When Apple announces the new software updates for the iPhone at the keynote for next Monday’s World Wide Developers Conference, there will be iOS nuggets which will be relevant for the AirPods, a new report says.
Not all of these are certain to be announced at the keynote, the report from 9to5Mac caveats — in fact maybe none of them will. Most are new, though some have been rumored before.
Head Gestures
You’ll know already that on AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4, you can nod or shake your head to accept or decline a call, for instance. Very handy in a crowded elevator, for instance, even if it does make you look a bit weird.
It’s reported that new head gestures will include extending the volume adjustment during Conversation Awareness. It’s not clear what the gesture might be — there are only so many ways you can tip, twist or move your head.
Studio Quality Microphone Mode
If you haven’t tried Audio Mix on the iPhone, it’s great. When you record a video, the iPhone can separate different sections of the audio so you can boost voices or create discrete audio effects.
It looks like the AirPods could create a microphone mode that’s studio quality. We’ll have to see what this means.
Sleep Recognition
If you fall asleep while listening to something, a new feature can spot this and pause playback, it’s claimed. This is especially useful if you’re listening to an audiobook and you wake up to hear the AirPods revealing the denouement of a novel when you fell asleep ages ago.
Camera Control
Clicking an AirPod stem could trigger the iPhone camera, it’s thought. This is good. It’s something that was possible years ago with EarPods when you could squeeze the control on the cable.
Classroom Support
Finally, the report claims that the pairing experience for AirPods when connecting to shared iPads could be improved.
Despite the report, I’m not sure all the above will be announced. AirPods tend to get their moment in the sun during the iPhone event in the fall. Even so, it’s possible some of them will feature in the keynote or those screens showing “all the features we haven’t had time to show you,” for analysts to spot later.
