If you’ve lost your AirPods or are trying to understand how to use Apple’s ‘Find My’ network, you’ve come to the right place.
All AirPod models can be tracked in the Find My app, but depending on the model, advanced tracking features might be available.
Whether your AirPods are separated from their charging case will determine if you see them as a set or as separate items within the Find My app.
From there, you can trigger the AirPods to play a sound or open Maps to get directions to your earphone’s last known location. That said, only the AirPods Max, AirPods (3rd-Gen) and AirPods Pro (all models) can be found with proximity detection if they’re within Bluetooth range.
Like an AirTag, you can use Apple’s high-end Precision Finding to track your case’s exact location using the embedded U1 chip. There’s also a speaker on the case to make finding it via sound possible. If you lose earbuds a lot, this may be your best bet to find them again.
You can also enable a feature in the Find My app that will notify you if you’ve left your AirPods behind, which can also be helpful.
What if I can’t find them?
If you’ve searched and can’t find your lost AirPods, there is one last hope. You can place the earbuds into ‘Lost Mode.’ Just swipe up on the device’s page within the Find My interface and mark them as lost.
When this happens, your earbuds will send a notification to your phone the next time they’re near an Apple device that’s connected to the Find My network. It also prohibits others from using the earbuds, which might deter theft.
Finally, this mode will trigger a message to pop up on whoever’s iPhone finds the earbuds to help them return them to you.
This feature isn’t available on the first generation of AirPods but should work on everything else.
Source: Apple
