Maybe you just received an unexpected gift or holiday surprise of a pair of new and shiny Apple AirPods or AirPods Pro! Oh, the joy of owning these beautifully designed earbuds–all without wires!
But then, misery strikes when you try and make a call. You get connected at first, start your conversation, and then just a few minutes into the call you realize that for the last couple of minutes, you’ve been chatting up a storm with no one but yourself!
Well, you just experienced the newly discovered bug Apple AirPods Disconnecting Calls. What a total pain in the a…
So of course, if you’re anything like me, you dismiss it as a one-time thing and manually reconnect your AirPods and then call back the person who was cut off so rudely by your AirPods.
But then again, some minutes into that second phone call, it drops AGAIN. Okay, this is now a real problem. This problem isn’t a one-time anomaly–this is a real bug, a real issue. And you are in its path.
First off, you are not alone. Several of our Apple ToolBox readers report that their spanking new Apple AirPods are randomly disconnecting calls. This AirPods disconnecting calls issue seems to have no discernible reason or pattern.
And some users say that these problems occur even multiple times, one right after. These issues force iFolks to manually reconnect their AirPods and their calls many times, especially when on longer calls.
It also appears that when you opt to use only a single AirPod in just one ear that this problem occurs much less frequently than when both AirPods are in your ears.
We don’t know why, but that’s what our readers report to us. So as a temporary fix, try using just one AirPod to make your calls.
Additionally, some iFolk are having a lot of trouble using their AirPods with Bluetooth enabled cars or other vehicles. Most people see their AirPods as audio options, but when they select their AirPods actually to use, they cannot hear their callers and their caller cannot hear them!
All other audio Bluetooth devices work–just not the AirPods. Worse still, it seems that after trying to use the AirPods in the car, they stop working for all phone calls. And Siri also appears affected.
Given that our readers have replicated this scenario over and over again, we tend to think this is either a hardware and product defect or an iOS software bug.
AirPods Disconnecting Calls, The Fine Print
Apparently, AirPods are connecting fine to other audio activities, like listening to music, using apps like Pandora and Spotify, listening to audiobooks, playing games, or watching movies and tv shows.
Unfortunately, this disconnecting issue appears on your regular carrier calls, as well as on calls using apps like WhatsApp and Skype.
During these person to person calls, the call gets disconnected midway or intermittently, sometimes even 2 or 3 times. Some of our readers feel like they are unable to use their AirPods for phone calls at all.
Of course, AirPods will occasionally drop their Bluetooth signal. We all know that this is part of the package and pain with Bluetooth accessories.
But what we are talking about with this particular AirPods disconnecting calls bug is happening much more often than normal Bluetooth earphones, such as Apple’s Beats Powerbeats Wireless.
AirPods Disconnecting Calls, Steps to Fix
We’ve racked our brains on how to troubleshoot these problems. The technology that fuels the AirPods is brand new, so there’s not much known. But we have a few tricks up our sleeves that hopefully result in your AirPods connecting AND keeping calls.
Readers report that when you opt to use only a single AirPod in just one ear that this problem occurs much less frequently than when both AirPods are in your ears.
We don’t know why, but that’s what our readers report to us.
So as a temporary fix, try using just one AirPod to make your calls.
Tips for AirPods Disconnecting Calls Bug
Fully Charge your AirPods
Put them in your AirPods case for charging
To check charge, on your iPhone, open the case lid and hold the AirPods next to your iPhone
A window lets you know that battery level of both the AirPods and its AirPod case
Just open the case
You can also check battery status via the Batteries widget to shows the charge status of your AirPods and the AirPod Case or ask Siri “How’s the battery on my AirPods?”
View AirPods and AirPods case battery levels
Turn Bluetooth OFF and then back ON
Go to Settings > Bluetooth
Toggle Bluetooth OFF
Wait 15-20 seconds
Toggle Bluetooth back ON
Check AirPods’ Microphone Setting
Open your AirPod Case
Go to Settings > Bluetooth
Select your AirPods and press the “i” icon
Select Microphone from the menu option
The default is Automatic meaning that both your AirPods act as the microphone
Try changing this to Always Left or Always Right. This sets the microphone to use only the left or right AirPod
Reset Your AirPods Via the AirPod Case
Place your AirPods in the case
Close the AirPod Case lid, wait 15 seconds, and open the lid
Check the AirPods status light, located on the front of the case or just inside the case between the two spaces for your AirPods
It should flash white
Make sure your AirPods are inside the case
Press and hold the AirPods case’s back Setup button for at least 15 seconds until you see the status light flash amber a few times, followed by flashing white
Find the Setup button on the back of your charging case.
