Get the most out of Apple AirPods with custom controls, fit test, noise cancellation, and more

Apple’s AirPods Pro(Opens in a new tab) are a significant upgrade over the regular AirPods(Opens in a new tab). The basic model enables you(Opens in a new tab) to listen to your favorite music and podcasts, talk to Siri, activate features with one tap, check battery power, and find them if they’re missing. But with the Pro, you can get a better fit, fully improve audio quality, optimize battery charging, and take advantage of other cool features. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your AirPods Pro.

What can you do with the new AirPods Pro? Here are a few tips,(Opens in a new tab) courtesy of Lance Whitney of PCMag.

Take the Ear Tip Fit Test

One of the drawbacks of the regular AirPods is that they take a one-size-fits-all approach with an in-ear design that doesn’t necessarily fit all ears properly. If the fit isn’t right, the AirPods can easily and quickly slip out of your ears(Opens in a new tab). The AirPods Pro corrects that flaw by switching to an in-canal design with replaceable tips for small, medium, and large ear canal sizes (the 2nd generation AirPods Pro also offer an additional small option).

By default, the AirPods Pro come with the medium tips, but you can easily change the sizes. To deactivate the current tips, pull them firmly until they separate from the base. Place the new tips so that the center white circle touches the center black circle on the base. Then push until they click into place.

Take an Ear Tip Fit Test to help you determine which of the three ear tip sizes provides the best seal and sound. To do this, attach a few tips to the base of both AirPods Pro. Then put both AirPods in your ears. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Bluetooth. Tap the info icon for your AirPods Pro and tap the link for Ear Tip Fit Test. Tap the screen to test the fit of your earbuds Get onand then tap the Play knob. A short piece of music is played.

Afterwards, the app tells you whether your current tips fit well. If not, it will tell you to adjust your tips or try a different size. Go through all three sizes until the app tells you that both AirPods have the Good Seal of Approval.

Rename your AirPods Pro

The name of your AirPods Pro appears in a few different places, but you’re not stuck with it. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Bluetooth. Tap the information icon for your AirPods Pro, then tap its current name. You can then revise or delete the existing name and create a brand new name. When you’re done, tap Finished.

Operate music with a press

Control the music flow by pressing the stem of your left or right AirPods Pro. To do this, you need to press the stem with your thumb and forefinger until you hear a low click. Press once to pause/play, press twice to skip forward to the next track and press three times to go back to the beginning of your current track or to the previous track.

Adjust the presses

By default, pressing and holding the stem of either AirPod Pro moves between Noise Cancellation and Transparency, but you can change that for either or both. With the AirPods Pro in your ears, go to Settings > Bluetooth and press the info icon next to your AirPods. Below the Press and hold AirPods tap the item for Left or Right.

Here you can keep Noise Control as the activated action when you long-press, but add the Off setting to the mix by tapping the entry. Alternatively, you can change the action from Noise Control to Siri by tapping Siri at the top. As a suggestion, you might want to keep Noise Control enabled for one button, but switch to Siri for the other.

Adjust the volume on 2nd generation AirPods Pro

The second generation of AirPods Pro improves the earbuds with better sound quality and other features. A new option lets you adjust the volume by swiping up and down on a sensor on the AirPods’ stem. Go to to enable it Settings > Bluetooth > [Your AirPods info icon] > Accessibility. Turn on the switch for Wipe volume. You can also adjust the time between swipes to avoid accidental volume changes by selecting Longer or Longest.

Start some music or other audio, place your thumb on the stem of an AirPod and use your index finger to swipe up or down on the control. As you do this, the volume will increase or decrease.

Turn on Noise reduction

The AirPods Pro offer two different listening modes that can help cancel out background noise. The Noise Canceling feature blocks out virtually all background noise, so this feature can come in handy in a noisy environment where you want to hear your audio clearly.

Transparency mode mutes background noise so you can still hear it without it interfering with your audio. This would be a good option for public places where you still need to hear announcements or otherwise stay aware of your surroundings.

Switch between noise reduction and transparency mode by long-pressing the stem of either button until you hear a chime. If you prefer to go through your iPhone, there are two options.

