Apple launched the AirPods Pro 2nd Generation with some great features. For example, this pair of wireless earbuds offer excellent noise-cancellation performance. The outside world won’t encroach on your audio listening experience with it. However, in some cases, you may want to hear the outside world. In situations like these, the Conversation Awareness comes into play.
For those wondering, Apple AirPods Pro also comes with Adaptive Audio mode. And it’s not the same as the Conversation Awareness. What Adaptive Audio does is it offers you something in between the Transparency and full ANC mode. As a result, you get to hear the street noises properly.
But with the Conversation Awareness, the Apple AirPods Pro, as the name suggests, is for holding conversations while you have the buds on. Let’s get into the details to offer you a better idea.
What is Conversation Awareness on Apple AirPods?
Conversational Awareness on Apple AirPods Pro is a feature that detects when you’re speaking with somebody. Once activated, it will change the audio settings of the earbuds, allowing you to better hold the conversation. This eliminates the need to take the buds off when you stumble upon someone that you would want to talk to.
When you start speaking out loud, the AirPods Pro will detect your voice and understand that you’re trying to conversate with someone. After that, the buds will automatically lower the playback volume, enhance the voices that are coming in front of you, and reduce the background noise around you.
The Conversation Awareness on Apple AirPods works so well that conversing with the buds is better when you’re in a noisy environment. And the feature will remain on through the conversation you are having. Once the earbuds can no longer detect a conversation taking place for a couple of seconds, the mode turns off.
That said, when this feature on your Apple AirPods kicks in, you get a message from Siri. This message explains that the Conversation Awareness mode has turned down the volume. It basically makes sure that you don’t start freaking out thinking that your earbuds are broken.
Also, when the Conversation Awareness turns off, it will slowly turn the volume up. This ensures that you don’t suddenly get blasted with audio in full volume.
How to Get the Feature?
If you own a compatible AirPods, you just need to update the firmware to get the Conversation Awareness feature on AirPods. In general, firmware updates on these earbuds happen automatically. All you have to do is keep the AirPods within the Bluetooth range of your iPad, iPhone, or Mac and put the carrying case into charging.
On that note, you need to make sure that your iPad or iPhone is on iOS 17 or iPadOS 17. And for the Mac, it needs to be on macOS Sonoma.
How to Turn on Conversation Awareness on AirPods?
In the default stage, the Conversation Awareness feature will be turned off on your Apple AirPods. You need to manually turn it on from a connected Apple device. Here are the steps:
- Get into the Settings
- Scroll down and locate AirPods
- Tap on AirPods and select Audio
- Turn the Conversation Awareness mode on
Alternatively, you can enable the mode through the Control Center when the Apple AirPods are connected to your iPhone or iPad.
Which Models Have Support for the Feature?
At the moment, the Conversation Awareness feature is only available on the Apple AirPods Pro 2nd Gen. But the good news is that it doesn’t matter whether you have the USB-C or Lightning port version of the earbuds. Both of them come with support for this mode.