Reset Network Settings on iPhone
Settings > General > Reset
Tap Reset Network Settings
Enter passcode if required
This clears cellular and WiFi network settings including all saved passwords
Also, it removes any VPN settings
Forget AirPods
Settings>Bluetooth
Select your AirPods
Press the “i” icon
Choose Forget this Device
Restart your iPhone
Follow the onscreen prompts to reconnect and Repair your AirPods
Press and hold the reset button on the back of the AirPod case for 15 seconds and then release
Restart Your iPhone or Force Restart
Go to Settings > General > Shut Down or perform the manual restart procedure
Force Restart iPhone
On an iPhone 6S or below plus all iPads & iPod Touches, press Home and Power at the same time until you see the Apple logo
For iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus: Press and hold both the Side and Volume Down buttons for at least 10 seconds, until you see the Apple logo
On an iPhone 8 and above: Press and quickly release the Volume Up button. Then press and quickly release the Volume Down button. Finally, press and hold the Side button until you see the Apple logo
Turn off Automatic Ear Detection
Go to Settings > Bluetooth
Select your AirPods
Toggle Automatic Ear Detection off
AirPods no longer sense when they’re in your ear
All audio plays to your AirPods whether or not you’re wearing them
When Automatic Ear Detection is ON, and you’re not wearing your AirPods, audio plays through your device’s speakers
Unpair your Apple Watch
One of our readers, DudeMan, discovered that his Apple Watch caused issues with his AirPods maintaining phone connections. Like many of us, his AirPods disconnected during phone calls only, at random times.
To figure out the problem, he performed a full restore on his paired iPhone. And he noticed that this full restore appeared to fix the issue.
Unpair your Apple Watch to fix all kinds of problems.
He then started adding back in features one by one and tested his phone connection each time. Right after he paired his Apple Watch, the AirPods disconnecting calls bug resurfaced. Unpairing his Apple Watch on the iPhone fixed it immediately.
So give Dudeman’s suggestion a try and unpair your Apple Watch. To unpair, on your paired iPhone, open the Watch app > My Watch tab > your watch’s name > Unpair Apple Watch.
It’s not an ideal solution and certainly not a long-term solution. But it does do the trick until a more permanent fix is available.
When Nothing Works to Fix AirPods Disconnecting Calls Bug
Sometimes, despite our efforts and action, problems like this aren’t fixed. They need Apple’s care and specialists’ hands.
So if you are still stuck with dropped calls when using your AirPods, its’ time to contact Apple Support and visit a local store, so their Geniuses collect diagnostic data from your iPhone and AirPods.
If your AirPods are covered under the AirPods Apple Care warranty, Apple Support may even set you up with a replacement set of AirPods if they verify your problems.
Everyone experiencing this issue and all AirPod issues should contact Apple, even if these steps fix your problems. Send your feedback directly to Apple via their iPhone feedback site.
The rule of thumb is to let Apple Developers know about this or any bug. The more we report, the more likely they pay attention to this or any problem. So feedback away!
AirPods Failing to Connect to an iPhone or Device?
If one or both of your Airpods fail to connect, take both AirPods out of your ears and place them inside the AirPods case.
Close the case and wait for 10-20 seconds, then take them out with the case just next to your paired iPhone.
What if one of the Airpods doesn’t work at all?
If this is the issue you are experiencing, your best bet is first to reset the Airpods. Place them in the case and press the button on the back for about 10 seconds.
Repair it with your iPhone and make sure that the firmware is up to date on the Airpods.
Test again to see if your issue has been resolved.
If you are still facing the problem, you may need to take your Airpods to the closest Apple Store and have them look at it since you may be eligible for a free replacement.
Other AirPod Sound Issues
Readers report other problems with their AirPod’s audio quality, including static, hiss, audio stutter or clipping, popping, and crackling noises on regular carrier calls and third-party apps.
These connection disturbances appear more frequently when using AirPods for Skype, WhatsApp, and other third-party calling apps.
Readers also have noticed these sound problems when doing other tasks on their iPhones and iDevices, such as listening to music or podcasts or opening up Safari and other browsers.
And when switching apps, there is often an audio stutter, rather than a seamless interchange or transition between the apps’ sound.
Additionally, some readers experience audio pausing, where every few minutes their AirPods pause for no apparent reason. The AirPods are still connected, but their sound just plain stops!
We suspect this particular problem is due to the AirPods optical sensors and possibly its’ motion accelerometer.
These sensors detect when the AirPods are in your ears. Turning off Automatic Ear Detection appears to help with this particular audio problem. Alternatively, try turning Automatic Ear Detection off then back on again.
iFolks also note sound problems when using Siri. Many report feeble sound quality when using Siri with their AirPods and iDevices or Macs.
So it seems that the real culprit is the AirPods’ microphones. When these are in use, via Siri or phone calls, sound issues plague users. Playing and listening do not currently cause problems.
AirPod Sound Low Volume Issues
With use, AirPods do accumulate dirt and debris, and that can lead to sound issues such as a low volume on one of the AirPods units.
If you are experiencing low sound issues on either one of your AirPods, clean up the units, and it should sound better.
Tip: This may not sound ideal, but sucking on the AirPods can resolve sound issues. We suggest that you first clean the AirPods with cloth and solution and then “suck” on the affected unit. Readers report that this one trick works best when there are volume issues with your AirPods.
In fact, a lot of people are extremely pleased and surprised by their AirPods’ speaker sound fidelity. So playing things like music and videos are ready to go.
For Folks Experiencing Static or Audio Interference
If your AirPod problem isn’t a full disconnection but rather poor audio quality and audio interference and other sound disturbances, try turning WiFi OFF.
Some readers report that if they shut off WiFi as soon as they notice a degrade in sound quality or frequent sound drops, the audio problems go away. Just remember to turn WiFi back ON when you complete your call or that particular AirPod use.
