There’s nothing more unsettling than warning beeps from your high-end tech gadgets. No stranger to this, AirPods have become a common source of recurring frustrations for many. This article, as suggested by its title, aims to demystify why some AirPods seem determined to beep throughout your daily commute.
The primary challenge lies in pinpointing exactly what sound your AirPod is producing. We’ll explore the various sounds your AirPod or AirPod Pros might generate – decoding the reasons behind these intriguing noises. Subsequently, we’ll delve into solutions on how to silence them and understand why they occur in the first place.
No matter if you own the very first AirPod model or a prototype AirPod Pro nabbed from the depths of a secretive government facility, our mission remains the same: getting that beeping noise under control.
Quick Troubleshooting Guide for Beeping AirPods
- Check Battery Level: Ensure your AirPods are adequately charged.
- Check Bluetooth Connection: Make sure your AirPods are properly connected to your device.
- Volume Levels: If you’re using the background sounds feature, try lowering the volume.
- Inspect Device Pairings: Too many devices paired to your AirPods? Try removing some.
- Toggle Noise Cancellation & Automatic Ear Detection: Turning these settings off and on again may resolve some issues.
- Reset AirPods: If problems persist, try resetting your AirPods.
- Contact Apple Support: For further issues or persistent beeping, reach out to Apple Support.
Please note: This is a summarized guide. For detailed troubleshooting, continue reading the article.
What Makes An Airpod Beep?
There are numerous potential explanations for why your AirPod might be beeping.
Battery Status: The most common reason is simply a low battery. Before you dive deeper into troubleshooting, confirm your AirPod has enough power. If not, recharge it and see if that resolves the issue.
Connectivity Issues: Your AirPod could also be having trouble maintaining a Bluetooth connection with the paired device. A continuous beeping, along with disrupted audio playback, can be a sign of pairing problems. Despite the annoyance, the beeping serves as a helpful auditory alert for a weak connection.
Inability to Connect: Furthermore, if your AirPods or AirPod Pros fail to connect to a Bluetooth device, they’ll produce a chime. The same happens when they power down.
Background Sounds: There’s also a possibility that the background sound feature on several AirPod models might be causing the beeping. This function plays soothing noises to block out surrounding noise. However, if the volume is too high, it can trigger a harsh beeping, undermining the purpose of the feature. Try maintaining it at a manageable volume level.
Internal Malfunctions: Lastly, if you’ve addressed all the above possibilities and your AirPods continue to beep, there could be a problem within the device itself. Issues could range from a malfunction to liquid trapped inside. In these instances, it would be best to have them checked by an Apple professional.
Alternative Noises From Airpods
If none of the previously mentioned reasons apply to your situation, we might be dealing with different types of sounds altogether. The usual beep or chime often corresponds to the problems previously discussed. However, let’s explore other audio signals your AirPods might be producing and what they might mean.
High-Pitched Noise: Noise Cancellation Issues
Do you often hear a shrill, high-pitched sound? This could be due to the noise cancellation feature. Some AirPod products may produce an overwhelming sound to block out external noises, especially if they have an inferior seal.
Multiple Paired Devices: Confusing Your AirPods
Another possibility is that your AirPods are struggling with multiple paired devices on your phone or mobile device. If your AirPods are connected to a device with several paired connections, consider disconnecting them to see if the sound persists.
Solutions: Turning off Features and Resetting AirPods
The best approach to fix these issues is to turn off Noise Cancellation & Automatic Ear Detection in your device’s settings. If the sound continues, consider resetting your AirPods as discussed in the upcoming solutions.
If the following solutions still don’t solve your problem, it could be beneficial to reach out to Apple Support for further assistance.
How To Fix Airpod & Airpod Pro Beeping
This problem is very often one you can fix in under a few minutes. The downside to that — if you can’t fix it in fifteen or less, it more than likely will require some external assistance from certified Apple technicians.
These solutions may come across as intended for one product, but they are absolutely universal. Regardless of whether you have a 1st generation Airpod or the newest Airpod Pro – these are all worth trying!
Charge Your Airpods
As we discussed above, the biggest reason for beeping Airpods comes from a nearly depleted battery. The beeping works as an auditory reminder that you are about to be listening to the uncomfortable silence of your surroundings and should charge your headphones.
While it can obviously prove annoying, many prefer to be alerted when their Airpods are going to die.
