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It is no secret that AirPods carry out at their finest when paired with different Apple units, and uncommon ought to you want to make extreme modifications to maximise their audio efficiency. Nevertheless, I like to recommend reviewing your AirPods and Apple Music settings (when you’re subscribed) to make sure each greenback spent is value it.
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Some options you would not discover until you poke round in your machine settings, particularly when you glossed over the preliminary AirPods setup. Listed below are my favourite ones that helped me elevate my AirPods expertise.
1. Sleep detection goes past the mattress
In September’s iOS 26 replace, AirPods obtained a sleep detection function. This function allows your AirPods to detect if you’ve fallen asleep and pause the media in your machine. Customers with AirPods Professional 3, AirPods Professional 2, and AirPods 4 can entry this function, which is disabled by default. To allow it, you will have to enter your settings.
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To show it on, join your AirPods to your iOS machine, faucet in your AirPods settings beneath your Apple account identify card, and scroll all the way down to “Pause Media When Falling Asleep.” That is each useful if you’re sleeping to white noise and if you’re dozing off on a flight.
2. Head gestures are delicate and helpful
Head Gestures is my absolute favourite AirPods function. If you happen to’re like me and at all times have your AirPods in, acknowledging notifications hands-free is one of the simplest ways to remain on prime of time-sensitive alerts whereas your palms are full.
If you happen to obtain a telephone name whereas carrying your AirPods, you’ll be able to nod your head “sure” to just accept it or shake your head “no” to say no it. You can too reply to Message notifications by nodding “sure” after which saying your reply, or shaking your head “no” to dismiss it.
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To make use of Head Gestures, you may must allow “Announce Calls” or “Announce Notifications” first. In your machine settings, discover “Apple Intelligence & Siri.” Then, scroll all the way down to “Announce Calls” and “Announce Notifications.”
I desire to make use of Head Gestures solely to just accept or decline telephone calls, and to not acknowledge textual content messages or different notifications. I do not prefer it when my YouTube video, music, or TV present is interrupted, even by essentially the most pressing notifications.
As soon as you have determined which notifications you need Siri to announce by way of your AirPods, return to your AirPods settings beneath your Apple account identify card, and scroll all the way down to “Head Gestures.”
3. An equalizer really exists
Though AirPods haven’t got a local equalizer function, you’ll be able to alter their sound with choose Apple EQ presets. Nevertheless, you want an Apple Music subscription for this function to work. To seek out the presets, open your machine settings and scroll all the way down to “Apps.” Discover “Music,” then scroll to “EQ.” Apple’s audio presets are genre-specific, permitting customers to toggle between modes that Apple has tuned for particular music genres, corresponding to Latin, Jazz, Pop, or Digital.
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After I first opened my AirPods Professional 3, they did not have sufficient bass for me, so I adjusted my Apple Music settings to “Elevated Bass,” which helped resolve the difficulty. Regardless of the function tweak, I believe my ears turned accustomed to the AirPods’ sound profile over time.
In the end, in my eyes, AirPods are a passive listening machine, and their finest options lie of their integration along with your iPhone, somewhat than their music-playing capabilities.
