When my wife and I travel, we usually download some shows to watch on our flight. But we always have to split a set of AirPods when we watch these shows. That means one of our ears is enjoying the show while the other is forced to endure the crying baby behind us on the plane, which can be distracting. But thanks to Apple’s Audio Sharing feature, we can each enjoy a show together while using our own sets of AirPods, AirPods Pro or other headphones.
Audio Sharing was introduced with iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 in 2024. It allows two pairs of compatible AirPods or Beats headphones to pair with a single iPhone or iPad. So you and another person can immerse yourselves into music, movies or a TED Talk without disturbing those around you.
Here’s how to share audio with another set of AirPods or Beats headphones.
How to enjoy music and podcasts together
You can share your audio with another pair of headphones by tapping your own headphone control.
1. Open Music, Podcasts, Spotify or any similar app with your AirPods in your ears and connected to your iPhone or iPad.
2. Start playing music or a Podcast.
3. Open your Control Center by swiping down from the top right corner of your screen.
4. Go to your audio controls page — it’s your second Control Center page by default.
5. Tap the AirPods logo near the bottom of your screen.
6. Tap Share Audio.
7. Bring the other pair of AirPods in their case or Beats headphones near your device. You might need to press the button on the back of your AirPods case to go into Pairing Mode.
8. Tap Share Audio when your device detects the other AirPods or Beats headphones.
You can control the volume of both headphones from the connected device.
Each pair of headphones can change their own volume via headphone controls, or you can change the volume for each pair via the connected device. But you’ll be able to enjoy a podcast or other music together without splitting a pair of AirPods or disturbing people around you.
How to watch a movie or show with separate headphones
Pairing another set of headphones to your device to watch a film or TV series is similar. Here’s how.
1. Open Apple TV, Netflix, YouTube or another streaming app with your headphones in.
2. Start playing a film or show.
3. Swipe down from the top right corner of your screen to open your Control Center.
4. Go to your audio controls page — it’s your second Control Center page by default.
5. Tap the AirPods logo near the bottom of your screen.
6. Tap Share Audio.
7. Bring the other pair of AirPods in their case or Beats headphones near your device. You might need to press the button on the back of your AirPods case to go into Pairing Mode.
8. Tap Share Audio when your device detects the other AirPods or Beats headphones.
Tapping Share Audio will let you connect to another set of headphones so you and another person can listen or watch something together on the same screen.
Now you and another person can watch a video together without disturbing the people around you and without splitting a pair of AirPods.
For more iOS news, here are my first impressions of the iOS 26 beta, how to enable call screening in that beta and all the new features Apple said it will bring to your device later this year.
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