Open Control Center and then press the audio controls. Tap the for icon Sound controlthen choose Noise reduction or Transparencyor just tap Out to turn off Noise Control completely. You can also go to Settings > Bluetooth > [Your AirPods info icon]and then tap Noise reduction, Outor Transparency in the Sound Control section.

Adjust accessibility settings

To further manage certain accessibility features of your AirPods Pro, visit Settings > Bluetooth > [Your AirPods info icon] > Accessibility. Here you can change the speed it takes to press the stems of your AirPods to pause, play, skip ahead, or go back. You can also adjust the duration it takes to press the stems to change the noise canceling mode. Furthermore, you can enable noise canceling with one AirPod and control the volume movement.

Improve sound quality

A feature known as Headphone Accommodations, introduced in iOS 14, enhances the audio from your AirPods by boosting softer sounds and certain frequencies.

Go to Settings > Bluetooth > [Your AirPods info icon] > Accessibility > Audio accessibility settings > Headphone accommodations and turn on the switch. Crane Play preview to hear a sample, then tune the audio to a balanced tone across a range of frequencies, a vocal range for mid-range frequencies, or clarity for higher frequencies. You can also slightly, moderately or strongly amplify softer sounds.

You may want to try playing music, podcasts(Opens in a new tab), audiobooks or other audio from your own library to discover which settings work best for your own taste. Alternatively, the audio output can be adjusted by tapping Custom audio settings and answer a few questions. Your audio settings will change based on your answers.

Turn on spatial audio

A feature introduced in iOS 14 that is unique to AirPods Pro and the third generation of AirPods is spatial audio(Opens in a new tab), which adds head tracking and surround sound effects to supported videos. To enable this, you must be running iOS 14 or later and your AirPods Pro firmware must be updated to version 3A283 or later (Settings > Bluetooth > [Your AirPods info icon] > Version).

Apple TV+(Opens in a new tab)Disney+, iTunes and HBO Max(Opens in a new tab) they all support spatial audio, so play a movie or TV show from one of those services. If you chose a compatible video, you should now hear the audio shift in surround sound as you move your head, body, or iPhone.

Enable adaptive transparency on 2nd generation AirPods Pro

Another new option with the second-generation AirPods Pro is Adaptive Transparency(Opens in a new tab), which automatically lowers the volume of loud noises around you to protect your hearing. Go to to enable this option Settings > Bluetooth > [Your AirPods info icon] and turn on the switch Adaptive Transparency. Any loud noises detected while wearing your AirPods now should be reduced.

Share with other AirPods users

If someone else has a set of AirPods Pro, regular AirPods, or even Beats headphones, you can share your audio(Opens in a new tab) with them. While listening to something with your AirPods Pro, open the Control Center on your iPhone and tap the AirPlay icon for the current audio.

Crane Share audio and choose the other set of AirPods or Beats headphones. You should then see entries for both headphones. Tap the circle for the other set to connect it. You can now control the volume for both or each separately.

Turn your AirPods into a hearing aid

You can use your AirPods Pro as a hearing aid through a feature called Live Listen. First, you need to add the feature to the Control Center on your iPhone. Go to Settings > Control Centerand then tap the plus sign next to to belong to add it to the Control Center.

Put the AirPods Pro in your ears. Open Control Center and tap the hearing icon and tap Live listening to enable the function. Now place your phone next to the person or audio source you want to hear better or louder, and the sound will be amplified. Turn off Live Listen by tapping the entry in the Control Center.

Check the battery charge

You can use your iPhone to check the current charge of your AirPods Pro and their charging case. Keep both AirPods Pro in the case and open the lid. A chart will appear on your iPhone’s screen to indicate the charge levels of both the case and the AirPods. Take one AirPod out of the case and the map changes to show the charge level for each AirPod individually. Take them both out of the case and the map will show the charge level for the AirPods, but not the case.

Finally, you can help extend the overall battery life of your AirPods Pro by telling your earbuds to wait for more than 80% charge until you need them. Go to to try it out Settings > Bluetooth > [Your AirPods info icon] and enable Optimized battery charging.

If you decide you don’t want this setting, toggle the switch back off. You will be asked if you want to turn it off until tomorrow or turn it off permanently.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com(Opens in a new tab), Mashable’s sister site. PCMag. com(Opens in a new tab) is a leading authority on technology, providing lab-based, independent assessments of the latest products and services.