AirPods Only Working on One Side?
Several folks have found that their Airpods only work on one side, while others complain that the volume on one side is much louder than the other.
If you are having this issue with your Airpods, here are a couple of things you can try and see if it fixes your problem.
The first and most obvious place to check is the accessibility menu in the settings and make sure you set the balance slider to the middle
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Visual and check your balance setting
Toggle on Mono Audio
The second issue could be related to dirt or other material stuck in the faulty Airpod
Look closely at the mesh of the affected AirPod to see if there is anything stuck that might be blocking the volume
Many of our readers are letting us know that their AirPods are experiencing a lot of challenges while using them with macOS.
In particular, when the mic is used, the AirPods’ audio is very low fidelity and sound quality. Some iFolks claim that they cannot even understand the other person when video-chatting with apps like FaceTime, Hangouts, and Skype.
And your callers also report that your voice sounds muddy or that they barely hear you at all.
Some macOS users also find their AirPods are only a little noisy and scratchy–just annoying but not preventing you or your caller from hearing and understanding you. But other macOS and AirPod users appear to have almost non-responsive AirPods because the sound quality is so bad.
From what we understand, these current AirPod audio limitations are due to how Bluetooth works on Macs. Typically Bluetooth transmits sound, but with the AirPods, it now has to send and receive audio.
And using a mic with a Bluetooth headset, like Apple’s AirPods, switches the mode from high fidelity sound to low fidelity phone call audio when receiving. So when you transmit audio data on a Mac, it currently sounds like the standard and highly compressed Bluetooth headset profile.
For Audio Quality Loss on Macs
For those of you experiencing audio problems on your Macs, go to System Preferences > Sound > Input and change the mic to the internal mic, rather than the AirPods. This change fixes the problem temporarily.
The downside is that you have to do this every time you connect your AirPods to your Mac or each time you wake or power up your Mac.
Though this is certainly NOT a long-term solution, it appears to work when you need it. What we think is going on is that for some reason the Bluetooth codec changes from AAC (AirPods’ native codec) to SCO when using Skype, Siri, and some other apps on Macs.
As soon as your Mac starts using SCO, your sound quality is drastically reduced as the SCO bitrate is limited.
Reconnecting your AirPods or turning the Bluetooth off and on again also appears to help with this specific AAC to SCO audio quality issue.
Change Outputs and Inputs on Macs
Open System Preferences > Sound
Select Output Tab
Choose your AirPods
Select Input Tab
Choose Internal Microphone or anything BUT your AirPods
This disables AirPods mic but produces high-quality sound from AirPods for listening
How Apple AirPods Should Work and Sound
AirPods are pretty sophisticated devices. They include an entirely new chip, the Apple H1 (AirPods Pro & AirPods 2) or W1 (AirPods 1.)
This custom made chip is exceptionally efficient and produced a wireless signal that should provide better connections and improved sound.
AirPods should be the way to handle calls.
For those of us that are on the phone a lot for work or pleasure, being able to make calls with a single AirPod is impressive!
And for those with Apple Watches, controlling the AirPods via the watch makes it that much easier and convenient.
Knowing You’re Talking
Onboard the AirPods is a voice accelerometer that recognizes when you are speaking. This work in tandem with the two built-in beamforming mics to filter out any ambient and unwanted noise and shift focus to your voice.
Knowing You’re Listening
Included in your AirPods are optical sensors AND motion accelerometers. These partner with the Apple H1/W1 chip to automatically control audio and in particular the mics.
They recognize when you have both AirPods in your ears or just one AirPod. And they are set up to begin playing any sound as soon as you place the AirPods in your ear. So no sound delays!
But alas, these AirPods are not fault-proof. And the recent bug of dropping calls is an unintended problem, possibly caused by the voice accelerometer not recognizing your voice or the optical and motion sensors not engaging the mics correctly.
Geek Out!
For those interest, here’s additional information on what’s going on with the sound quality of AirPods on Macs. Your Mac supports the Bluetooth Hands-Free Profile (HFP) 1.5 standard (8 kHz).
However, AirPods, iPhone, iPad, and other iOS devices support the HFP 1.6 (16kHz) standard for calling, Siri, and other apps requiring the use of the microphone.
That means that our Macs are NOT compatible with our AirPods HFP 1.6. Even though HFP 1.6 has been available since 2011, it’s not used in Macs. And that’s why your iPhone calls and Siri sound so much better than your Mac.
Syncing Issues
Some of our readers also report random AirPod syncing issues. These include having only one AirPod working at a time. It appears that things are okay for the first 24-48 hours with both AirPods working as expected.
Following the first 1-2 days, some AirPods go out of sync and only work when used individually.
The current fix that we know of is holding down the setup button on the case for a very long time. Press and hold the setup button until the light in the case flashes orange. And maintain this hold for an additional 20-30 seconds AFTER the light flashes orange.
A few readers let us know that their AirPods were back to normal after doing this simple trick. So why not give it a try?
Wrap Up
We admit that AirPods are pretty darn awesome! We absolutely love single ear mode. But having a connection and call issues with our new accessories is just not the Apple Way!