The most obvious solution to this issue is to charge your Airpods, but what if you want the beeping removed altogether? Well despite several consumers voicing frustrations with the loud low battery noise (there’s even a petition to make it an optional feature), there is no way to remove it as of yet.
The best bet for those who loathe the noise would be to keep their Airpods charged and try to efficiently manage charge life – though this hardly feels like a fix.
If you find that you have a low battery warning more often than you should, you may have a dying battery on your hands. This usually affects one earbud more than the other, so be aware of a specific Airpod draining faster on a regular basis. If this is the issue, you will need to get the Airpods repaired by a professional or replaced altogether.
Before going through the other solutions, try to charge your battery. Even if it doesn’t alleviate the issue, it will stop the Airpods from giving off false alerts from a dying battery. Once your device is charging or fully charged, it’s time to look at updating the firmware.
Reset BlueTooth Connection
If your music is regularly interrupted, skips seconds of audio, or sounds staticky, then you might be experiencing a shoddy connection. Despite these telltale indicators, the beeping can occur even if the Airpods perceive the connection to be bad. even if none of the previously listed symptoms are present – it is still beneficial to follow the steps below.
- Power down the Airpods and place them back into the charging case.
- Select the Settings option on your connected iOS device.
- Open up the Bluetooth tab and look for your Airpods in the list of connected devices.
- Select it and choose to Forget this device.
- Now navigate to the dropdown menu of available Bluetooth connections.
- You can now power on your Airpods
- Hit Scan for devices and choose your Airpods.
- Once the Airpods have connected, see if the beeping continues.
If you still have beeping, don’t get frustrated. Several issues we deal with have a lot of different fixes for the same problem. While the dilemma is the same here, the reason for it could be a number of different things. So if this doesn’t work, it doesn’t mean you are a lost cause – it just means you might have gotten your Airpods wet.
The Airpods are Wet
Moisture is not often something that blends in well with most electronics. So when Apple was making Airpods, they really decided to let you know about moisture seeping into the internals of the device. If you have recently exposed your AirPods to water, heavy humidity, or a particularly moist terrarium – it may have caused trapped liquid inside of your Airpods.
If you recently decided to leap into your friend’s pool spontaneously before checking your pockets, there may still be hope. While AirPods are certainly not waterproof, they do offer a bit of water resistance. With an IPX4 rating (resistant to splashes of water), there is still hope for the miniature audio equipment even if it takes a spill.
If you are looking to dry your Airpods, do the following:
- Get a somewhat large container and fill it with any rice you have around the house. If you don’t have rice, you can try to dry the Airpods in a warm environment with good airflow. This may take longer, however. Better yet, purchase some desiccant to pull moisture out of the surrounding environment — it functions like rice, but is even more effective.
- Place your AirPods into the rice (or desiccant) and allow them a day or so to dry out. Don’t overheat them during this time, as it may cause permanent damage to the internal hardware.
- When you deem them dry enough, place them back into the charging case.
- Press down on the Reset option on the rear of the case.
- Pair your Airpods with your preferred device and see if the issue persists.
We have all done this process or seen someone do this process with an old cell phone or mp3 player – and it still has its merits. If you think that your Airpods have fallen victim to a particularly ambitious stream of water, this is one of the best ways to dry an electronic device without damaging it permanently.
Turn Off Background Sounds on Airpod
There is a really pleasant feature offered by some Airpods (Pro and Max) that allow background noise to play in your Airpods to eliminate noise pollution from the environment.
Unfortunately, this can very easily malfunction from a poor seal or even if the Airpod is near loud noise. It can produce a beeping sound that can grow louder in tandem with the noise around you until it becomes unbearable.
To Turn off Background Sounds, simply follow the steps below:
- On your connected iOS device, select the Settings icon.
- Now select the Accessibility tab and navigate and click on Physical and Motor.
- Choose your Airpods and hit the Sound Accessibility tab.
- Choose Background Sounds and move the toggle to OFF.
- To be absolutely certain, you can also tap on the Volume tab and move the slider to the leftmost option. This will essentially mute the volume of the beeping.
- Test to see if the beeping has been resolved.
While background sounds are nice in theory, there still seem to be a few screws that require tightening when it comes to its reliability. So while it might be nice for some, if you encounter this problem often – it might be worth trekking on without background sounds until they patch this annoying glitch out.
