I love my wife, but I’ll never share AirPods with her again, thanks to this iPhone trick

When my wife and I travel, we usually download a few shows to watch on the plane, but we always have to split a bunch of them up Airpods. This means that while one ear is enjoying the show, the other is having to endure the crying baby behind us on the plane. But thanks Apple Audio Sharing Advantage, we can enjoy the show together while using our own sets of Airpods, AirPods Pro Or other headphones.

Apple introduced audio sharing with iOS 18 And iPadOS 18 in 2024. It allows two pairs of compatible AirPods or Beats headphones To pair with one iPhone or iPad. So you and someone else can immerse themselves in music, movies, or a TED talk without disturbing those around you.

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Here’s how to share audio with another set of AirPods or Beats headphones.

How to enjoy music and podcasts together

1. Open Music, Podcasts, Spotify, or a similar app with your AirPods in your ears and connected to your iPhone or iPad.
2. Start playing music or podcast.
3. Open your Control Center by swiping down from the top right corner of the screen.
4. Go to the Audio Controls page – it’s the second Control Center page by default.
5. Tap the silhouette of two people on the right side of your screen.

6. Bring your other pair of AirPods in their case or your Beats headphones near your device. You may need to press the button on the back of the AirPods case to go into pairing mode.
7. handle Share audio When your device detects other AirPods or Beats headphones.

Each pair of headphones can change its own volume via the headphone controls, or you can change the volume for each pair via the connected device. But you’ll be able to enjoy podcasts or other music together without splitting up a pair of AirPods or disturbing the people around you.

How to watch a movie or show with separate headphones

Pairing another set of headphones to your device to watch a movie or TV series is similar. Here’s how.

1. Open Apple TV, Netflix, YouTube, or another streaming app using headphones.
2. Start a movie or show.
3. Open your Control Center by swiping down from the top right corner of the screen.
4. Go to the Audio Controls page – it’s the second Control Center page by default.
5. Tap the silhouette of two people on the right side of your screen.
6. Bring your other pair of AirPods in their case or your Beats headphones near your device. You may need to press the button on the back of the AirPods case to go into pairing mode.
7. handle Share audio When your device detects other AirPods or Beats headphones.

Now you and one other person can watch a video together without disturbing the people around you and without splitting a pair of AirPods.

For more iOS news, here My review of iOS 26How to enable Calls and text Scan in the operating system and all New ringtones On your iPhone. You can also check our website iOS 26 cheat sheet.