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How Accurate Is Find My iPhone for AirPods?

As an iPhone and AirPods owner, I’ve been frustrated trying to keep track of my AirPods. I was excited when I heard about the Find My iPhone feature, but I wanted to make sure that it was accurate enough to really be useful. So I did some research and testing to find out. Here I’m going to share how I solved the problem and other solutions I discovered.

Find My iPhone works fairly accurately with your AirPods as long as you pair them. That means your AirPods need to connect with an iCloud account. However, if you lose the earpieces while inside the case or disconnected from your iPhone, Find My iPhone won’t be useful.

Tips
Ensure AirPods are paired with an iCloud account
Turn on Bluetooth and pair AirPods with another Apple device
Find My iPhone allows locating online and approximate offline AirPods
Use Play Sound feature to find AirPods quickly

How Does Find My iPhone Work for AirPods?

Apple’s Find My feature uses end-to-end encryption that locates and tracks all Apple devices. If you’re worried about privacy issues, it’s good to know that this feature works anonymously. Even Apple can’t track your devices, even though they built the program.

How this works is that Apple devices emit signals even when offline, letting your lost devices transmit their location into the cloud. For Find My iPhone, this is done through GPS and cellular data connection.

However, if your GPS is off, Find My iPhone switches to wi-fi and network triangulation to approximate the location of your device.

How to Setup Find My iPhone for AirPods

Using Find My iPhone for your AirPods is relatively easy. Simply follow these steps, and you’ll be good to go.

Step 1: Turning Bluetooth On

The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you pair your AirPods with your iPhone. You’ll need another Apple device such as Mac, iPad, or another iPhone to do this.

Once all devices are ready, open your AirPods case and confirm that both buds are there. Only having one connected to the case won’t properly pair them.

Then, open your Bluetooth by toggling the button on in the settings. If you’re using an iPad or another iPhone, the toggle should turn green when it’s on.

For Mac users, you’ll need to click on the Apple icon, then go to System Preferences. Finally, click on Bluetooth.

Read more: Pros and Cons of AirPods

Step 2: Pairing AirPods

On the back of your AirPod case, you’ll notice a button. Press the button and hold it for a few seconds until the light starts flashing inside the case. That means it’s preparing to pair.

Tap the AirPods on your phone or Mac to pair. Alternatively, there may also be a pop-up on your iPhone that prompts you to connect your AirPods once they’re in the vicinity.

After this, they should connect without any issues. 

Step 3: Turning Find My iPhone On

To do this, go to Settings and click on your Apple account. You’ll see the Find My feature.

Click on Find My iPhone and toggle the button on. You’ll also notice the Find My network, which you can turn on.

Turning this on allows you to locate your device even if it’s offline. Simply toggle the button and enter your iCloud and iPhone password when prompted.

All devices paired with your iPhone will automatically set up their Find My feature.

Read more: Can you track fake AirPods?

AirPods
AirPods

How to Find AirPods Using Find My iPhone

You can easily use the Find My iPhone feature when your AirPods are online. However, it may be harder when they’re offline. 

Online

If both buds are lost while online, here’s how to find them using Find My iPhone.

  1. Click on the Find My iPhone application on your Apple device. Make sure you’re already logged in on your iCloud account to make the process easier.
  2. Then, tap on Devices to see all devices connected to your account. For Mac users, you’ll find this on top of the screen.
  3. Next, select AirPods and wait until the app generates the location. For bigger maps, try to refresh the page. That’ll help in making the area smaller and more accurate.
  4. If they’re within your house, you can choose to turn on the Play Sound to find them faster. 
  5. If the buds are in different places, the app can show them separately. Simply reload the app after finding one bud to locate the other.

Offline

In some cases, you may lose your AirPods while they’re offline. In this case, you can approximate their place using the last location instead.

While this may not be accurate, it can give you a starting point on where to look. Another thing to remember is that the Play Sound won’t be available either.

On the other hand, you can still click on it and wait until your AirPods go online to hear the alert.

Final Thoughts

Apple has excellent features when it comes to finding lost devices. That’s as long as they’re connected to other Apple devices and have access to the internet.

So, how accurate is Find My iPhone for AirPods? While it can’t pinpoint exactly where it is around your house, it can definitely ease your mind when trying to find them. Plus, the Play Sound feature makes finding them more fun.