Apple Airpods are one of the most popular wireless headphone solutions on the market today. The little buds have great battery life, noise cancellation, and they're comfortable enough to wear for hours. Like most Apple products, you may wonder if they work with the company's Find my iPhone.
Due to the size of Airpods and their portability, it is easy to misplace them. This is when Find My iPhone is most useful. Tracking your Apple products using secure tracking software is ideal in most situations. But, Airpods are not directly linked to your Apple ID like other devices.
In this article, we will show you how to connect your Find my iPhone and Airpods, as well as how to track them.
Set up Find My iPhone and Airpods
The Find My iPhone feature will not work for your Airpods unless you first connect your headphones to a device signed into your iCloud account. Since the Airpods won't be directly connected to iCloud, you'll have to rely on a secondary device for setup.
You can use your Mac, iPad or iPhone to do this. Notes: You can use your Airpods with both Windows and Android operating systems, but Find My iPhone won't locate them unless they're also paired with an Apple device.
Luckily, all you need to do is pair your Airpods to your Apple device, you won't need to take any additional steps to pair the headphones with Find My iPhone.
Here's how to pair your Airpods:
- Open the lid of the Airpod case. Leave both Airpods in the case during the setup process (they won't pair if one is missing).
- Open Bluetooth settings on your device. iOS users will need to go to Settings > Bluetooth and make sure the switch is on. macOS users will need to click the Apple icon > System Preferences > Bluetooth Option.
- Hold the button on the back of your Airpod case until the light begins to flash inside the case.
- Tap the name of your Airpods in the device's Bluetooth settings.
The two should pair without any issues. But, if you're having trouble pairing your Airpods, we've got this article to help you troubleshoot any issues you might be having.
Now that you have paired your Airpods with an Apple device, let's see how to find them using Find My iPhone.
Activate Find My iPhone
It's a good idea to make sure Find My iPhone is active on the device that's paired with your Airpods. Let's take a moment to check.
To turn on Find My iPhone, follow these steps:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Tap your name, then iCloud, or go directly to iCloud if you have iOS 10.2 or earlier.
- Scroll down and select Find My iPhone.
- Next, tap âFind My iPhoneâ again.
- Move the toggle to On for Find My iPhone and for Send Last Location as well.
When you set up this feature, the devices you've paired with your phone will be automatically set up, including AirPods.
It is essential to set up this app as soon as you get a new Apple device. If you want to track something after it is lost, this feature is useless.
When your AirPods are online
If your AirPods are somewhere nearby, like under the couch, your iPhone will easily find them. Find My iPhone will show you a map where you can see their location, as well as the location of other devices you have paired with your phone.
You can use Find My through your computer or iPhone.
On your computer, do the following:
- Visit iCloud.com and sign in to your Apple account.
- Click "Find iPhone".
- Select "All Devices" at the top and choose your AirPods to see where they are.
Here's how to check the same on your phone:
- Open the Find My iPhone app on your iPhone.
- Tap Devices.
- Tap your AirPods.
If the app is unable to locate your AirPods, you will see a notification on your screen â No location found. If each earbud is in a different place, the app will show them one by one. When you find one, you need to refresh the map and see where the second one is.
If the app shows you a location, but it's too big, refresh the map and wait a few seconds for the location circle to shrink.
What if the AirPods are close to the device you paired them with and the Bluetooth connection didn't drop, but you still can't find them? Use Find My iPhone to make the AirPods play a sound that slowly gets louder. It lasts up to two minutes unless you turn it off.
If you are testing the app, please remove the AirPods from your ears before triggering the alarm.
When your AirPods are offline
What if your AirPods are out of range, out of battery, or offline? You may have a problem because in this case Find My iPhone cannot locate them.
However, it can still be useful because you can see the last location and time the AirPods were online. The Play Sound feature is not available if the AirPods are offline. You can watch where they were last online and you'll get a notification if they reconnect.
Unfortunately, the feature does not work overseas. Find My is not supported in all countries where Apple products are available. Thus, you may not be able to use it if it is against local law or there are technical limitations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some more answers to your questions about where your Airpods are located.
What if I can't find one of my buds?
Whether you're using an older model of Airpods or these, you don't need to buy a whole new set. Fortunately, you can purchase a replacement bud from Apple. If you have Apple Care on your Airpods, it will be even cheaper.
Visit the Apple website and order a new bud for your model, or go to an Apple store to pick up the replacement directly. You can also order a new case!
If someone steals my Airpods, can I still track them?
Unfortunately no. If someone takes your Airpods and associates them with their device, you can no longer track them because they will now be connected to the other person's iCloud account.
Keep track of your stuff
The best thing you can do is pay attention and take care of your AirPods. Of course, that's easier said than done since they're so small.
Find My is a great backup option, provided you remember to set it up before the unfortunate event happened. If your AirPods are disconnected, at least you'll know where to start.
Have you ever needed to use Find My to track your AirPods? Leave a comment in the comments section below and let us know if the search was successful!