Experiencing these issues randomly during the calls is beyond frustrating and even embarrassing for essential calls. Interestingly, many readers say that when they use a single AirPod, they rarely experience disconnected or dropped calls. Go figure!
So if you have some tips and suggestions to get your AirPods up and working on calls, please let us know your advice. We love comments, and we love to share, so we all have a better life.
Reader Gordon reported the following: I just had a fascinating experience with my AirPods. I was listening to the radio on my iPhone in one year and working on my iPad. And then I saw something on the iPad I wanted to listen to, and when I put the other AirPod in my ear, I ended up listening to the iPad in one ear and the iPhone in my other ear. I then took the iPhone AirPod out of my ear and put it back in at which point it synced with the iPad AirPod. I don’t know if I could replicate the experience but thought it was kind of exciting and demonstrates the sophistication and independence of the two pods that were able to connect independently to two different devices at the same time. Amazing!
Some readers fixed the problems by placing both AirPods back in the case, then taking out one AirPod and putting it in the ear before taking out the remaining AirPods and placing that it in the ear. Then play some music and see if you get sound from both ears. If so, place both AirPods back in the case, then remove them and place back in your ears and see if they now work on calls
For most of her professional life, Amanda Elizabeth (Liz for short) trained all sorts of folks on how to use media as a tool to tell their own unique stories. She knows a thing or two about teaching others and creating how-to guides!
Her clients include Edutopia, Scribe Video Center, Third Path Institute, Bracket, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Big Picture Alliance.
Elizabeth received her Master of Fine Arts degree in media making from Temple University, where she also taught undergrads as an adjunct faculty member in their department of Film and Media Arts.
My AirPod not popping on my iPhone except I go through the Bluetooth settings to connect it and I experience connection dropping while listening to music. Please I need assistance on what to do
This is my second pair of air pods and I am having the same problem. I have the iphone 11 pro.
The phone has just been restored by the Apple genius bar and everything installed back on and I am still having the problem
It only seems to happen when I am using the phone (talking), it has not happened while I am listening to music/Spotify.
I will be ten minutes into the conversation and then the sound starts breaking up/cracking and I have to switch to the speaker or just hold the phone to my ear.
Again, this is the second pair and I’m having the same problem.
I don’t know if it is the phone or the air pods but something isn’t right. Any suggestions?
My iPHONE 7 STOPPED RINGING when a new call comes in. All systems are set and should work, but this only started happening when I first started using my AirPods. At first it was sporadic, now the phone does not ring at all and only vibrates (which it is set to do).
Try unpairing your AirPods and then runs some tests having friends, family, co-workers, and so forth call you to see if the phone rings. If the iPhone rings, then re-pair your AirPods and see if the problem resurfaces or not.
This problem started about a month ago. Only on phone calls, only the right ear drops after a few minutes. Placing it back in the case then back in my ear solves the problem for a couple of minutes only.
Eventually the left ear works for about 5 minutes then that ear piece fails as well. I am now buying wired headphones for phone calls only.
I have tracked down one of the key problems you described as being associated with Apple’s algorithms for automatically selecting which Bluetooth speakers. I have a pair of AirPods and a variety of Bluetooth devices including my car stereos and a GGMM M4 wireless speaker. When I start my car or put my GGMM in Bluetooth mode, my iPhone or iPad will automatically disconnect my AirPods and connect to these other devices. This is handy when, for example, I start a call or start listening to something on the AirPods then step into the car.
A subtle problem occurs when I’m using my AirPods and step into the edge my GGMM’s connectivity range. Here, what happens is that I hear the exact hissing, popping and drop-outs that you describe in the article. On investigation, I found that the problem is that when my iPhone senses the GGMM speakers, it tries switching over. But because I’m at the edge of range, the connection to the speakers will turn on and off as I move. This causes the hissing and popping. Finally, when I get near the speakers, the Airpods cut off and my sound or phone calls and transfer connectivity over to the speakers. (The only solution I’ve found is to turn off my GGMM speakers.)
I like the automation when I get into the car but not with my GGMM speakers. What I wish is that Apple would give me some way to set connection priorities or to disable the automatic reconnections. Regardless, you should probably mention this sort of interference in the article above.
I used my AirPods with iPhone7 with no issues for over a year. Got the new iPhoneXR and this issue started happening ALL THE TIME! Maybe it is the iOS updates and would have happened on my 7 too?
I can’t make a phone call without it cutting out. Always on phone calls but also on Skype when I was on the phone with Apple (I live overseas).
I am experimented with my wife’s iPhoneX and had the same issue. So it appears to be the AirPods.
When I listen to iTunes and Spotify it happens way less in fact hardly at all. INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING. They are useless now for the main reason I loved them, which was making hands free phone calls.
I loved these things and bragged about them to everyone about how awesome they are. Now they are useless.
I went through a number of phone calls with Apple. The AirPods are out of warantee because they are older than a year. They want me to bring them to a store (which I have to wait to do until I am home) and it sounds like they want me to pay for the visit.
If these things aren’t going to last two years then they are a total waste. $200 for less then two years?
From super happy to super disappointed in less than a year. Bad on Apple.
I’m not using airpod but jabra’s bluetooth headset on iPhone 6sPlus and I am currently suffering from disconnecting call problema frequently which has affected my work.
