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Why do my AirPods disconnect when I get a notification?

As an owner of AirPods, I know how frustrating it can be when they suddenly disconnect when I get a notification. I recently encountered this issue myself and did some research and testing to find a solution. I wanted to share my experience and the solutions I discovered so that other AirPods owners can benefit from my findings.

In this blog post, I will explain why AirPods can disconnect when a notification is received and provide potential solutions to the problem.

Likely reasons why your AirPods disconnect are that they are automatically switching to other devices that receive notifications, you need to update the AirPods or you need to update your Mac, iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch. A workaround is to disable notifications.

Tips
AirPods can disconnect when a notification is received due to them automatically switching to other devices, needing to update the AirPods, or needing to update your Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch.
Disable notifications for apps that you do not need notifications from.
Put AirPods in their charging case to update them.
Reset and reconnect your AirPods to your devices.
Modify the settings within any apps to prevent music from stopping when a notification comes in.

Why do my AirPods disconnect when I get a notification?

Below are likely reasons why your AirPods disconnect when you get a notification.

Automatic switching

AirPods have a feature that allows them to automatically switch between Apple devices.

If your AirPods are connected to an Apple device that you are not using then you start using a different Apple device, your AirPods will connect to that device.

Normally, it should show a notification on the screen asking you if you want to connect your AirPods. However, it does not always do this.

The issue could be that your AirPods are automatically switching to other Apple devices. This would be more likely if your AirPods disconnect when you are not listening to your current device or using it and you start playing sounds from a different Apple device.

This is commonly the problem when the AirPods disconnect when a notification comes into the iPhone or MacBook but you are using the Apple watch.

To turn this off, click on your AirPods in the Bluetooth settings of your iPhone then click the “i” icon then select “Connect to this iPhone” then select “When last connected to this iPhone”

Read more: why is my AirPods case loose?

Update your AirPods

Also, AirPods do receive software updates. It might be the case that your AirPods need to be updated.

To update your AirPods, you need to put them in the charging case while it is being charged, then put a connected Apple device (iPhone, iPad, Mac) near the AirPods.

Update your iPhone/Mac/Apple Watch/iPad

It could also be the case that you need to update the devices you are using. It would help to check that they are up to date and to update them if they are not.

Reset and reconnect

It would also help to try resetting and reconnecting your AirPods to your devices. To do this do as follows:

Forget your AirPods from your devices
Put them in the case
Open the lid and hold the power button for 15 seconds until the light flashes orange then white
Pair your AirPods with your devices again

Turn off notifications

If you are unable to stop the problem, a workaround solution would be to disable the notifications for any apps that you do not need the notifications from.

Read more: Why is my charger not going into my AirPods case?

AirPods
AirPods

Why does my AirPods music keep stopping when I get a notification?

The most likely reason why your music stops when you get a notification is that the app you are using is designed to stop when a notification comes in or a different sound. To fix this, you may be able to modify the settings within the app.