Technology

10 cool AirPods features you probably didn't know about

Published

8 months ago

April 25, 2025

10 cool AirPods features you probably didn't know about

When AirPods first hit the scene in 2016, they revolutionized the way we listen to music on the go.

Not only did they seamlessly integrate with the Apple ecosystem, but some models also delivered sound quality and noise-canceling capabilities that gave traditional audio brands a run for their money.

But what really sets AirPods apart is the array of innovative features that go way beyond what you’d expect from typical earbuds, features that might just surprise you.

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A woman wearing AirPods (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

Top 10 hidden features of AirPods

Below are features that you may or may not know about to take your AirPods experience to the next level. The features below are for original, second-generation and first-generation AirPods Pro.

Apple Watch and AirPods (Apple)

1. Go hands-free and pair your AirPods with your Apple Watch

If you want to use your AirPods but don’t want to lug around the extra weight of your iPhone, you can use your AirPods with your Apple Watch. In order to get your AirPods set up to use with your Apple Watch:

Go to your Apple Watch
Press the crown on the right side of your Apple Watch
Tap Settings
Scroll down to Bluetooth and tap it
The watch is now searching for your AirPods
Grab your AirPods and lift the lid. Press and hold the button at the back of the case. This will put the AirPods in discoverable mode
Tap where it says AirPods are not paired on your Apple Watch. It should now say connected

2. Use your AirPods as a microphone

When recording audio (e.g., Voice Memos, calls) or using voice-enabled apps, you can prioritize specific AirPods as the microphone. To turn on this feature:

Go to settings on your iPhone
Click Bluetooth
Under My Devices, tap the (i) info icon next to your AirPods
Select Microphone
Select Automatically Switch AirPods (default), Always Left AirPod or Always Right AirPod

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Control panel on iPhone (Apple)

3. Share Audio with someone else

With iOS 13.1 or later (required for full functionality), you can temporarily share audio from your iPhone to two sets of AirPods or Beats headphones with H1, H2 or W1 chips (e.g., AirPods Pro). Both devices must be iPhone 8 or later, iPad Pro 2nd Gen or newer, iPad Air 3rd Gen or later or iPad mini 5th Gen or later.

Wear your AirPods (connected to your iPhone) and start playing audio (optional but recommended for visibility)
Open Control Center
Tap the AirPlay icon (triangle with circles)
Select Share Audio
Bring the other person’s headphones near your iPhone and place AirPods in their case
Open the lid
Hold the pairing button until the prompt appears
If undetected, ensure their headphones are in pairing mode (Hold case button)
Select their headphones from the Share Audio menu
The friend may need to tap Join on their device if sharing via iPhone proximity
Adjust volumes separately via Control Center’s volume slider

4. Find your lost AirPods

The challenge of wireless earbuds is how easy it is to misplace or lose them or the case they are housed in. Apple has provided an easy way to help you keep track of both your case and AirPods with the “Find My” feature. To use this feature to find your AirPods or case:

Open the Find My app on your iPhone
Select the Devices tab
Choose your AirPods. Under each device, you see a location or “No location found”
If you think your AirPods are near you, click Play Sound

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5. Announce callers

Instead of fumbling to find your phone to find out who is calling you, you can have your AirPods announce who is calling you. To turn on this feature:

Go to Settings on your iPhone
Tap on Apps
Tap Phone
Tap Announce Calls
Select Headphones Only

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6. Customize controls on your AirPods

Most users know that double-pressing the AirPods stems once or twice plays or pauses whatever audio you’re listening to or answers a call. You can, however, customize AirPods settings to provide a different function. If you want to customize each stem to do something else:

Go to Settings on your iPhone
Tap your AirPods
Under Press and Hold AirPods, select Left or Right and choose what happens when you double-press that AirPod: Noise Control, Siri, Answer Call, Mute & Unmute or End Call

Steps to customize controls on AirPods (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

7. Find out what the different colored lights mean

The status light on your AirPods case uses colors and flashing patterns to indicate battery levels, charging status and pairing states. Location varies by model (front for AirPods Pro/3/4/Wireless cases; inside for Lightning cases on AirPods 1/2).