Thanks for the comment. We have seen many users with similar issues with Tile. The good news is that in the new IOS (Still in Beta), the tiles problem seems to have been solved. Keeping our fingers crossed.
For those wo have “Tiles” BT tracking devices:
The problem seems to have been fixed with the TileApp update, v. 2.23.5 (2511) of mid-December. I had a lot of trouble with lack of sound when making calls before, but now everything works without issues.
AirPods are awesome for music and radio apps. They are the most frustrating blue tooth ear pieces to use for phone calls, because when they work (20% of the time) it’s amazing, but when they don’t work (80% of the time), they are dangerous. Dangerous in the sense that Bluetooth can assist in helping people be safer when driving a vehicle because they allow for your hands to be free. But not AirPods, since they connect to your phone but 80% of the time it fails to deliver sound in or out of ear piece (whether in one ear only or in both ears…problem is the same), so you must manually go back to phone Switch to speaker and hold your phone to use the speaker phone functionality. All of this is unsafe and technically illegal in most states (to hold phone up in your hand to Talk).
Note, I have had my AirPods replaced once, as well as restoring phone from backup and finally getting a full phone replacement (I have been using iphone 7 this whole time), and issues Still occur regularly. It’s definitely the AirPods or the software that runs the AirPods on the phone. I will say this, I never had this problem with any other earpieces in the past (mostly used Plantronics), but what is interesting, after using the AirPods and experiencing the many Bluetooth malfunctions, I tried to go back to my plantronics, but now have the same issue with them that I had with the AirPods. Basically, I am saying the AirPods ruined my iphone’s Bluetooth capability (for phone calls only) regardless of what earpiece I now use, as the same intermittent issues happen now whether I am using AirPods or a plantronics earpiece.
I feel Apple is not addressing this issue publically to avoid returns or to avoid an overload of technical support issues (or massive recall). It seems it is easy for them to say there is user error when it comes to Bluetooth issues so they do not place a high priority around resolving this. For $150 earpieces, this is unfair to their customers and I believe they need to place urgency on repairing this.
A question to the group that I do not believe is addressed in this article. Has anybody tried to use the AirPods on an android device? If so, have you experienced the same issues those of us have with the AirPods connecting to phone calls on iPhones?
I wasn’t going to post my issue here as it is different than every comment I’ve read so far before yours. I see that your post is 2 years old, so this may no longer be relevant to you, but I’ll post this reply in case someone else experiences this.
About a year ago I started a new job and they provided me with my first ever Apple device. The General – About says it is a “iPhone SE”, which seems like an older model. A few months ago I received AirPods as a gift and they have worked great for videos, music and phone calls – until recently. A few days ago my phone/AirPod combination developed the very annoying habit of:
A. Showing that it is connected via bluetooth on the phone, and;
B. Failing to connect the phone to the AirPods when dialing a call.
This forces me to poke the Speaker icon (which, like I say, displays the AirPod logo and name indicating it is connected to the phone – however no sound is transferred to the AirPods), select Speaker (so now I can at least hear the phone ringing, being answered, etc.) and then Speaker again to select AirPods.
So far this has always worked to get the sound going on the AirPods for the duration of the phone call (so I’m not getting the disconnect issue), but this is really annoying and if I forget the person I’m calling doesn’t hear anything and gets annoyed and hangs up.
To answer your last question, I have used these same AirPods with my Google Pixel phone and they work great for music but now I’m thinking I’ll test them with phone calls. I mostly use these with my work phone, however.
Bought Watch Series 2 an got a lot of more speed and a great battery. But still not perfect. Batterie level won’t shown on watch2 the main time, only after a restart for some time.
The main issue about disconnecting is still present! But I’m hoping finding out the reason of diconneting, because since I’ve swichted off WifFi when I’m leaving home, the connection the last two days was stable! But this isn’t a great solution, so I had another idea => Wifi calling
The most calling issues I had were at home. So what is special at home? The only reason I’ve upgrated was wifi calling, beacuse at home I have only a very poor cell connection. So I was glad in December getting the wifi calling option by Tmobile. But it works only sometimes. On my way to work and back I found it out, that the disconnection happens at some places more often than at other places. So my thoughts at the moment are; couldn’t it be that my iPhone 6s plus what’s to switch to wifi calling when it realzises a wifi access point?
I will try further and hoping giving you possitve answers…
Rainer,
I like where your heading. Very interesting observations. Perhaps WiFi Calling is the source of the AirPods issue with disconnecting. We’ll look into this as well and please keep us posted of your investigations!
Thank you very much for sharing! Appreciated all around…and gives some more food for thought.
Having 6s plus, Watch (Series0), airpods, all devices using latest offical software. After a lot of interuptions when having calls, getting the idea switching of my watch in a call of interuptions and the issue was solved. Same problem when making a call by watch and paired airpods.
I’m streaming a lot of by apple music and sometimes my watch (first version) needs a lot of time, updating song text on it’s display. Today I had a 3 hours workout and in the middle of my session I wanted to skip to next album but my watch was totally offline. I couldn’t do anything getting a reconnect, so I was forced doing a restart. After this, everything worked fine again, so I guess it should be a software issue at watchOS?
But ist could be also that my watch might be so slow for stream via apple music. Since I’ve cleared the apps at dock, the system is faster but not really performant.
