How to Set Your AirPods to Change Music Tracks in iOS 11

If you have AirPods, there are new features you should be aware of in iOS 11, including a new option to change tracks directly on the earphones using a double tap gesture.

The new gestures are available alongside current gestures, which allow users to summon Siri with a tap. All of the options for your AirPods can be accessed in the Settings app while the AirPods are connected to your iPhone or iPad. Here's how:

Open your AirPods case while your AirPods are near your iPhone so they connect.

Open the Settings app.

Select "Bluetooth."

Tap the little "i" button next to your AirPods.

From this menu, you can customize the name of your AirPods, enable or disable manual ear detection, choose to use the left or right AirPod microphone, and most importantly, choose what happens when you double tap an AirPod.

You can set different gestures for the left and the right AirPod. Options include Siri, Play/Pause, Off, Next Track, and Previous Track. The latter two options are new in iOS 11.

To set a gesture, you only need to tap it. If you choose Next Track for one AirPod and Previous Track for another, you can quickly and easily switch between songs that are playing, without the need to invoke Siri.

Top Rated Comments

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cuencap

14 months ago

This was already a feature. The only difference is now you can have Siri on one EarPod and track skipping on the other. Very nice add.

Next/Previous Song were NOT options before iOS 11. The only options were Siri and Pause/Play.

I too love this added feature

Rating: 3 Votes

macduke

14 months ago

This is the first thing I did when I upgraded my daily-driver iPhone 7 to the GM build last week. I've got left set to Siri, right set to skip forward. I skip tracks 90% of the time, so it makes sense to me to leave Siri available for texting, skipping back, switching playlists, etc. Hopefully in the future they'll add a triple tap option. What I'd like to see is double tap left for back, double tap right for forward, triple tap left for Siri, triple tap right for pause (so I don't have to take my AirPods out of my ears when I've got my hands pretty full checking out at a store or whatever and don't want to drop my AirPod, or I'm in a place where I'd feel weird activating Siri just to pause music).

Rating: 3 Votes

LloydChiro

14 months ago

Very useful. I'm going to make my left ear Siri and my right ear skip to next track.

I've had my Air Pods for a few days now, but the one thing I wish it had was some sort of volume control slider. I would like to have a strip on the side of the pod where I could raise or lower the volume while I walk around, without having to fiddle with my phone in my pocket.

Rating: 3 Votes

IUBall22

14 months ago

The single reason I went to ios11

Rating: 2 Votes

infinitejest

14 months ago

This feature makes me so happy.

Rating: 2 Votes

ErikGrim

14 months ago

would love one more:

Jump back 15 seconds

(I listent to a lot of podcasts and audible.com)

Set it to previous track. That’s how all podcast players interpret back / forward. I have mine set to next track, and with a few taps I have skipped ahead of the commercials in a podcast. Easy.

Rating: 1 Votes

GabrielMoro

14 months ago

Enable one or triple taps + configurable options and its perfect. :P

Rating: 1 Votes

macduke

14 months ago

I’d love to see those extra gestures too. I was thinking they could also do double/triple tapping both AirPods simultaneously as one option for a gesture.

Actually, double tapping both at the same time would be a great one for pausing that makes sense for some reason in my mind. This would be especially great if they're unwilling to add a triple tap.

Rating: 1 Votes

BulkSlash

14 months ago

I’d love to see those extra gestures too. I was thinking they could also do double/triple tapping both AirPods simultaneously as one option for a gesture.

Rating: 1 Votes

Andronicus

14 months ago

I love my AirPods. They’re so cool and have so much potential.

Rating: 1 Votes

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