Learn how to use force gestures on your AirPods Pro to control music playback, switch between noise cancellation modes, adjust the volume, and more.
Your AirPods Pro have force sensors, turning the flat stem section faced outwardly when an AirPod is in your ear into a multi-purpose gestural control. With force controls, you can switch between noise modes, pause music, end calls, and more by pressing the stem. And if you own the latest AirPods Pro 2 with touch sensors, you can also adjust the volume by swiping.
How to use AirPods Pro controls
Use the following force gestures on your AirPod Pro to control music, calls, and more:
- Press: Press the stem once to play/resume music or answer calls.
- Double-press: Press the stem twice to advance to the next track.
- Triple-press: Press the stem thrice to return to the previous track.
- Press and hold: Hold the stem to switch between active noise cancellation, Transparency Mode, and adaptive audio. You can also set AirPods to invoke Siri when holding one of the stems.
- Swipe up and down: Swipe on an AirPods Pro 2 stem to increase or decrease the volume.
Don’t forget you can always ask Siri to do more with your earbuds, like placing a call, getting directions, or playing a specific playlist. You can also use head gestures with your AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 to accept or decline calls and reply to messages or dismiss them by nodding your head up and down or shaking side to side.
Activating Siri instead of noise control
Follow these step if you’d like to configure one of the earbuds to activate Siri instead of cycle through the noise modes when you press and hold the stem:
1) With your AirPods connected, open the Settings app on your iPhone and select the AirPods name near the top. Or, select Bluetooth and hit the info icon ⓘ next to the name of your connected earbuds.
2) Tap either Left or Right underneath the Press and Hold AirPods heading.
3) Select Siri if you’d like to invoke the assistant upon holding the stem.
Set the noise control options to cycle through
Your AirPods will cycle through the available noise-cancelling modes when you hold a stem, but you can change the available modes for this gesture:
1) Go to Settings > AirPods on your iPhone.
2) Tap either Left or Right underneath the Press and Hold AirPods heading.
3) Select Noise Control.
4) Pick the settings to cycle through when holding that stem:
- Off: Noting happens when you hold the stem.
- Transparency: This mode mixes certain external sounds into your music, so that you’re aware of your surroundings while listening to music.
- Adaptive: Adaptive audio dynamically adjusts noise cancellation and transparency modes to respond to external noise.
- Noise Cancellation: Active noise cancellation blocks out external sounds.
That’s all there’s to it. Holding the stem will cycle between the selected noise control modes instead of them all. For example, I’ve set the force-sensing control for my left earbud to invoke Siri and the right earbud to cycle through all noise modes.
Also, check out: The best AirPods Pro tips for iPhone and iPad