Inside iOS 11: AirPods controls expand with separate left/right earpiece taps, skip track ability

Apple's AirPods are currently limited to a trio of controls on both earpieces, but their functionality will be greatly enhanced this fall with the release of iOS 11, giving users the ability to give each wireless pod a separate, customizable function with a double tap.

With the iOS 11 beta releases, Apple's AirPods become more functional, thanks to new options found in the Settings app. To change them, dive into the Bluetooth settings, and then tap the "i" button to the right of AirPods when they are coneccted.

There, users will find new control options, including the ability to set different controls for the left and right AirPod. For example, the left AirPod could be set to play or pause a track, while the right one could invoke Siri.

Digging deeper into the settings, users will find that there are two new options for AirPod double-tap controls in iOS 11: "Next Track" and "Previous Track." This joins the existing controls of "Siri," "Play/Pause," and "Off."

Apple has been gradually adding new features to its AirPods since they debuted late last year, including a "Find My AirPods" feature that debuted in iOS 10.3 in January. Whenever AirPods connect to an iPhone or Mac, the finder feature queries the host device's positioning hardware to log the earbuds' location.

For more on Apple's forthcoming operating system update, see AppleInsider's ongoing Inside iOS 11 series.

25 Comments

Soli 9981 comments · 9 Years

About 7 years ago

I'm a little surprised they didn't off this out of the gate, but I'm glad to see it'll arrive in 4–6 weeks.

stantheman 332 comments · 11 Years

More customization, please. More menu items. Single- and triple-taps. Replace taps with a touch (while AirPods are inserted in the ears); taps are loud, inexact, inconvenient. Enable Apple Watch taps on an AirPod complication.

stantheman said:

More customization, please. More menu items. Single- and triple-taps. Replace taps with a touch (while AirPods are inserted in the ears). Enable Apple Watch taps on an AirPod complication.

I'm not sure if and when the technically will ever exist but if they plan to use the elongated case design that sticks out of the ear for many generations I'd love to see a capacitance ouch element integrated that would allow for a slider and touch-capable controls. Same thing for their Beats options that have the W-series chip.

superkloton 86 comments · 9 Years

stantheman said:

More customization, please. More menu items. Single- and triple-taps. Replace taps with a touch.

Single-taps would be a UI nightmare. Touch controls would make it even worse. They would be triggered whenever you touch the AirPods. Completely nonsensical suggestions that will never happen!
There's a reason why there are only taps and only double ones at that. I agree on triple-taps though, that could be a good addition.

superkloton said:

stantheman said:

More customization, please. More menu items. Single- and triple-taps. Replace taps with a touch.

Single-taps would be a UI nightmare. Touch controls would make it even worse. They would be triggered whenever you touch the AirPods. Completely nonsensical suggestions that will never happen!
There's a reason why there are only taps and only double ones at that. I agree on triple-taps though, that could be a good addition.

And Apple could never make the bezels smaller on the iPad or the Mac trackpad larger because there's no way to write SW that could detect and ignore unintended touches¡