Does anyone having a watch series 2 and also these issues?
Or maybe iPhone7 with watch 2?
SAME STORY! ! ! I can’t use these expensive ‘iOrnaments’. . . when in the car, they switch back and forth from my car bluetooth back to AirPods, eventually I can’t communicate with my caller from either devise. . . AND the same with my iPhone 6plus. . . . calls switch back and forth. They are UNRELIABLE. CAN’T USE THEM except for music.
I just want to chime in that I have the exact same issue. iPhone 6s with a paired Apple Watch. Unpairing the watch seems to fix the issue, but I need the watch paired more than I need the AirPods. The AirPods work flawlessly when used with my MacBook Air and my iPad.
Having the same issue. AirPods disconnect from Bluetooth during calls, sending the call audio back to the iPhone. I was also having this issue intermittently in my car before I got the AirPods. The issue started this fall, so I suppose it might be related to the iOS10 update. Anyway, thinking it was hardware related, I contacted Apple Support and went to the Genius Bar. They replaced my iPhone (love the Geniuses), and I restored from backup, but the problem persists.
I’m interested in the suggestion about unpairing the Apple Watch, but, even if it works, it’s not a great longterm fix. I like my watch, and it helps with AirPod volume control, etc.
I’ll report this to apple. Maybe the next iOS update will adress the issue?
Here is my feedback, one day after having unpaired my Apple Watch from my iPhone:
– I had no Airpods disconnection during calls 🙂
– Sound still skips quite often when listening to music 🙁 , and as far as I remember much more often then with the cheap bluetooth earphones I bought on Amazon two years ago – that is unpleasant enough for me not to use Airpods any longer for listening to music (I have a much better sounding wired solution anyway)
– I had quite a few bluetooth disconnections between my iPhone 6s and my car’s bluetooth adapter (Parrot MKI9200) but that might be unrelated.
So for now, I have reported the issue to Applecare, on bugreport.apple.com …and will keep my Airpods in a drawer until this is fixed, unless I can help with some testing of course.
After spending a few hours with Applecare (i Have an iPhone 6S with AppleCare +), I had my iPhone exchanged yesterday in an Apple Store.
…and this morning I had the Airpods disconnecting again while on a call.
I started restoring my new iPhone, trying to again discard my backup and start as a new iPhone.
Luckily I read your post. I am now restoring my iPhone from backup and will try just unpairing my Apple Watch.
I finally figured out the cause! My airpods would disconnect during phone calls only, and at random times, and it had nothing to do with signal quality. Did a full restore that fixed the issue, and slowly started adding back in features. The problems started again right after I paired my Apple Watch. Unpairing it on the phone fixed it immediately, not even a restart required.
Thanks for the tip and for sharing it with us! We’ll update the article with your suggestion, since other iFolk are certainly experiencing these issues.
Yep. Only one of my AirPods would pair after a few days of use. Held down the button on back of case until orange glow appeared and they now work fine. Held for about 15-20 seconds.
My AirPod not popping on my iPhone except I go through the Bluetooth settings to connect it and I experience connection dropping while listening to music. Please I need assistance on what to do
This is my second pair of air pods and I am having the same problem. I have the iphone 11 pro.
The phone has just been restored by the Apple genius bar and everything installed back on and I am still having the problem
It only seems to happen when I am using the phone (talking), it has not happened while I am listening to music/Spotify.
I will be ten minutes into the conversation and then the sound starts breaking up/cracking and I have to switch to the speaker or just hold the phone to my ear.
Again, this is the second pair and I’m having the same problem.
I don’t know if it is the phone or the air pods but something isn’t right. Any suggestions?
These are the original model air pods.
My iPHONE 7 STOPPED RINGING when a new call comes in. All systems are set and should work, but this only started happening when I first started using my AirPods. At first it was sporadic, now the phone does not ring at all and only vibrates (which it is set to do).
Hi Kathryn,
Try unpairing your AirPods and then runs some tests having friends, family, co-workers, and so forth call you to see if the phone rings. If the iPhone rings, then re-pair your AirPods and see if the problem resurfaces or not.
I have iPhone 6s+ and Gen 1 airpods.
This problem started about a month ago. Only on phone calls, only the right ear drops after a few minutes. Placing it back in the case then back in my ear solves the problem for a couple of minutes only.
Eventually the left ear works for about 5 minutes then that ear piece fails as well. I am now buying wired headphones for phone calls only.
I have tracked down one of the key problems you described as being associated with Apple’s algorithms for automatically selecting which Bluetooth speakers. I have a pair of AirPods and a variety of Bluetooth devices including my car stereos and a GGMM M4 wireless speaker. When I start my car or put my GGMM in Bluetooth mode, my iPhone or iPad will automatically disconnect my AirPods and connect to these other devices. This is handy when, for example, I start a call or start listening to something on the AirPods then step into the car.
A subtle problem occurs when I’m using my AirPods and step into the edge my GGMM’s connectivity range. Here, what happens is that I hear the exact hissing, popping and drop-outs that you describe in the article. On investigation, I found that the problem is that when my iPhone senses the GGMM speakers, it tries switching over. But because I’m at the edge of range, the connection to the speakers will turn on and off as I move. This causes the hissing and popping. Finally, when I get near the speakers, the Airpods cut off and my sound or phone calls and transfer connectivity over to the speakers. (The only solution I’ve found is to turn off my GGMM speakers.)