Steady lights

Green (AirPods in case, lid open): Both AirPods and case are fully charged
Green (AirPods out of case, lid open): The case alone is fully charged
Amber/Orange (AirPods in case, lid open): AirPods are currently charging (not yet full)
Amber/Orange (AirPods out of case, lid open): Case has less than one full charge (not necessarily “one charge left”)

Flashing lights

Flashing White: AirPods are in pairing mode (ready for setup)
Flashing Amber/Orange: Indicates a pairing error requiring a reset, not just re-setup
No Light: Case or AirPods are completely drained

Charging behavior

Plugged in/Wireless charging: Amber = actively charging; Green = fully charged
Optimized Charging (Pro/3/4): Pauses charging at 80% if enabled (Settings > Bluetooth > AirPods)

8. Use AirPods as a hearing aid

One of the most impressive features of AirPods is the ability to turn your iPhone into a remote listening device and AirPods into hearing aids. If you’re in a loud environment and can’t hear the person standing next to you, you can place the iPhone near the person you want to hear and the iPhone microphone will transmit whatever they say to the AirPods connected to the iPhone, making it easier for you to hear them. To enable this feature:

Open the Control Center on your iPhone (usually accessed by swiping down on your phone’s screen)
Tap the Hearing icon
Tap Live Listen
Place the iPhone near the sound source (works up to 50 feet)

Step to use AirPods as a hearing aid (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

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9. Reach Siri without pulling out your phone

Most AirPods let you access Siri hands-free when connected to an Apple device with Siri enabled. If your hands are full, or you don’t want to use your iPhone, just say, “Hey, Siri,” to send texts, check battery life, skip songs, set timers and more. Note: On AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4, you can also just say “Siri” without needing to say “Hey, Siri.” To use Siri with AirPods:

Make sure Siri is enabled on your device (Settings > Siri)
With AirPods in your ears, say “Hey Siri” (or just “Siri” on supported models)
You can also activate Siri by pressing or tapping your AirPods (double-tap, press-and-hold or Digital Crown (depending on model)

10. Answer or decline calls without making a sound or pressing a button

You can answer or decline calls without saying a word or pressing any buttons by using the Head Gestures feature with your AirPods. When this feature is on, you can nod your head up and down or shake it side to side to accept or decline calls while wearing your AirPods. To enable Head Gestures once your AirPods are connected to your iPhone:

Go to Settings
Tap your AirPods name at the top
Tap Head Gestures
Toggle Head Gestures on
Choose your preferred motion for Accept/Reply (Up and Down or Side to Side)
Choose your preferred motion for Decline/Dismiss (Up and Down or Side to Side)

Now, when you get a call, Siri will announce the caller, and you can nod to answer or shake your head to decline without touching your phone or AirPods.

Kurt’s key takeaways

Apple has truly revolutionized the wireless listening experience with AirPods. Not only does it elevate your experience seamlessly within the Apple ecosystem, but it also makes your life better with plenty of hidden features. Whether you want to hear others more clearly or simply make your life easier, AirPods include an incredible number of features that pack a punch.

Have you explored all these hidden features of AirPods? Which hidden features are your favorites? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.

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Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Technology

Even Trump’s chief of staff was ‘aghast’ at Elon Musk’s deadly USAID cuts

Published

6 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Even Trump’s chief of staff was ‘aghast’ at Elon Musk’s deadly USAID cuts

Wiles says she called Musk on the carpet. “You can’t just lock people out of their offices,” she recalls telling him. At first, Wiles didn’t grasp the effect that slashing USAID programs would have on humanitarian aid. “I didn’t know a lot about the extent of their grant making.” But with immunizations halted in Africa, lives would be lost. Soon she was getting frantic calls from relief agency heads and former government officials with a dire message: Thousands of lives were in the balance.

Wiles continued: “So Marco is on his way to Panama. We call him and say, ‘You’re Senate-confirmed. You’re going to have to be the custodian, essentially, of [USAID].’ ‘Okay,’ he says.” But Musk forged ahead—all throttle, no brake. “Elon’s attitude is you have to get it done fast. If you’re an incrementalist, you just won’t get your rocket to the moon,” Wiles said. “And so with that attitude, you’re going to break some china. But no rational person could think the USAID process was a good one. Nobody.”

Technology

OpenAI announces upgrades for ChatGPT Images with ‘4x faster generation speed’

Published

7 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

OpenAI announces upgrades for ChatGPT Images with ‘4x faster generation speed’

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

OpenAI announced an update for ChatGPT Images that it says drastically improves both the generation speed and instruction-following capability of its image generator.

A blog post from the company Tuesday says the update will make it much easier to make precise edits to AI-generated images. Previous iterations of the program have struggled to follow instructions and often make unasked-for changes.

“The update includes much stronger instruction following, highly precise editing, and up to 4x faster generation speed, making image creation and iteration much more usable,” the company wrote.

“This marks a shift from novelty image generation to practical, high-fidelity visual creation — turning ChatGPT into a fast, flexible creative studio for everyday edits, expressive transformations, and real-world use.”

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The OpenAI GPT-5 logo appears on a smartphone screen and as a background on a laptop screen in this photo illustration in Athens, Greece. (Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The announcement comes just weeks after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declared a “code red” in a memo within his company to improve the quality of ChatGPT.

