There’s a huge cold front moving through much of the United States, and temperatures in New York City are in the low 20s, but it feels more like the teens with the wind chill. I still use the AirPods Pro 3 on my walks, listening to Bruce Springsteen of course, but I love keeping my hands in my coat pockets and relying on the hands-free controls.
In addition to crossing my fingers that the AirPods’ microphones are good enough to pick up my voice and transcribe things correctly, I’ve also been relying on a lesser-known feature: gesture controls. Yes, they may make me look a little weird to people passing me on the sidewalk, but moving your head up and down or left and right is a surprisingly easy way to read a notification out loud (or not), as well as respond to a message or ignore it completely.
Let’s break that down and explain why these head-based controls are so useful and how they complement the hands-free experience.
Make sure gesture controls are turned on and customize them
The first step is to open Settings on your iPhone while it is connected to your AirPods. From there, you’ll see your AirPods at the top of Settings; in my case, they appear as “Jacob’s AirPods Pro”.
Tap that to open the AirPods settings panel, then scroll down to the section called “Head Gestures” and tap it. On that screen, you’ll find a brief explanation of how the feature works, along with the option to turn it on or off.
You can also decide which gesture (up and down or side to side) is used to accept and reject. You’ll need to assign one to each and you can try them out right there. I recommend doing this, as it may take some deliberate movements of the head in the right direction to trigger the desired action.
This is also where you can adjust other controls to your liking, such as what a single press or a long press on the stem does. Of course, your options will vary depending on the model of AirPods you’re using.
Gesture controls are great for quickly conveying a message
What I like most about these controls is that they are generally faster than interrupting Siri while the assistant is announcing a notification. They’re also much less awkward than blurting out a command when you’re walking near other people or standing in a crowded transit center.
They also help you get back into your groove, whether it’s your favorite hiking trail or a podcast, with fewer interruptions. If a long Slack message starts announcing, for example, you can quickly shake your head from side to side to dismiss it and let the crossfade bring up the audio.
It is especially useful if you find yourself in a “quiet car” during your trip. In my case, the first and last cars on NJ Transit are designated as quiet zones, where all conversations should be kept to a whisper, making it a perfect control option since it doesn’t require you to say a word.
So yes, AirPods head controls have been around for a while, but as temperatures continue to drop, I’d rather shake my head and keep my hands in my pockets than activate a command with my fingers or voice. And it still allows me to continue listening to the Boss.
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