Apple AirPods Pro are among the best wireless earbuds to buy and pair with your iPhone. They deliver a balanced audio signature perfect for every use case, whether taking a phone call, watching a movie, or listening to music. Add to this the seamless integration between all the Apple devices you may own, and these earbuds become a must-have.
Now, if you already own a pair or have gotten one recently (or are planning on buying one), you should know some AirPods Pro tips and tricks to elevate your user experience, and here we have summarized the essential ones.
1. Take Ear Tip Fit Test
When you unbox your AirPods Pro, you’ll notice they come with extra silicon ear tips. If you own the first-generation AirPods Pro, you will see small (S) and large (L) options. And if you bought the second-generation AirPods Pro, you will see extra-small (XS), small (S), and large (L) options. In both cases, the medium-sized tips come attached to the AirPods.
How these ear tips sit in your ear canal will vary based on your ear shape, and to ensure you have the best fit and listening experience, you can take the Ear Tip Fit Test from the AirPods settings menu. It will help determine the ideal ear tip. Also, you may need different sizes for each ear.
To take the Ear Tip Fit Test for AirPods Pro, connect the earbuds to your iPhone or iPad and follow the steps listed below:
- Open the Settings application and access the AirPods Pro settings menu via the button that’s present right below your name card. Alternatively, you can access AirPods Pro settings via Settings> Bluetooth> More info button (denoted by ‘i’).
- Here, scroll down and locate the Ear Tip Fit Test option. The option is present in a blue font. Tap on it and follow the prompted steps to find the ideal ear tips.
2. Customize AirPods Pro Controls
The next tip to improve your AirPods Pro experience is to customize the controls you use to perform activities. The pressure-sensitive stem on AirPods Pro can recognize a squeeze action, and it’s how you will interact with the earbuds if you aren’t using voice commands via Siri on AirPods Pro.
Now, each earbud from your set can recognize a few basic actions, and you can’t customize them. These are single press to play/pause, double press to skip to the next track, and triple press to rewind or return to the previous song. The customizable ones are the Press and Hold actions and Call Controls.
The second-generation AirPods Pro also supports a swipe action on the stem to increase or decrease volume via either earbud.
To modify AirPods Pro controls, follow the steps listed after accessing AirPods Pro settings:
- Tap on Left or Right based on which earbud you want to customize.
- Here, choose between Siri or Noise Control. In the Noise Control sub-menu, you can choose whether you want your AirPods to cycle between Noise Cancellation and Transparency or even include the Off mode, where neither is active.
- As for Call Controls, here you can choose whether a double press on either stem ends a call or a single press. It helps avoid unintended disconnects, especially if you cycle between Noise Cancelling and Transparency on a phone call.
3. Improve Sound Quality on AirPods Pro with Accessibility Settings
AirPods are known to deliver a very neutral sound profile that doesn’t push the bass too much or overly focus on higher notes, but not every human ear is the same. Hence, what may suit most might work for some users, be it due to weaker hearing or just preference.
To help with this, Apple has introduced Headphone Accommodations with iOS 14, which lets you customize and thus improve sound quality from your AirPods based on its Custom Audio Setup feature, an audiogram, or a manual setup.
Follow the steps listed below to use Headphone Accommodations:
- Open the Settings app and tap on Accessibility.
- Scroll down and access Audio/Visual under the Hearing sub-section.
- Now, tap on Headphone Accommodations.
- On the next screen, toggle on Headphone Accommodations and choose Custom Audio Setup or manually set up the feature by selecting between the listed options.
- Lastly, under the Apply With sub-section, toggle on Media to apply the changes to music, movies, podcasts, audiobooks, Siri, voicemail, and Live Listen.
4. Use Live Listen on your AirPods Pro for better hearing
The next trick on the list revolves around Live Listen, a nifty little feature that AirPods Pro comes with, allowing you to hear those around you better.
The feature allows you to use your paired iPhone or iPad as a microphone for your AirPods to easily hear someone speaking to you in a noisy area or even across the room. This feature is useful for college students sitting in large classrooms where sound can echo.
Using Live Listen on AirPods is a two-pronged process, as you will need to add the feature to Control Centre on your iPhone or iPad and then enable it. The steps detailed will help you do both.
Adding Live Listen to Control Center
Open Settings on your iPhone or iPad and follow the steps:
- Locate the Control Center sub-menu.
- Add the Hearing button to the Control Center.
Activating Live Listen
Once you’ve added the Hearing button to the Control Center, connect your AirPods Pro to your iPhone or iPad and follow the steps listed below:
- Pull down Control Center with a swipe down from the top-right corner of your screen.
- Tap the Hearing button, identified by an Ear icon.
- Now, tap on Live Listen to activate the feature.
5. Customize Spatial Audio settings
If you enjoy feeling immersed in the content when listening to music or watching a movie, Apple has developed spatial audio — with optional head-tracking — for the ideal experience. It brings about a feeling where it feels like the sounds are coming from all around you, and it is best experienced when songs in Apple Music and movies or shows in Apple TV+ feature the Dolby Atmos branding.
But remember, once enabled, spatial audio remains active for stereo audio sources; this can lead to them sounding slightly off. Hence, knowing how to turn spatial audio on or off is essential, and the steps below will help you do that:
- Access Control Center with a swipe down from the top-right corner of your screen.
- Long-press the volume slider to access the sub-menu.
- Tap on the spatial audio button — it may read as Spatialize Stereo or Spatial Audio — on the right and choose between Off, Fixed, or Head Tracked, based on your wish.
6. Enable Adaptive Audio
A feature yet to arrive on AirPods Pro but is worth keeping an eye on, Adaptive Audio offers a new listening mode that combines Transparency and Noise Cancellation, dynamically adjusting between the two based on the sounds around you. It’s an improvement of the Loud Sound Reduction feature currently available.
7. Update AirPods Pro Firmware
The last tip, rather an essential fact, that you need to know about AirPods is how to ensure they’re always up to date with the latest firmware. These audio devices occasionally receive updates that improve stability and add new features. To ensure these install without fail, you need to keep your AirPods for charging where they’re in Bluetooth range of your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook, which in turn need to be connected to a Wi-Fi network.
To ensure your AirPods Pro has the latest update, scroll down to the bottom of the AirPods settings page and check the alphanumeric combination next to the version. You can reference this with the Apple AirPods firmware support page to ensure you have the latest version.
Apple AirPods Pro 2
$219 $249 Save $30
The new Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) features a new touch control navigation on the stems, better audio drivers, improved noise-cancellation and transparency features, and more. The case comes with an Apple U1 chip, that lets users track down their AirPods Pro using the Find My network, and there’s also a set of speaker holes on the bottom to sound an alarm.