I like the automation when I get into the car but not with my GGMM speakers. What I wish is that Apple would give me some way to set connection priorities or to disable the automatic reconnections. Regardless, you should probably mention this sort of interference in the article above.
Hi Michael,
Thank you for sharing this! We will add it into the article as something folks should look out for.
I used my AirPods with iPhone7 with no issues for over a year. Got the new iPhoneXR and this issue started happening ALL THE TIME! Maybe it is the iOS updates and would have happened on my 7 too?
I can’t make a phone call without it cutting out. Always on phone calls but also on Skype when I was on the phone with Apple (I live overseas).
I am experimented with my wife’s iPhoneX and had the same issue. So it appears to be the AirPods.
When I listen to iTunes and Spotify it happens way less in fact hardly at all. INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING. They are useless now for the main reason I loved them, which was making hands free phone calls.
I loved these things and bragged about them to everyone about how awesome they are. Now they are useless.
I went through a number of phone calls with Apple. The AirPods are out of warantee because they are older than a year. They want me to bring them to a store (which I have to wait to do until I am home) and it sounds like they want me to pay for the visit.
If these things aren’t going to last two years then they are a total waste. $200 for less then two years?
From super happy to super disappointed in less than a year. Bad on Apple.
You forgot to mention another option, which is not using these overpriced earphones
I’m not using airpod but jabra’s bluetooth headset on iPhone 6sPlus and I am currently suffering from disconnecting call problema frequently which has affected my work.
Tile 2.23.6 still has problems.
I have no problem at all if I turn off Bluetooth in the Tile app.
Horrendously annoying.
Thanks for the comment. We have seen many users with similar issues with Tile. The good news is that in the new IOS (Still in Beta), the tiles problem seems to have been solved. Keeping our fingers crossed.
For those wo have “Tiles” BT tracking devices:
The problem seems to have been fixed with the TileApp update, v. 2.23.5 (2511) of mid-December. I had a lot of trouble with lack of sound when making calls before, but now everything works without issues.
AirPods are awesome for music and radio apps. They are the most frustrating blue tooth ear pieces to use for phone calls, because when they work (20% of the time) it’s amazing, but when they don’t work (80% of the time), they are dangerous. Dangerous in the sense that Bluetooth can assist in helping people be safer when driving a vehicle because they allow for your hands to be free. But not AirPods, since they connect to your phone but 80% of the time it fails to deliver sound in or out of ear piece (whether in one ear only or in both ears…problem is the same), so you must manually go back to phone Switch to speaker and hold your phone to use the speaker phone functionality. All of this is unsafe and technically illegal in most states (to hold phone up in your hand to Talk).
Note, I have had my AirPods replaced once, as well as restoring phone from backup and finally getting a full phone replacement (I have been using iphone 7 this whole time), and issues Still occur regularly. It’s definitely the AirPods or the software that runs the AirPods on the phone. I will say this, I never had this problem with any other earpieces in the past (mostly used Plantronics), but what is interesting, after using the AirPods and experiencing the many Bluetooth malfunctions, I tried to go back to my plantronics, but now have the same issue with them that I had with the AirPods. Basically, I am saying the AirPods ruined my iphone’s Bluetooth capability (for phone calls only) regardless of what earpiece I now use, as the same intermittent issues happen now whether I am using AirPods or a plantronics earpiece.
I feel Apple is not addressing this issue publically to avoid returns or to avoid an overload of technical support issues (or massive recall). It seems it is easy for them to say there is user error when it comes to Bluetooth issues so they do not place a high priority around resolving this. For $150 earpieces, this is unfair to their customers and I believe they need to place urgency on repairing this.
A question to the group that I do not believe is addressed in this article. Has anybody tried to use the AirPods on an android device? If so, have you experienced the same issues those of us have with the AirPods connecting to phone calls on iPhones?
Hi @sdcAztec,
I wasn’t going to post my issue here as it is different than every comment I’ve read so far before yours. I see that your post is 2 years old, so this may no longer be relevant to you, but I’ll post this reply in case someone else experiences this.
About a year ago I started a new job and they provided me with my first ever Apple device. The General – About says it is a “iPhone SE”, which seems like an older model. A few months ago I received AirPods as a gift and they have worked great for videos, music and phone calls – until recently. A few days ago my phone/AirPod combination developed the very annoying habit of:
A. Showing that it is connected via bluetooth on the phone, and;
B. Failing to connect the phone to the AirPods when dialing a call.
This forces me to poke the Speaker icon (which, like I say, displays the AirPod logo and name indicating it is connected to the phone – however no sound is transferred to the AirPods), select Speaker (so now I can at least hear the phone ringing, being answered, etc.) and then Speaker again to select AirPods.
So far this has always worked to get the sound going on the AirPods for the duration of the phone call (so I’m not getting the disconnect issue), but this is really annoying and if I forget the person I’m calling doesn’t hear anything and gets annoyed and hangs up.
To answer your last question, I have used these same AirPods with my Google Pixel phone and they work great for music but now I’m thinking I’ll test them with phone calls. I mostly use these with my work phone, however.
