How to use AirPods, AirPods Pro and AirPods Max: Tips and general instructions

Disable Automatic Ear Detection

Automatic Ear Detection

Automatic Ear Detection

Any pair of AirPods can detect when you’ve removed the earbuds from your ear; this is Automatic Ear Detection, and when both earbuds are sensed to be out of your ears, playback will switch to the source device’s speakers instead.

Luckily there is a way to disable this feature so that music will still play through your AirPods even if you want to take them out for a moment.

1. Launch the Settings menu on your iOS device and hit Bluetooth.

Select Bluetooth

Select Bluetooth

2. Select the AirPods.

Select AirPods

Select AirPods

3. Toggle Automatic Ear Detection to off.

Toggle Automatic Ear Detection to off

Toggle Automatic Ear Detection to off

Now, you should have the ability to listen to music with only one AirPod in, which is great if you want to stay aware of your surroundings. Or you can share the other bud with a friend. It's also a great way to charge one AirPod while still listening to music.

Sherri L. Smith

Sherri L. Smith has been cranking out product reviews for Laptopmag.com since 2011. In that time, she's reviewed more than her share of laptops, tablets, smartphones and everything in between. The resident gamer and audio junkie, Sherri was previously a managing editor for Black Web 2.0 and contributed to BET.Com and Popgadget.