gave AirPods Pro 2 There are some of them The best wireless earbuds Out there, and Apple has added Lots of new features iOS 17 includes adaptive audio, conversational awareness and personalized volume. We may see even more AirPods Pro 2 features than announced. Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference On June 10

In the meantime, there are a bunch of lesser-known AirPods Pro 2 features you can try out right now. I've been using the AirPods Pro 2 for a year and a half, both the original model and the original “New version With USB-C charging that was launched with the iPhone 15.

The best part? Some of these tips will work with earlier versions of AirPods and even AirPods Max headphones. Just make sure you have updated to the latest version of iOS 17.

Hidden Control Center Options

Control Center is a quick way to access many AirPods settings. With the AirPods connected to your iPhone, press and hold the volume slider, and a list of options will appear below, such as noise control mode, conversational awareness and local audio toggles.

But there's even more you can add to Control Center with just two easy steps. First, add the hearing option by going to Settings > Control Center. Then, go back to Settings > Accessibility > Hearing Control Center And tap the green plus icon next to any or all options, like background sounds and listen live. Background Sounds Play other sounds like rain, ocean and white noise into your earbuds to help you focus. You can learn more about the live listening feature below.

Now, swipe down to open Control Center again, and you should see a hearing icon that looks like an ear. You'll be able to see the battery charge on your AirPods and control all the options you turned on in the previous step, like Listen Live.

Listen live

Live Listen lets you amplify what your iPhone picks up from the mic and beam it into your ears with any AirPods model. It's primarily an accessibility feature, but you could potentially use it to hear what's going on in a nearby room, for example as an audio-only baby monitor.

This feature also resides within the Hearing option within Control Center. After turning it on, swipe down and tap the Hearing (ears) icon in Control Center, then listen live.

Customize audio with headphone accommodation

Want to change the default sound profile on your AirPods? If you use Apple Music, you can start by adjusting the equalizer by going to Settings > Music > EQ. Other streaming apps like Spotify have their own equalizer tool that you can adjust to your liking.

Apple's headphone jack options also let you tune your audio even further. go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Visual > Headphone Accommodation. Now, you can choose between balanced tone, volume or brightness, or enhance soft sounds using the slider tool.

You can also add custom audio setups in the headphone accommodation menu. Tap the Custom Audio option, then your AirPods will switch to noise canceling mode, and you'll be asked if you can hear softly spoken words. It will play two audio samples and you choose which one you prefer.

Personalized spatial audio

Your iPhone's TrueDepth camera is good for more than just FaceID. You can actually use it to get localized audio personalized to the shape of your ears.

go to Settings > AirPods > Personalized Local Audio And then follow the instructions to set it up. You'll be asked to hold the phone in front of your face, then turn your head left and right to map your ears. Now, make sure native audio is turned on from Control Center, and try it with supported movies and music.

Share the audio with a friend.

Remember the good old days of sharing music with a friend with wired earbuds? This is the 2024 version. Swipe down to open the Control Center, then tap the AirPods icon in the top-right corner inside the music playback box. Tap Share Audio.

Bring another pair of AirPods or Beats closer, open the lid, then press and hold the pairing button on the case. Follow the on-screen prompts to connect this second pair to your phone, and you can listen to the same songs.

Siri can specify images received in messages.

I recently discovered Srikane. Explain Photos received in the Messages app when I wear AirPods Pro 2 and my phone is locked. For example, I was waiting for the bus one day, and Siri announced that my best friend had sent a photo of a brown dog lying on a black and white checkered floor. I pulled out my phone to check, and Siri was spot on.

I haven't found the magic trick that makes Siri do this with every single photo, but so far it's worked on photos of people and pets that are centered in the frame with a clear background. I've reached out to Apple for more information about this feature and will update this story with more details.

To try replicating it yourself, make sure “Announce Notifications” is turned on. Go to Settings > Notifications > Announce notifications., and that the headphone option is also on. Scroll down further on this page to make sure the Messages app is turned on. Now, just have a friend send you a picture — both SMS and iMessages worked for me — to see if it works!

Unlock more AirPods settings with the Shortcuts app.

The Shortcuts app on iPhone is a powerful tool to get more out of your AirPods. One of my favorite shortcuts is that whenever the AirPods connect to my iPhone, they automatically switch to my favorite setting: noise canceling mode at 40% volume.

First, make sure your AirPods are in your ears and connected to your iPhone. open up Shortcut App > Plus Icon > Add Action. Here you'll want to find “Set Noise Control Mode” then tap on the gray box that says “Path”. Select the name of your AirPods from this menu, then select your mode (in this example, it's Noise Canceling).

Next, you'll want to add another action. In the “Search apps and actions” bar, type “set volume” and select it. Now, change the volume to 40% (or whatever volume you want). Give your shortcut a quick name, and tap done.

Now let's run this shortcut. automatically When you put the AirPods in your ears.. Go to the Automation tab, tap New Automation and search for Bluetooth. Where it says device, find the name of your AirPods, make sure “Connected” is turned on, then “Play immediately.” Press Next, and then select the shortcut you just created. The next time you put your AirPods in your ears and they connect to your phone, this shortcut should work and you can test it.

You can learn more about Apple's AirPods Pro 2 and How are they different from AirPods 3? And learn about all Rumored iOS 18 Updates We may attend Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June.