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SmallDane

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 23, 2014
176
84
Denmark
Automatic ear detection on my AirPods suddenly stopped working the way it did before. If I take one earbud out, sound keeps playing. It doesn't matter if it's the left or the right. If I take both earbuds out, they disconnect from my iPhone even before placing them in the charging case.

This is definitely a change from how it used to work (and should work). Previously, if I took just one earbud out, sound would pause. If I took both earbuds out, they would stay connected for a while and then disconnect. When I placed both earbuds in the charging case, they would disconnect immediately.

Has anyone else experienced this problem?

I should say that everything else seems to work correctly including automatic ear detection when connecting the AirPods. I have tried both repairing and switching automatic ear detection off and on again.

Hardware/software in use is:
  • iPhone 8
  • iOS 13.7
  • AirPods 2. gen (A2031)
  • Firmware 3A283
 

itsmilo

Suspended
Sep 15, 2016
3,985
8,731
Berlin, Germany
also happens to me running iOS 14 and the latest firmware on my AirPod Pro. Noticed it yesterday on the train. I took one out while I got my ticket checked but the music kept playing in my other ear
 

SmallDane

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 23, 2014
176
84
Denmark
Try restarting your iOS devices sounds like some hand-off service issue and you can't restart those services without restarting the device.
Thanks! That seemed to do the trick. I actually have hand-off turned off on all devices. So maybe it was something else.
 
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iamasmith

macrumors 6502a
Apr 10, 2015
842
417
Cheshire, UK
It's a BSD Unix system under all the Apple stuff so there are several daemons that run and handle various services. Worth a restart if things like hand-off don't work.
 
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Fatyank

macrumors 6502
Jan 20, 2008
350
142
Chandler, Arizona
When you remove an AirPod from your ear and your finger covers the sensor that detects when it is inserted in the ear, the AirPod thinks it is back in your ear and resumes playing music. I found that out while walking. I stopped to talk with my neighbor, took the right AirPod out, music stopped but I held the AirPod between two fingers, it moved slightly and music started playing again in my left ear and the other AirPod.
 

Tozovac

macrumors 68040
Jun 12, 2014
3,034
3,232
Both my AirPods 2 and Pros 2nd gen have stopped pausing when I remove one from an ear. What the heck. Used to be very reliable.
 
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