph of the current volume. A green checkmark indicates safe audio levels; a yellow warning badge alerts that the volume is too loud. Tap the button to open the Hearing options, which includes an expanded levels indicator showing the number of decibels, with the levels turning yellow past 80 decibels.

The iPhone can also let you know when the volume is too loud for a sustained amount of time. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual and turn on Headphone Notifications.

This feature isn't specific to AirPods, but the people around you will likely appreciate it if you're wearing headphones. If you find that white noise helps you concentrate, you can play one of several background noises, such as the sound of rain, a stream, the ocean or three flavors of consistent noise.

To turn on the noise, go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual > Background Sounds and tap the Background Sounds switch. Tap Sound and choose an effect, then tap Back. Or, if you set up the Hearing control in Control Center, tap the Hearing button and then tap Background Sounds to turn it on and access its settings.

If you're playing other audio and want the noise in the background, turn on Use When Media Is Playing and adjust the volume using the Volume with Media slider.

The convenience of charging AirPods (aside from AirPods Max) in their case is unrivaled, but don't forget to top off the battery inside the case from time to time. All cases charge with a cable. It's a Lightning connector for each except for the AirPods Pro 2 case, which uses USB-C. 

Optional wireless charging cases get power from any Qi-compatible charging source, and the MagSafe Charging Case for the third-gen AirPods works with the MagSafe charger you use for your phone.

But the case that comes with the AirPods Pro 2 adds yet another connection: the Apple Watch charger. So if you're already bringing your watch charger on a trip, it can power up your AirPods Pro 2 case, too (such as while you're sleeping with the watch on).

Do AirPods Max cease to be "AirPods" if you tether them with a wired cable? For people with more discerning ears, the freedom of wireless audio is muted by the software compression needed to efficiently broadcast audio files over Bluetooth.

With Apple's $35 Lightning to 3.5mm Audio Cable, you can plug the AirPods Max into the audio port on your Mac, Windows PC or other device and listen to higher-quality audio files with less latency. The AirPods Max still need battery power for this to work, but you're probably charging them anyway for times when you want to move around wirelessly.

While you're picking up a cable, be sure to see our recommendations for Best AirPods Max Accessories for 2024.

AirPods and Beats headphones are designed to work with Apple products, no doubt, but they're also Bluetooth headphones that can work with any compatible device. Let's say you're visiting a friend and want to watch a movie on their Bluetooth-enabled TV.

Grab your AirPods or AirPods Pro case and put the pods themselves inside. Open the lid, and then press and hold the small circular button on the back for 5 seconds or until the status light flashes white. On the AirPods Max, press and hold the noise control button (not the Digital Crown). That makes the AirPods discoverable as a regular Bluetooth headset; on the device you're connecting to, use the controls to add the AirPods as trusted headphones.

Keep in mind that some AirPods features won't work with some non-Apple devices, such as automatic device switching, ear detection (which can pause playback when you remove an earbud), spatial audio, adaptive audio, Conversation Boost and Live Listen.

The first time you experience spatial audio is almost dizzying. While wearing AirPods or Beats headphones, the sound seems to be moving in 3D space as you move your head or the device. And when you're watching a movie that's been optimized for spatial audio, it can feel like the action is happening all around you, even when you move your head.

All of our heads are different, though. The Personalized Spatial Audio feature aims to make the effect more accurate for each person by building an internal reference of where your ears are positioned. If you own an iPhone running iOS 16 or later with a TrueDepth front-facing camera (starts at which iPhone?), you can create your own profile.

Connect your AirPods or Beats headphones to the iPhone and then open Settings. Tap the name of the headphones, tap Personalized Spatial Audio and then tap Personalize Spatial Audio. It will then direct you on how to hold the phone to image your face and ears, similar to the way Face ID is set up.

Unlike the Software Update mechanism in most of Apple's other devices, there's no way to force your AirPods to install the latest firmware version. Instead, make sure the AirPods are in their charging case and connected to your iPhone, iPad or Mac. If there is an update, it should install in the background.

There are, however, several ways to check the current firmware version. On iOS or iPadOS, go to Settings > Bluetooth and tap the Info button to the right of the name. Or, when they're actively connected (you're listening through them or they're in the charging case with the lid open and near the device), go to Settings and tap the entry that appears below your name.

On a Mac, open System Settings, select Bluetooth and click the Info button for your AirPods. Or, when the AirPods are actively connected, go to System Settings and look for them at the bottom of the sidebar near other accessories such as Keyboard and Mouse.

To check to see if you're using the current firmware version, view Apple's support page about AirPods firmware and check the list of Latest firmware versions.