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Can Someone Connect to my AirPods Without Me Knowing? 

Imagine that you’re teleworking from your apartment or house. You notice that someone—most likely one of your neighbors—keeps connecting to your AirPods without your permission. They keep blasting their own music through your AirPods, interrupting the music you were enjoying listening to. Although this can be very, very annoying (and unsettling), the truth of the matter is that this is a very common occurrence. 

Someone can only connect to your Airpods if your Airpods are in pairing mode. Once connected, their device will be saved on your Airpods history, and they will be able to connect automatically at any time. There are two ways to remove their device from your Airpods saved history. The first is the person will need to “forget” your Airpods on their device . Alternatively, you can reset your Airpods. This will delete all saved devices from your Airpods history.

Knowing that someone else is using your AirPods can be very disconcerting. So below, we’ll be giving you some information that will help you privately enjoy your AirPods. 

Besides telling you how to prevent other people from using your AirPods, we’ll be going over ways to stop your AirPods from picking up other people’s conversations, and prevent your AirPods from switching to other devices, rename your AirPods, and share your AirPods with your friends the right way. 

By putting all our tips and tricks to use, you’ll be able to enjoy listening to all your favorite songs, podcasts, and videos through your AirPods without having to worry about other people using them without your permission. 

How to Prevent Other People from Using Your AirPods 

First of all, the only way someone can connect to your device is if your Airpods are in pairing mode. If this has already occurred, then the other person\s device is saved on your Airpods history list, meaning they will be able to connect to your Airpods automatically at any given moment. However, you can prevent this by resetting your Airpods. This will delete all saved devices from your Airpods saved devices list.

Here’s how: 

  1. Put your Airpods inside their case and close the lid
  2. Wait at least 30 seconds
  3. Next, open the lid and press and hold on the setup button, located on the back of the case, for around 15 seconds.
  4. The status light should flash amber than white, indicating reset has been complete.

For further protection, you might want to change the name of your AirPods on your device so others can’t identify the Bluetooth product. 

How to Change the Name of Your AirPods 

There isn’t an app where you can alter settings and customize your AirPods. However, you can do all of this through your Bluetooth settings. 

  1. With your AirPods connected to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, visit Settings > Bluetooth.
  2. Select the encircled info (i) button, which is right next to your AirPods’ name on the list.
  3. Tap on the Name field and type in your preferred name. 

How to Stop Your AirPods from Picking Up Other People’s Conversations

When Live Listen is turned on, your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch can serve as a microphone that picks up and sends sounds to your AirPods. You can use Live Listen to, for example, help you hear conversations in loud areas. 

To benefit from all the features Live Listen has to offer, you’ll need to set up and turn on Live Listen. Here’s how you can do that: 

Set Up Live Listen

  1. Visit Settings > Accessibility. For older iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch devices, you might have to go to Settings > General > Accessibility. 
  2. Scroll all the way down to the Hearing section.
  3. Toggle Hearing Aid Compatibility. For iOS13+ and iPadOS, you’ll first need to tap Hearing Devices.

Add Live Listen to Your Control Panel 

  1. Launch Settings on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. 
  2. Visit Control Center > Customize Controls. 
  3. Add Hearing to your Control List. 

Turn On Live Listen 

  1. Place your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch near the source of sound you want to listen to. 
  2. Put your AirPods in your ears (for Airpods to work, you must have at least one AirPod in your ear). 
  3. Open the Control Center. 
  4. Select the Hearing icon (Ear). 
  5. Live Listen. It may take a bit of time for this to start up. 
  6. Adjust the volume as necessary. 

Live Listen is an exciting feature you can take advantage of when using your AirPods. But sometimes there can be unwanted side effects, like inadvertently picking up conversations from strangers nearby. 

If this is something you want to prevent, you’ll need to turn off your AirPods. Here’s how you can turn off your device: 

  1. Open the Control Center.
  2. Select the Hearing icon.
  3. Tap Live Listen. 

How to Prevent Your AirPods from Switching to Other Devices

In 2020, Apple issued an update for AirPods. The change allows them to switch automatically between your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and even your Mac, depending on which device you want to listen to at any given time. 

Let’s say you’re listening to your iPhone with your AirPods but now you want to listen to your iPad instead. If you, say, begin playing music or a podcast on your iPad, your AirPods will automatically switch to that device. In much the same way, they can switch back to your iPhone when you make or answer a phone call. 

Although this feature was intended to be convenient (which it is), it can also be a bit of an annoyance. For example, if you’re listening to music on your iPod touch and a friend picks up your iPad inside the same room and starts playing a video on it, your AirPods will automatically connect to the iPad and you’ll hear the audio from that video. 

Thankfully, to address this issue, Apple has made automatic switching an option rather than a built-in necessity. You just need to turn the feature off by following these steps: 

  1. With your AirPods connected to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, launch the Settings app. 
  2. Select Bluetooth. 
  3. Select the encircled info (i) button, which is right next to your AirPods’ name on the list. 
  4. Select Connect to this Phone > When Last Connected to This iPhone.

How to Share AirPods With Friends—the Right Way 

If you have a friend or family member who also owns AirPods, you can take advantage of the new Audio Sharing feature, which allows you to share music or other audio with them. 

All you need to do is have your friend hold their Apple device right over yours and then follow the prompts. Your friend will be able to enjoy listening to your music while using their own AirPods. 

Conclusion 

Having people connect to your AirPods without your knowledge or permission can be quite irritating and unsettling, but, fortunately, there are steps you can take to prevent this from taking place. 

You just need to factory reset the device, and you should be good to go. 

In addition, you can prevent your AirPods from picking up other people’s conversations, stop your AirPods from switching to other devices, change the name of your AirPods, and share your AirPods with your family and friends the right way. That way, everyone, including you, can enjoy a positive listening experience. 

Steven Carr

Steven is a certified IT professional and gaming enthusiast. He has been working in the tech industry for over 10 years, and specializes in all things Tech-related. When he's not geeking out over the latest hardware or software release, he can be found testing out the latest video game.

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