For those who’re attempting to take heed to podcasts or music in your iPhone, it may be annoying when your AirPods hold switching to different gadgets, like your Mac or iPad.
Personally, I don’t thoughts this habits. If I’m sitting at my Mac, I need to use the Music and the Podcasts apps on the Mac. However lots of people contemplate their iPhone their main system — and all the time need to play audio from their cellphone, irrespective of which different system they’re utilizing.
If you’d like your iPhone to retain supreme management over your ears, right here’s the way to disable AirPods auto-switching.
Cease your AirPods from switching between gadgets
Apple’s good options elevate AirPods above different wi-fi earbuds. They’ll immediately pair to your gadgets. You will get notifications in your iPhone when it’s time to pop them on a charger. And should you personal a mannequin with lively noise cancellation (ANC), your AirPods can detect when individuals are speaking to you and enhance their voices whereas turning down your music.
As a result of they’ll take full benefit of the closed Apple ecosystem, AirPods can also seamlessly swap between gadgets as you sit down at your Mac or open your iPad. You don’t want to carry down a pairing button and look forward to a blinking mild to modify.
Nonetheless good this characteristic is, it bothers some individuals. For those who like every thing to play out of your iPhone — and you discover the AirPods switching to be annoying — it’s simple to show off. Right here’s how.
Desk of contents: Cease AirPods from switching to different gadgets
- Stop AirPods from switching to a Mac
- Stop AirPods from switching to your iPhone or iPad
- Extra AirPods how-tos
Stop AirPods from connecting to a Mac
Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
For those who’re enjoying podcasts or music out of your iPhone and also you sit down at your Mac, you is perhaps aggravated that it all of the sudden stops and switches to the pc. It’s simple to show off this habits, though it’s a little bit counterintuitive.
First, join your AirPods to your Mac. If, in a merciless little bit of irony, it doesn’t occur mechanically, you possibly can open Management Heart within the prime proper of your Mac’s menu bar, click on the Bluetooth menu, and choose your AirPods.
Then, open System Settings and scroll down within the sidebar on the left. Towards the underside, you must see an choice seem to your AirPods, simply above “Keyboard,” “Mouse,” “Trackpad,” and many others. On this menu, set Hook up with This Mac from “Robotically” to When Final Linked to This Mac.
I exploit a large speaker hooked as much as my Mac, sitting under my desk. Whereas I don’t use AirPods, I might undoubtedly be irritated if music switched to enjoying out of the earbuds as a substitute.
Stop AirPods from switching to your iPhone or iPad
Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
You too can hold your AirPods from switching to your iPhone or iPad. That’s nice, as a result of should you’re jamming out to tunes whilst you’re cooking dinner and occur to select up your iPad to deliver up a recipe, you actually don’t need your AirPods to modify out of your iPhone to the iPad. Fortunately, you possibly can disable that kind of habits as properly.
Be sure that the AirPods are linked to the system, then open Settings. You need to see your AirPods on the prime of the checklist (no scrolling essential, as is inexplicably required on the Mac). Faucet to deliver up AirPods settings, then faucet Hook up with This iPad, and set it to When Final Linked to This iPad. (Do the identical factor in your iPhone if you wish to cease your AirPods from switching to your cellphone.)
Extra AirPods how-tos
To get essentially the most out of your AirPods, you must try our different articles:
This text on AirPods automated switching was initially revealed on June 28, 2024. We up to date it with the newest info on December 5, 2025.
D. Griffin Jones is a author, podcaster and video producer for Cult of Mac. Griffin has been a passionate pc fanatic since 2002, when he bought his first PC — however since getting a Mac in 2008, he hasn’t turned again. His expertise in graphic and net design, together with video and podcast enhancing, are self-taught over 20+ years. Griffin has a bachelor’s diploma in pc science and has written a number of (unpublished) apps for Mac and iOS. His assortment of outdated computer systems is made up of 40+ desktops, laptops, PDAs and gadgets, courting again to the early ’80s. He brings all of those inventive and technical expertise, together with a deep information of Apple historical past, into his work for Cult of Mac.