Reset Your Airpods or Airpod Pros
One of the many possibilities that could be affecting your Airpods is an interrupted connection. If the connection is skipping, lagging, weak, or prone to disconnections – beeping may occur. If you own some Airpods, you can usually determine this by the beep happening twice in quick succession. While it can certainly benefit to try and improve the connection by keeping your paired device closer to your Airpods, resetting the Airpods will make sure it isn’t an internal error.
To reset your device is very simple, follow the steps listed below:
- Insert your Airpods or Airpod Pros back into their case and then firmly shut the lid.
- Press down on the Reset button located on the rear of the charging case. Keep the button held down for at least ten seconds.
- Allow for a couple of minutes to pass.
- Open the Settings menu on your preferred iOS device and select the Bluetooth tab.
- Find your Airpods from the list of available devices and connect to them.
- Check to see if the beeping persists.
Resetting your AirPods can be a healthy thing to do if you are ever concerned about something being wrong with them. While it isn’t exactly the technological panacea everyone makes it out to be, it is shocking how simply resetting most electronics can fix a small library of issues.
Check Your Warranty or Get Them Repaired
There is a very real possibility that your Airpods have internal issues and are trying to warn you about them. Beeping can occur for a number of reasons, but the most terrifying reason for any consumer is that beeping can mean your Airpods have internal damage. If you have tried all the solutions listed above and the beeping still hasn’t stopped – you might want to reach out to customer service.
All Airpods come with a one-year warranty. Should you find yours breaking down within that time, you have a good chance of a free repair or replacement.
Contrarily, if we have gone past the expiration of our warranty, the repair process will probably cost us a few bucks. Before committing to any real replacement, try to reach out to Apple’s customer service team as they may have unique solutions not listed here (we certainly aren’t perfect).
If you want to go the repair route you can opt for sending in your product to a local Apple store or 3rd party repair shop. While some locations won’t have an Apple store nearby, it is very likely that you have a computer repair closer than you think.
So while it may be more fruitful to go to Apple long-term, it could prove cheaper and more convenient to go the alternative route for a more rural lifestyle. At the end of the day, the choice is entirely up to you – we just enjoy offering options.
Additional Causes
AirPods Beeping Due to Software Issues
Sometimes, software glitches on your paired device can cause your AirPods to behave unpredictably and beep incessantly. These glitches may come from bugs in the operating system or from the applications you are using.
To resolve this, consider updating the software on your paired device. For iPhones or iPads, go to Settings -> General -> Software Update. For Mac, head to System Preferences -> Software Update. If there’s an available update, download and install it. This process might fix the beeping issue if it was due to a bug in the software.
AirPods Beeping Due to Interference with Other Devices
In certain cases, your AirPods may beep due to interference with other Bluetooth or electronic devices nearby. Bluetooth operates on a frequency that is shared with a lot of different products which can occasionally lead to interference.
To fix this, try to minimize the number of active Bluetooth connections around your AirPods. Additionally, move away from microwaves, Wi-Fi routers, or other electronic devices that may cause interference.
Conclusion
For a problem like this, diagnosing what causes it is a good bit of the battle. Due to the numerous reasons that could be behind the monotonous beeping, it can feel hard to understand what is ailing your Airpods. Regardless, if you follow this guide carefully it shouldn’t matter unless you are dealing with a severe internal problem.
For those that are dealing with a more faulty device than they might like – most parts for Airpods can be individually replaced if you find that your charging case or a specific earbud is the culprit. If you can’t immediately afford to drop a hefty dime on new Airpods, replacing the faulty part might be preferable.
Tech doesn’t have the tortoise-like lifespans that we wish they did, but Apple does offer several solutions for those suffering from broken or malfunctioning products.
FAQs
What is the meaning of the different beep sounds in AirPods?
Different beep sounds in AirPods signify different issues or notifications. A constant beeping might indicate a dying battery or unstable Bluetooth connection, while a beep occurring twice quickly could signal an interrupted connection.
Can the beeping sound in AirPods due to low battery be removed?
As of now, there is no way to disable the beeping sound that notifies users of a low battery in AirPods. The best way to manage this is to keep your AirPods charged and efficiently manage battery life.
Are there other ways to dry my AirPods other than using rice or desiccant?
Yes, you can also dry your AirPods by placing them in a warm environment with good airflow, although this method may take longer than using rice or a desiccant. However, avoid overheating them as it may cause permanent damage to the internal hardware.