December 2019 • Macworld 33transparency mode with a long press, go to Settings
Bluetooth on your iPhone and press the encircled
‘i’ next to the listing for your AirPods Pro.
Under Press and Hold AirPods, you’ll see options
for both the left and right AirPods. If you press Left,
for instance, you’ll see an option for Siri or Noise
Control. Press Noise Control, and you’ll see three
options for Noise Cancellation, Transparency and
Off. Off should be unchecked, so toggle it on if you
wish. The next time you try to switch cycles with left
stem, you’ll hear an especially low-pitched chime,
and this is the one that signifies that both noise
cancellation and transparency are off.
One smart way to use this feature is to make your
left bud only activate the ‘Off ’ function, so you can
reach for it if you’re trying to save your battery by
not using the other features. You’d use the right bud
for switching between the two other modes.
If you follow the same steps above and press
Siri, your AirPod will now activate Siri instead
of activating noise cancellation. It’s hard to
recommend this, though, as “Hey, Siri” works fine
on the AirPods Pro without manual input.
Turn noise cancellation on
or off through Control Centre
You can also use Control Centre to activate either
noise cancellation or Transparency mode.
- Open your iPhone’s Control Centre. If you’re on
a Touch ID phone, swipe up from the bottom of the
screen. If you’re on a Face ID iPhone, swipe down