I’m a big fan of iOS 14 and since I have a couple of AirPods Pro, I also like the new ” Quick Switching ” enhancement, which can create a seamless transition when using beautiful headphones on different Apple devices. I no longer need to worry about Bluetooth settings to make sure my AirPods are connected to the correct device; they just automatically switch to the one you’re using.
However, it is. Although this feature is very convenient, I can definitely see the times when you may not want the AirPods Pro to flip back and forth. Maybe you are playing music from your iPhone and want to read articles on your iPad, but the AutoPlay Video BS will transfer your audio source from your phone to your tablet. Or maybe you just want to quickly watch YouTube videos with subtitles. Switching quickly means saying goodbye to the iPhone audio source.
There are two ways to avoid this treatment. One is quick and easy, but with caveats, the other is not easy, but permanent.
The easy way to Quick Switching your AirPods Pro audio back to your original device
If you are using a device, such as an iPhone, and you use another device with the same Apple ID connected to the first device to start playing audio, you should see this small pop-up window on your first device :
Pressing the blue return arrow will restore your audio to the previous device, but it does not always appear. I switched AirPods Pro between iPhone and iPad many times, and when I used the music app on the iPhone, I only saw the small blue icon. For example, if I’m listening to Spotify, I won’t receive any notification on my iPhone that the sound has switched to another device, only the notification on the iPad, and there is no way to quickly “send” the
audio stream. Go back to the original equipment.
Related: How to Add an Air Quality Widget to iOS 14
This small feature may only work (currently?) when listening to content through the Apple app. Otherwise, if you want to lock the automatic shift, you must dig deeper.
The permanent way to keep your AirPods Pro from switching devices
If you need to take a break from the convenient device switching feature on AirPods Pro, you can manually disable it at any time. Put the AirPods Pro in your ears (one or both don’t matter) and tap the “i” icon next to “Settings”> “Bluetooth”> “AirPods Pro”. From there, scroll down a bit until you see “Connect to this iPhone,” then tap on it.
Then you will see this screen, by default it is “Auto”. Change it to “The last time I connected to this iPhone”, which will disable the quick switch feature:
You now have to manually swap AirPods Pro between Apple devices (via your Bluetooth menu), but once you’re ready to let Apple manage the transfer again, you can change the settings at any time.
Related: How to Turn Off Apple Watch’s Hand Washing Reminder
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