How to customize AirPods by changing double-tap functionality and more

Apple’s AirPods have been available for a few months now and as the completely wireless earbuds make their way to more users, there have been increased requests for more customization options.

While it’s not explicitly clear from the start, there are a few changes you can make in the Settings app on your iOS device to slightly customize the AirPods experience. Read on for a breakdown…

How to adjust the double tap function on AirPods

The AirPods support double tapping on the sides thanks to their built-in accelerometer. By default, double tapping will invoke Siri, but as has been pointed out already, doing this in certain cases doesn’t make a lot of sense, such as when you don’t have an internet connection. You can, however, change the functionality of a double tap…

There’s currently only one alternative for double tap functionality, but I’ve found it to be far more useful that Siri. Here’s how to change the double tap functionality from Siri to play/pause:

1. Open Settings on your iOS device
2. Tap the Bluetooth menu and look for your AirPods
3. Tap the “i” next to your AirPods name
4. Underneath the “Double-Tap On AirPods” function, choose to which option you’d like to switch between “Play/Pause” and “Off”

Choosing play/pause means that whenever you double-tap on your AirPods, the music will either play or pause. Choosing the off option will disable double-tap altogether, which may be useful if you find yourself accidentally invoking it.

How to change the name of your AirPods

If for some reason you want to change the name of your AirPods, this can easily be done via the Settings app on your iOS device. Head below for full instructions:

1. Open Settings on your iOS device
2. Tap the Bluetooth menu and look for your AirPods
3. Tap the “i” next to your AirPods name
4. Look for the “Name” field and tap here
5. Enter in a new name for your AirPods

Changing the name of your AirPods changes what appears in Settings, as well as what appears in the pop-up window that shows AirPods battery and connectivity status.

How to enable/disable automatic ear detection

Of the biggest features of AirPods is the automatic ear detection. This feature means that if you take one of the earbuds out, the music you’re listening to will automatically pause. When you put it back in, however, the music will automatically resume.

Automatically transfer the audio route from connected devices to the AirPods when they are placed in your ears.

There are, of course, some cases where this feature might be more bothersome than helpful. Luckily, Apple allows you to disable it via the Settings app on iOS:

1. Open Settings on your iOS device
2. Tap the Bluetooth menu and look for your AirPods
3. Tap the “i” next to your AirPods name
4. Look for the “Automatic Ear Detection” slide
5. Slide it off to disable it

Wrap up

As for the future, you can read our full breakdown of what to expect with AirPods iterations here. They currently aren’t the most customizable headphones on the market, but as time progresses we can hopefully expect this to change. We already know that AirPods can receive firmware updates and hopefully some of those updates add more customization options.

How to view AirPods hardware details, check and update firmware [Video]

Do you have any questions regarding Apple’s completely wireless AirPods? Let us know down in the comments.