AirPods Connected but Sound Coming From Phone (Quick Fix)

Well, isn’t it funny when you hear sounds still coming from your iPhone when you’ve already put your AirPods in your ears? You know something’s off, but the good news is there are quick fixes you can do to turn things around.

The exact reason for the “AirPods connected but sound coming from phone” issue is unknown. However, you can fix it by resetting your AirPods to their factory settings or turning your iPhone’s Bluetooth off and on.

In this guide, we’ll show you eight ways to troubleshoot your AirPods that aren’t producing sound even when connected to your iPhone. Don’t worry; we’ve included the nitty-gritty so you can perform them all in a breeze.

FIX 1. Reset the AirPods

Difficulty	Easy ●●○○○
Number of Steps	12
Time to Perform Fix	50 seconds
Things Needed	An iPhone AirPods charging case

Things could still go haywire even when you’re already successfully connected AirPods to your iPhone. A quick reset should remedy this when the AirPods are connected, but the sound is still coming from the phone 

Resetting your Apple AirPods back to their default factory settings can be a go-to solution for a plethora of issues. For one, it can address pairing, charging, and even status light blinking to name a few. 

Performing this reset procedure on your AirPods will refresh the device and its connections. But don’t worry we’ll guide you every step of the way so you can pair both devices once more afterward.

Step 1: Return your Apple AirPods to the charging case.

Step 2: Close the lid of the AirPods charging case and wait for about 30 seconds.

Step 3: Open the charging case lid and take out the Apple AirPods.

Step 4: Wear the Apple AirPods on both of your ears.

Step 5: Get your iPhone and open its Settings app.

Step 6: Click Bluetooth to open your iPhone’s Bluetooth menu.

Step 7: Click on the “more info” icon (i) beside your Apple AirPods.

Step 8: Click Forget This Device to remove your Apple AirPods from the Bluetooth menu.

Step 9: Click Forget Device to proceed with this action.

Step 10: Return your Apple AirPods to the charging case without closing its lid.

Step 11: Press and hold the setup button behind the AirPods charging case for 15 seconds until the status light starts blinking orange and then blinks back to white. Note: Depending on the AirPods model, you might find the status light at the front or inside the charging case.

Step 12: Keep your iPhone close to the Apple AirPods while they’re inside their open charging case and click Connect on the pop-up that will appear on the screen.

FIX 2. Reset your iPhone’s Bluetooth

Difficulty	Very Easy ●○○○○
Number of Steps	4
Time to Perform Fix	10 seconds
Things Needed	An iPhone

Since the Apple AirPods connect to your iPhone via Bluetooth, you might experience sound and connection issues because of this technology. After all, no technology is perfect and even Bluetooth is prone to malfunctions and errors from time to time.

Doing this fix will refresh the Bluetooth on your phone, which helps correct the minor errors causing the issue. Indeed, this solution can be an AirPods connected but sound coming from phone easy fix. 

Step 1: Open your iPhone and head to its Settings.

Step 2: Click Bluetooth to open your iPhone’s Bluetooth menu.

Step 3: Click the switch beside Bluetooth to turn this feature off.

Step 4: Click the switch beside Bluetooth again to turn this feature back on.

FIX 3. Update your AirPods

Difficulty	Easy ●●○○○
Number of Steps	5
Time to Perform Fix	10 minutes
Things Needed	An iPhoneA working internet connection

Encountering errors and bugs on any device is often a telltale sign that you’re about to experience more issues along the way. To keep your AirPods in tip-top condition and avoid issues (even software-related ones), remember to update its software. 

For this fix, we’ll show you how to update your AirPods’ OS, in case the cause of this sound issue is software-related. Here’s how you can do it: 

Step 1: Return your AirPods to the charging case and leave its lid open to establish a connection with your iPhone. Note: It’s advisable to plug a lightning cable into your AirPods charging case to make sure the battery doesn’t run out while the update process is in progress.

Step 2: Open your iPhone and head to its Settings.

Step 3: Select “your AirPod” under the iPhone settings menu.

Step 4: Scroll down and click Version to view the software version details of your Apple AirPods.

Step 5: Keep your Apple AirPods and iPhone close by and connected to allow the download and installation process of the update to progress automatically. Note: Make sure your iPhone is connected to the internet via a WiFi network or cellular data.

FIX 4. Perform an iPhone update

Difficulty	Easy ●●○○○
Number of Steps	9
Time to Perform Fix	10 minutes
Things Needed	An iPhoneA working internet connection

Like your AirPods, keeping your iPhone updated to the latest software version is also key in preventing sound and connection issues between both devices. Also, software updates might also include a bug fix for existing issues with the previous iPhone software versions.

If the sound and connection issue on your AirPods is connected to the problems with the previous iPhone OS version, then this fix just might help. Follow these steps to update your phone: 

Step 1: Open your iPhone and head to its Settings.

Step 2: Scroll down and click on General.

Step 3: Click on Software Update to check if a new software version is available.

Step 4: Click Download and Install to initiate the update process.

Step 5: Enter your passcode.

Step 6: Click Agree to accept Apple’s terms and conditions.

Step 7: Click Agree again to confirm your choice.

Step 8: Click Use Cellular Data to start downloading the software update.

Step 9: Click Install Now to install the latest software version on your iPhone.

