How to get started with accessibility features on AirPods

You can get started with accessibility features on AirPods, from background sounds and Transparency mode to Live Listen and control settings.

By Tom Griffin - Executive Editor
1 Min Read

Your AirPods have built-in accessibility features that can improve your listening experience, whether you’re listening to your favorite music or trying to hear a conversation in a crowded room. Some settings apply to all headphones, and others are just for your AirPods.

The Hearing Devices screen in Control Center. From top to bottom, it includes the Headphone Level in decibels, Hearing Assistance, Background Sounds, and Live Listen.

To get started, here are a few ways your AirPods can help:

Play background sounds

Calming background sounds can help you relax or focus, and you can choose from a list of them, like Rain or Ocean, and adjust the volume. For the steps, check out our article, Play background sounds.

Customize Transparency mode

While you’re listening to music, podcasts, and more on AirPods Pro, it’s possible to hear sounds around you with Transparency mode. You can also adjust the ambient noise you hear in it and turn on Conversation Boost to help you pick out conversations from background noise. For more, read our guide, Use and customize Transparency mode.

Hear across the room

With Live Listen, your iPhone or iPad acts as a microphone, sending sound straight to your AirPods, even from across the room. It’s a way to hear a lecture from the back row of the classroom or a conversation in a crowded room. For the steps, see our article, Use Live Listen.

Adjust AirPods control settings

You can adjust the settings for the button, force sensor, or force sensor with volume swipe on your AirPods to make them easier for you to use, such as how long you need to hold the force sensor before an action occurs. See Change force sensor, force sensor with volume swipe, or button settings.

Change accessibility settings

Once AirPods are set up, you can adjust accessibility settings. Headphone accommodations, for example, apply to all headphones, while others, like Transparency, are just for your AirPods.

Choose any of these features:

Executive Editor
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Tom Griffin is the editor-in-chief at GeeksChalk where he oversees all of site’s evergreen content to ensure it’s up to date with the latest information. Hailing from London in the UK, he has over seven years of experience in the tech journalism space and holds a degree in English Literature. In his spare time, Tom can found checking out the latest video games, immersing himself in his favorite sporting pastime of football, and petting every dog he comes across in the outside world.
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