HTH,
rclowe
Bought Watch Series 2 an got a lot of more speed and a great battery. But still not perfect. Batterie level won’t shown on watch2 the main time, only after a restart for some time.
The main issue about disconnecting is still present! But I’m hoping finding out the reason of diconneting, because since I’ve swichted off WifFi when I’m leaving home, the connection the last two days was stable! But this isn’t a great solution, so I had another idea => Wifi calling
The most calling issues I had were at home. So what is special at home? The only reason I’ve upgrated was wifi calling, beacuse at home I have only a very poor cell connection. So I was glad in December getting the wifi calling option by Tmobile. But it works only sometimes. On my way to work and back I found it out, that the disconnection happens at some places more often than at other places. So my thoughts at the moment are; couldn’t it be that my iPhone 6s plus what’s to switch to wifi calling when it realzises a wifi access point?
I will try further and hoping giving you possitve answers…
Rainer,
I like where your heading. Very interesting observations. Perhaps WiFi Calling is the source of the AirPods issue with disconnecting. We’ll look into this as well and please keep us posted of your investigations!
Thank you very much for sharing! Appreciated all around…and gives some more food for thought.
Cheers,
SK
Having 6s plus, Watch (Series0), airpods, all devices using latest offical software. After a lot of interuptions when having calls, getting the idea switching of my watch in a call of interuptions and the issue was solved. Same problem when making a call by watch and paired airpods.
I’m streaming a lot of by apple music and sometimes my watch (first version) needs a lot of time, updating song text on it’s display. Today I had a 3 hours workout and in the middle of my session I wanted to skip to next album but my watch was totally offline. I couldn’t do anything getting a reconnect, so I was forced doing a restart. After this, everything worked fine again, so I guess it should be a software issue at watchOS?
But ist could be also that my watch might be so slow for stream via apple music. Since I’ve cleared the apps at dock, the system is faster but not really performant.
Does anyone having a watch series 2 and also these issues?
Or maybe iPhone7 with watch 2?
SAME STORY! ! ! I can’t use these expensive ‘iOrnaments’. . . when in the car, they switch back and forth from my car bluetooth back to AirPods, eventually I can’t communicate with my caller from either devise. . . AND the same with my iPhone 6plus. . . . calls switch back and forth. They are UNRELIABLE. CAN’T USE THEM except for music.
I just want to chime in that I have the exact same issue. iPhone 6s with a paired Apple Watch. Unpairing the watch seems to fix the issue, but I need the watch paired more than I need the AirPods. The AirPods work flawlessly when used with my MacBook Air and my iPad.
Having the same issue. AirPods disconnect from Bluetooth during calls, sending the call audio back to the iPhone. I was also having this issue intermittently in my car before I got the AirPods. The issue started this fall, so I suppose it might be related to the iOS10 update. Anyway, thinking it was hardware related, I contacted Apple Support and went to the Genius Bar. They replaced my iPhone (love the Geniuses), and I restored from backup, but the problem persists.
I’m interested in the suggestion about unpairing the Apple Watch, but, even if it works, it’s not a great longterm fix. I like my watch, and it helps with AirPod volume control, etc.
I’ll report this to apple. Maybe the next iOS update will adress the issue?
Here is my feedback, one day after having unpaired my Apple Watch from my iPhone:
– I had no Airpods disconnection during calls 🙂
– Sound still skips quite often when listening to music 🙁 , and as far as I remember much more often then with the cheap bluetooth earphones I bought on Amazon two years ago – that is unpleasant enough for me not to use Airpods any longer for listening to music (I have a much better sounding wired solution anyway)
– I had quite a few bluetooth disconnections between my iPhone 6s and my car’s bluetooth adapter (Parrot MKI9200) but that might be unrelated.
So for now, I have reported the issue to Applecare, on bugreport.apple.com …and will keep my Airpods in a drawer until this is fixed, unless I can help with some testing of course.
Thanks TheDudeMan.
After spending a few hours with Applecare (i Have an iPhone 6S with AppleCare +), I had my iPhone exchanged yesterday in an Apple Store.
…and this morning I had the Airpods disconnecting again while on a call.
I started restoring my new iPhone, trying to again discard my backup and start as a new iPhone.
Luckily I read your post. I am now restoring my iPhone from backup and will try just unpairing my Apple Watch.
Thanks again !
I finally figured out the cause! My airpods would disconnect during phone calls only, and at random times, and it had nothing to do with signal quality. Did a full restore that fixed the issue, and slowly started adding back in features. The problems started again right after I paired my Apple Watch. Unpairing it on the phone fixed it immediately, not even a restart required.
DudeMan,
Thanks for the tip and for sharing it with us! We’ll update the article with your suggestion, since other iFolk are certainly experiencing these issues.
Thanks again,
Cheers,
Liz
Mine were randomly dropping Bluetooth, but only during calls. I reset them and it is doing the trick so far. Thank you!
I turned off automatic ear detection and this seemed to do the trick. Appears to be AirPods thinking I took them out.
Yep. Only one of my AirPods would pair after a few days of use. Held down the button on back of case until orange glow appeared and they now work fine. Held for about 15-20 seconds.