How to Use Find My AirPods in iOS 10.3 on iPhone

With today’s release of iOS 10.3, one major feature was the addition of Find my AirPods, to help Apple customers find their tiny AirPods, should they go missing (which is actually happens easily).

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How to use Find my AirPods? First, you need to update to iOS 10.3. 

On your iOS device, go to Settings > General > Software Update > Install iOS 10.3

Next, launch (or download if you haven’t already) Find my iPhone or go to iCloud.com (using Safari). Sign into your iCloud account and you’ll see your AirPods now listed as one of your devices.

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All you have to do now is tap the AirPods in your devices list, then tap ‘Play Sound’. Next, a sound will start emitting gradually from your AirPods, getting louder and louder. The noise is a pinging sound that pulses a couple times, and keeps repeating.

You will have options to either mute the left or right AirPod, or stop the sound altogether.

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You’ll also immediately receive an email from Apple to let you know someone had enabled Find my AirPods, indicating the time and date:

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According to Apple’s description of the service, “Find My iPhone can play a sound on your device to help you pinpoint its location. For AirPods, we designed a specific sound that can project across a room — and even farther.”

If you’re activating Find my AirPods from iCloud.com or the Find my iPhone app—and you happen to be wearing an AirPod, Apple will give you a warning prompt before playing a sound (It’s actually pretty loud and high pitched):

Find my airpods volume warning

Find my AirPods will not work if your AirPods are both inside the charging case—with the lid closed. But if your charging case lid is open, the sound will emit.

With AirPods having such a tiny (and slippery) footprint, Find my AirPods is a welcome addition, and surely will help many customers locate their lost headphones (as long as there’s still a battery charge).

Let us know how Find my AirPods has been working out for you!

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