FIX 5. Turn off the nearby devices

Difficulty	Very Easy ●○○○○
Number of Steps	1
Time to Perform Fix	30 to 60 seconds
Things Needed	Nearby Bluetooth and wireless devices

Any nearby Bluetooth devices can interfere with the connection between your iPhone and Apple AirPods. This signal interference can cause the problem of your iPhone playing your sounds even when your AirPods are connected. 

To determine if this is the cause of your problems, turn off nearby Bluetooth and wireless devices. It’s also an effective means of preventing the possibility of electrical interference, as this type of interference can also affect connectivity.

Alternatively, you can also opt to move nearby devices away from your iPhone and Apple AirPods. This is a good compromise if you have some reasons to not turn off the suspected devices that might be causing the signal or electrical interference.

FIX 6. Turn off “Automatic Ear Detection.” 

Difficulty	Very Easy ●○○○○
Number of Steps	5
Time to Perform Fix	10 seconds
Things Needed	An iPhoneAn AirPod charging case

AirPods are equipped with Automatic Ear Detection technology that allows them to recognize if they’re being worn or not. With this nifty tech, your AirPods can resume and pause playback on the fly as you’re taking them off and on your ears.

This innovation is thanks to the AirPods’ built-in proximity sensors that can detect your ears. Unfortunately, these sensors can sometimes get confused if you end up wearing your AirPods weirdly or improperly.

As such, they might automatically stop playing audio from your AirPods even when they’re connected to your iPhone. Although, in some cases, dirt buildup can also block the proximity sensor, which causes it to not detect your ear properly.

To see whether this feature is the cause of your sound and connectivity issues, you should turn it off. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1:  Return your AirPods to the charging case and leave its lid open to establish a connection with your iPhone.

Step 2: Open your iPhone and head to its Settings.

Step 3: Click Bluetooth to open your iPhone’s Bluetooth menu.

Step 4: Click on the “more info” icon (i) beside your Apple AirPods.

Step 5: Click the switch beside Automatic Ear Detection to turn it off.

FIX 7. Restart your iPhone

Difficulty	Very Easy ●○○○○
Number of Steps	6
Time to Perform Fix	30 seconds
Things Needed	An iPhone

A restart is handy in cases where your iPhone is experiencing various errors and malfunctions all at once

By performing a restart, you allow your iPhone to shut down alongside the apps and programs that are running in the background. This will enable your iPhone to correct the root cause of the Bluetooth connection issue between it and your Apple AirPods.

Since this action refreshes the system memory of your iPhone, you can also expect its performance to improve as well. You may even notice that your iPhone’s speed improved!.

Please note that there are various ways to restart an iPhone. However, the method that we’re showing you in this guide can also be performed even if your iPhone is unresponsive or frozen to make this doable even in worst-case scenarios.

Step 1: Press and release the iPhone’s “volume up” button.

Step 2: Press and release the iPhone’s “volume down” button.

Step 3: Press and hold your iPhone’s side button.

Step 4: Keep holding the iPhone’s side button and wait for the screen to shut down.

Step 5: Release the iPhone’s side button when Apple’s logo appears on the screen.

Step 6: Wait for the iPhone to complete its reboot sequence.

FIX 8. Reset the iPhone network settings.

Difficulty	Very Easy ●○○○○
Number of Steps	7
Time to Perform Fix	30 seconds
Things Needed	An iPhone

A network reset is  another effective solution if you suspect that some prior changes you’ve made on the iPhone network settings are the root cause of the issue. You manually undo the changes you’ve made, even when tracing them back is tricky.

Please note that this will remove your Apple AirPods from the list of paired devices under the Bluetooth menu of your iPhone.

Once the network reset is over, you’ll need to pair and reconnect your iPhone to your AirPods again. From there, you can check and confirm if resetting the network settings of your iPhone was able to fix the sound issue.

Step 1: Open your iPhone and head to its Settings.

Step 2: Scroll down and click on General.

Step 3: Scroll down and click on Transfer or Reset iPhone.

Step 4: Click on Reset and initiate the factory reset process.

Step 5: Click Reset Network Settings on the menu that will pop up.

Step 6: Enter your passcode.

Step 7: Click Reset Network Settings to begin the iPhone network settings reset.

FAQs about AirPods

Why do my AirPods say they’re connected, but they’re not working?

The actual reason is unknown for this issue with the AirPods since Apple itself hasn’t addressed this problem. This is even with multiple user reports about this floating around and many have expressed frustration about it. 

It’s likely caused by a host of underlying issues which explains why it has many working fixes as well. 

How do I update my AirPods’ firmware? 

Put your AirPods back inside their charging case while the lid is open so you can connect them to your iPhone. Keep your AirPods and iPhone close by so the update process can progress automatically while both devices are connected.

Note that your iPhone must be connected to the internet via a WiFi network or a cellular data connection. Navigating to your iPhone’s Settings > AirPods > Version can help start the update download if it didn’t proceed automatically beforehand.

How do I set my AirPods as an audio output device on my iPhone? 

Head to the control center panel of your iPhone and click the AirPlay button on the music that’s currently playing. From there, select your pair of Apple AirPods to set them as the output or audio device on your iPhone.

What to do if factory resetting doesn’t work on AirPods?

Update your AirPods to the latest software version if factory resetting them doesn’t resolve any of their issues. Performing the software update is similar to the factory reset since they both target software-related issues on your Apple AirPods.

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