In the document, Altman said OpenAI has more work to do on enhancing the day-to-day experience of its chatbot, such as allowing it to answer a wider range of questions and improving its speed, reliability and personalization features for users, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The reported company-wide memo from Altman comes as competitors have narrowed OpenAI’s lead in the AI race. Google last month released a new version of its Gemini model that surpassed OpenAI on industry benchmark tests.

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The OpenAI logo Feb. 16, 2025 (Reuters/Dado Ruvic)

To focus on the “code red” effort to improve ChatGPT, OpenAI will be pushing back work on other initiatives, such as a personal assistant called Pulse, advertising and AI agents for health and shopping, Altman said in the memo, according to the Journal.

Altman also said the company would have a daily call among those responsible for enhancing ChatGPT, the newspaper added.

“Our focus now is to keep making ChatGPT more capable, continue growing, and expand access around the world — while making it feel even more intuitive and personal,” Nick Turley, the head of ChatGPT, wrote on X Monday night.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the Federal Reserve’s Integrated Review of the Capital Framework for Large Banks Conference in Washington, D.C., July 22, 2025. (Reuters/Ken Cedeno)

OpenAI currently isn’t profitable and has to raise funding to survive compared to competitors like Google, which can fund investments in their AI ventures through revenue, the Journal reported.

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on X: @Hagstrom_Anders.

Technology

I’ve been waiting years for Animal Crossing’s best new features

Published

19 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

I’ve been waiting years for Animal Crossing’s best new features

I never felt done with my Animal Crossing: New Horizons island. Despite playing every day for two years, and racking up 1,700 hours of playtime, I somehow never finished decorating. I had plenty of ideas for my island, sure, but actually implementing them was another story: The decorating and terraforming systems that helped make New Horizons a huge success are also slow, manual, and cumbersome, and my patience for decorating and redecorating had finally worn thin.

Fast-forward a few years, and a very much unexpected update is coming to finally fix some of those pain points. Update 3.0 is launching on January 15th, 2026, alongside the Switch 2 Edition of New Horizons. And while the paid Switch 2 upgrade has some nice-to-haves (like Joy-Con 2 mouse controls for indoor decorating), it’s the free update that brings all the key new features.

I recently attended a virtual preview for the New Horizons upgrade and update, and there are two caveats: I have not yet played either the Switch 2 version or the new free content myself, and it’s hard to gauge the quality of the Switch 2 version’s visual and performance improvements over a Zoom call. (I still have some unanswered questions about the biggest performance issues on the original Switch, like the choppy frame rate on more densely decorated islands.) But seeing the 3.0 additions in action, it was easy to imagine myself finishing my island — or at least an island.

As shown in the October announcement trailer, update 3.0 makes much-needed quality-of-life fixes. You’ll finally be able to craft multiple items at once, and crafting will pull materials from your overall storage instead of your pockets, meaning you won’t have to do a bunch of inventory management just to craft some decor. Then there’s Resetti’s Reset Service, which can help you clean up entire sections of your island instantly so you don’t have to pick everything up individually in order to redecorate. Some players also noticed a very subtle but potentially impactful change to movement while terraforming that should hopefully make it a smoother process. And then, as if to show off those decorating improvements, Nintendo also added Slumber Islands.

Not to be confused with dreams, New Horizons’ online island-sharing feature, Slumber Islands are extra sandboxes for you to decorate and play with, where you can set the time of day and the weather and magically conjure up any item you have in your in-game catalog to decorate with, similar to the Happy Home Paradise DLC. You can build bridges and inclines instantly by talking to Lloid, rather than going through Tom Nook and waiting (or time traveling) a day. And while it seems like terraforming works the same on Slumber Islands, the apparent addition of strafing while terraforming — instead of having to constantly reorient yourself manually — should help at least a little bit. (It’s the first thing I’m going to test on January 15th, that’s for sure.)

For me, the worst part of decorating in New Horizons was having an idea, ordering all the furniture I’d need for it over the course of days, testing out the design, realizing it did not look the way I envisioned, and facing the tedious process of breaking it all down and starting over again brick by brick — or, at the very least, having to push and pull objects around for a while to see if I could make it work. The design process I saw on Nintendo’s Slumber Island during the preview, meanwhile, seemed quicker and smoother. Trying out an idea or aesthetic in that environment doesn’t sound like such a tall order.

Without any hands-on time, I can’t say if it will actually be noticeably easier to design and decorate with the 3.0 update. But I’m excited by the idea that I can go to my Slumber Island scratch pad and try out my designs before committing to them (and the cost in bells to get it all done) on my main island. And maybe, if I really like how it feels to decorate, I’ll make an entire Halloween-themed Slumber Island — the kind of island I’ve wanted to make for years but never did on my main island, where the seasons continue to change and actively ruin the vibe.