Apple Music & AirPods: 5 Common Questions (Answered)

Apple Music and AirPods seem like they were made for each other. After all, both are made by the same company

With that in mind, today we’re here to answer some frequently asked questions about Apple Music and Air Pods.

 

How Well Does Apple Music Work with AirPods?

It’s no secret that Apple products and services tend to work seamlessly with each other, but might have trouble interfacing with other products and services by other companies.

This is by design, naturally, as it’s in Apple’s best interest for everything they’re selling to work well with everything else they’re selling, so that customers keep buying from them.

The interaction between Apple Music and AirPods is no exception to this rule.

Unless you’re among the unlucky few to experience technical difficulties, your AirPods should effortlessly pair with any iOS or macOS device you may have.

Then, crisp and clean Apple Music audio is only a few taps or clicks away if you have an Apple Music subscription.

Of course, if you are one of those unlucky few having trouble with your AirPods, keep reading; we’ll cover some common problems and fixes in a bit!

Is Apple Music Free with AirPods?

Apple Music is never completely free with anything.

However, you can get a limited amount of free time with Apple Music when purchasing the latest models of new AirPods.

If your purchase qualifies, you’ll get 6 months of Apple Music included with your AirPods.

It’s important to note this isn’t truly free, both because you have to make a purchase in the form of the AirPods to get it, but also because you will eventually be billed.

Unless you cancel your Apple Music subscription promptly after the 6 months are over, you’ll start being charged at that time, so keep that in mind!

Even so, it’s certainly an enticing offer, especially if you plan on purchasing the AirPods anyway.

For more information on this deal, and to determine whether or not your purchase might qualify, please see the first link under “Sources” below!

Do AirPods Sound Better with Apple Music?

Rumor has it that Apple Music sounds far better on AirPods than any other music streaming service.

Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to substantiate these rumors quantitatively, so it’s hard to say for sure if there’s anything to them.

That being said, enough users are making this claim that it seems unlikely to be a pure placebo.

From what we can find, Apple has made no official statement on this matter, so we only have user reports to go on.

Supposedly, due to the codex Apple uses, all their devices and services are pre-disposed to work well with each other, and less well with non-Apple devices and services.

This would certainly make sense, as Apple has a vested interest in ensuring that everything in the Apple ecosystem interacts smoothly.

At the end of the day, though, we can’t say for certain, but it seems very probable that there is, in fact, a noticeable difference in sound quality when using Apple Music with AirPods.

And conversely, while AirPods will function just fine with Spotify, Tidal, or any other streaming service, they may not perform at peak capacity when used with non-Apple services.

Why Are My AirPods So Quiet when Playing Apple Music?

There are a number of reasons why your AirPods might be sounding a bit too quiet.

For one, you might need to adjust the volume balance on your device under accessibility settings > hearing.

You might also try checking the volume settings on both your device and the Apple Music app.

It’s always possible that you left the app volume fairly low even if you turned up your device volume.

How do You Stop AirPods from Playing Apple Music?

Your AirPods themselves shouldn’t be affecting the playing or pausing of Apple Music.

That is to say, it’s the device (i.e., your phone, tablet, or computer connected to the AirPods) that controls playback on the Apple Music app, and not your connected audio device (AirPods).

So if Apple Music is playing when you don’t want it to, it’s probably due to a setting in Apple Music itself, or the device being used to play Apple Music.

When in doubt, the best way to stop Apple Music playback is simply to hit the pause button in the app.

3 Reasons Your AirPods won’t Connect to Apple Music:

Usually, Apple products connect to each other seamlessly, but when that doesn’t happen, it can be pretty frustrating.

With that in mind, let’s go over a few reasons why you might be having trouble pairing your AirPods to your device.

The following three scenarios are the most likely reasons you might be having trouble:

You Need to Update Your iOS or MacOS

If you’re using your AirPods with an iPhone, iPad, or mac computer, you might need to update the operating system.

This is especially true if you haven’t recently updated your OS on the device in question, and your AirPods are brand new.

• The AirPods might be counting on software from the latest update that simply doesn’t exist on your device yet.
• To remedy this, all you need to do is perform a system update on your Apple device.
• If you’re using a mobile device, make sure it’s connected to the charger before starting the update.

Once the system update is complete, try pairing your AirPods again, hopefully with more success this time!

Your Airpods are Connected to the Wrong Device

Another problem you might run into is that you’ve already paired your AirPods to another device and forgot to disconnect them before connecting to another.

Say you were listening to music with your AirPods from your mac, and you got up and left, forgetting to disconnect them.

In this case, you might have some trouble if you, say, later tried to listen to music on your iPhone, because your AirPods are still trying to connect to your mac.

To fix this, simply disconnect your AirPods from any other device, and then try pairing them with the intended device again.

Your Airpods are Not Selected as Your Audio Device

Finally, you might actually have paired the AirPods just fine, but they’re not set as your default audio device for whatever reason.

In this scenario, they’re successfully connected; they’re just not playing audio due to a hiccup in your settings.

As a solution, simply navigate to your audio settings on your device and select your AirPods as your default audio device.

If you’re a Google Home user, check out our easy answer guide to Apple Music and Google Home.

Sources