How to Share Audio with AirPods

If someone has compatible AirPods or Beats, you can share your audio with them without having to lend them one of your earbuds.

This feature, called “Audio Sharing”, was introduced by Apple in iOS 13.1 and iPad OS 13.1. As the name suggests, it allows you to share your audio with another person.

There are two requirements:

• Your iPhone must be running iOS 13.1 or above. If you’re using an iPad, it must be running iPadOS 13.1 or above.
• Both you and the person you’re sharing the audio with must have compatible AirPods or Beats.

Do your AirPods support Audio Sharing?

Audio Sharing works with the help of AirPlay. You can see the table below to see if you have AirPods (or Beats) that support Audio Sharing:

Compatible AirPods models	Compatibly Beats models
AirPods 1st Gen	Beats Fit Pro
AirPods 2nd Gen	Beats Flex
AirPods 3rd Gen	Beats Solo Pro
AirPods Pro	Beats Solo Wireless
AirPods Max	Beats Studio Wireless
	Powerbeats
	Powerbeats Pro
	Powerbeats Wireless

Do you have a compatible device?

Not all iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch models support Audio Sharing. See the table below to see if you have a compatibly device.

Apple devices that support audio sharing:

Compatible iPhone models	Compatible iPad models	Compatible iPod touch models
iPhone 8 and 8 Plus	iPad 5th Gen and above	iPod touch 7th Gen
iPhone X, Xr, Xs, and Xs Max	iPad mini 5th Gen and above
iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max	iPad Air 3rd Gen and above
iPhone SE 2nd Gen	iPad Pro 10.5-inch
iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max	iPad Pro 11-inch all generations
iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro, and 13 Pro Max	iPad Pro 12.9-inch 2nd Gen and above

Share your audio with another pair of AirPods

The steps here were taken on iPhone, but they are the same on iPad and the iPod Touch.

When the other person’s AirPods are in their case

1. Connect your AirPods to your iPhone. Bring the other person’s AirPods near your iPhone and open the lid of their case. A window will appear on your iPhone. Tap Temporarily Share Audio.

   

2. Pair the other person’s AirPods with your iPhone by pressing and holding the button on the case until the status light turns white. Once they’ve finished pairing, tap Done. You’ll now be able to hear the same audio on both pairs of AirPods.

   

When the other person is wearing their AirPods

1. Wear your AirPods and tap the AirPlay icon in your audio app.

   

2. You can also find the AirPlay icon in the Control Center. Swipe down from the top-right corner to open the Control Center.

   

3. Tap and hold the audio panel.

   

4. Tap the AirPlay icon. You’ll see your AirPods listed there.

   

5. Bring the other person’s iPhone close to yours, then tap Share Audio in the AirPlay window of your iPhone.

   

6. A window will open on the other person’s iPhone, asking them if they’d like to listen to audio playing on your iPhone. Tap Join on their device. They’ll now be able to hear the audio playing on your iPhone.

   

What can you control when sharing audio with AirPods?

When sharing your audio with another person, there are two things you can control:

• The audio playing on your device. The other person has no way to change what you’re listening to – you have full control over it.
• The volume of both AirPods. You can adjust the volume of both AirPods separately.

Changing the volume of AirPods when sharing audio

1. Tap the AirPlay icon in the music panel of the Control Center.

   

2. Tap and hold the volume slider underneath the music panel. When sharing audio with someone, instead of one volume slider, you’ll see two, with the names of both AirPods above the sliders. You can easily change the volume of either pair by moving the slider.

   

How do you stop sharing audio with AirPods?

• Open the music panel in the Control Center.

  

• To disconnect either of the AirPods pairs, tap the checkmark next to them. You’ll stop seeing the AirPods in the AirPlay window.