Have you purchased an AirPod recently?
If yes, then this article is for you and all those who own an Airpod but, don’t know how to use it.
Thus, here’s a guide containing all the intuitive steps that will help you to get the best out of your AirPods. So, don’t forget to read the article till the very end to know it all.
AirPods in a nutshell
AirPods are extremely minimalistic. They are smaller than your fingers and do not have buttons. They might look like plastic scraps to the untrained eye.
AirPods, and particularly AirPods Pro, have many features built into them. Touch-sensitive plastic allows you to control your music using a simple squeeze.
This guide will show you how to use all the features and controls of your AirPods Pro.
The Basics
The force sensor can be used by lightly pressing the stem. It won't work if you tap or press it.
The number of times you squeeze will determine what happens.
To play or pause any current play, you can squeeze the stem once. Squeezing one will allow you to answer a call if you are receiving one.
To fast-forward to the next song, double-press the stem. If your app doesn't allow this, you won't be able to squeeze twice. If you are receiving a call, double-squeezing will reject it and send the caller directly to voicemail.
Hold down the stem three times to rewind to the beginning or end of the song. If your app doesn't allow this, three squeezes won't work.
Noise cancellation
The AirPods Pro's most distinctive feature is the Noise Cancellation Mode. The microphone on both earbuds picks up noise from outside and suppresses it using "anti-noise".
This microphone is great for blocking background noise if you have to focus while wearing your AirPods.
You can also use Transparency mode. Transparency is the exact opposite. It uses microphones to allow you to hear the world around you, even if your earbuds don't.
Squeeze and hold the AirPod stem to change between Noise Cancellation and Transparency modes. When the change is made, you'll hear a light thud.
You can also switch between them by opening the iPhone's Control Center and pressing the volume meter. Next, tap the noise control option at the bottom.
Quick Tip: The menu also has Off. This setting turns off the AirPods' microphone so that you don't have transparency or noise cancellation.
Talking with Siri
Siri can be activated even without AirPods. New features can be unlocked by setting up AirPods Pro.
First, Siri can be woken up by you saying, "Hey Siri," followed by your request. For example, if you need to know the weather conditions, just say "Hey Siri," followed by your request.
Siri can be set up to automatically read any messages you receive while your AirPods are on. Tap on the Settings app and tap on Notifications. Next, tap Announce Notifications.
After you turn it on and connect your AirPods, Siri will automatically read any text messages you receive.
After Siri has finished reading your message, your AirPods will start listening for a few seconds to allow you to respond. Simply tell Siri what you would like to reply to, then follow up with the words you have in mind.
Activating spatial audio
Spatial sound is a feature that allows your AirPods to imitate a surround sound system.
By opening the Control Center on your iPhone, holding down the Volume Meter, and tapping on the Spatial Audio icon at the bottom, you can turn on spatial sound.
You can choose to turn on fixed or tracked spatial sound. Fixed surrounds you with audio, but the sound is the same from all sides. Head Tracked allows you to change the sound by moving your head. It's like having a single speaker right in front of you.
Alternatively, you can choose "Off" to get a stereo sound.
Customizing the controls of your AirPods and naming them
These are the default controls for your AirPods Pro. You can also edit certain features via the Bluetooth menu.
- Connect your AirPods to your iPhone's Bluetooth menu. Next, tap the icon beside their names. You can then change their settings by opening a menu.
- To change the way your AirPods stems are squeezed, use the Hold and Press AirPods sections.
- It will turn noise cancellation off by default, but you can change it to activate Siri.
- When you remove an AirPod from your ear, you can turn on Automatic EAR Detection to pause what you are listening to.
Connect with This iPhone can be useful if you have multiple devices connected to your AirPods, like an iPad or Macbook.
This setting can be set to "Automatically" so that your AirPods connect to any device as soon as it turns on. It should be When Last Connected To This iPhone so that the AirPods only connect to the last device they were connected to.
To change the name of your AirPods Pro, tap the name at the top of the page. This is the name that it will display in the Bluetooth menu.
Some don’ts
And those were all the basic features of AirPods and how to use them.
AirPods are great devices for calls and media consumption. But you also should beware of a few things:
- Make sure your AirPods are always charged. Any power bank can be used to charge them.
- Although the AirPods offer solid waterproofing it is advisable to never wear one when you’re near a sink or other bodies of water.
- Amping up the AirPods to full volume might not be the best option for your ears thus, keep their volume around 60-80%.
- Make sure you clean your AirPods once in a while, as the earwax, moisture from your ears might damage the device.
And that’s all.
Be sure you follow these simple precautionary steps and your AirPods will always be ready for anything you throw at them.
