AirPods Are Now My Favorite Wireless Headphones
I’ve installed watchOS 4 on my Series 2 Apple Watch, and I couldn’t be happier. I can finally easily adjust the volume quickly and easily for my AirPods when I’m out running.
Just last week I was complaining about how adjusting my music volume on the Apple Watch took too much time. You had to do the following:
What has changed is that the workout app now has a “Now Playing” screen to the right. So after you start your workout, swipe to the right to show your music. But the best part is that this music screen stays the default screen until you actively swipe to the left back to the workout info screen. So every time you raise your wrist, you’re on the “Now Playing” screen and can instantly turn the volume dial.
I can now finally say that the AirPods are the best set of earphones I’ve ever used. Formerly the Beats Powerbeats 3s were my favorite. I still think the Powerbeats 3s paired with a custom foam tip (I use Comply) sound a little better than AirPods, and the Powerbeats amazing battery blows the AirPods away. So why do I like the AirPods better? More than any set of headphones I’ve ever used, I get the weird feeling that what I’m hearing is not from headphones. Especially when compared to big over-the-head headphones. Since the AirPods are so small and light, you almost forget that they’re in your ears, giving the illusion that you’re hearing the ambient sound in the room.
The only fly in the ointment was that it was hard to adjust the volume when I was out running. Any other time it wasn’t so bad. I could just use my phone or iPod. But when I’m out running, it’s difficult to get to those devices if they’re in an armband or workout belt. The Apple Watch’s new OS now solves that problem.
The text in Workout also got thicker everywhere, making it a little easier to read in the sunlight. My only gripe thus far seems to be that you’ve lost the option to delete a workout when you’re done. You know how every once in a while you’d get in your car after a run and your Apple Watch thinks you just ran another ten miles at 40mph? Well, you now have to use your phone to delete these. I hope they bring back delete to the Workout because I’ll never end up going to my phone later to do that.
The other nice thing for runners has more to do with iOS 11. You can now select what you want the double-tap on the AirPods to do for the left and right earphone separately. Your options are:
I set up my AirPods so that the left one triggers Siri and the right one triggers Next Track. This is probably a bigger deal for people who don’t own an Apple Watch though. Since now raising your wrist to do any of these functions is almost just as easy.
- Raise your wrist
- Hit the dock button
- Scroll the dial until you got to “Now Playing”
- Tap the screen to select “Now Playing”
- Adjust the volume with the crown
- Raise your wrist
- Adjust the volume with the crown
What has changed is that the workout app now has a “Now Playing” screen to the right. So after you start your workout, swipe to the right to show your music. But the best part is that this music screen stays the default screen until you actively swipe to the left back to the workout info screen. So every time you raise your wrist, you’re on the “Now Playing” screen and can instantly turn the volume dial.
I can now finally say that the AirPods are the best set of earphones I’ve ever used. Formerly the Beats Powerbeats 3s were my favorite. I still think the Powerbeats 3s paired with a custom foam tip (I use Comply) sound a little better than AirPods, and the Powerbeats amazing battery blows the AirPods away. So why do I like the AirPods better? More than any set of headphones I’ve ever used, I get the weird feeling that what I’m hearing is not from headphones. Especially when compared to big over-the-head headphones. Since the AirPods are so small and light, you almost forget that they’re in your ears, giving the illusion that you’re hearing the ambient sound in the room.
The only fly in the ointment was that it was hard to adjust the volume when I was out running. Any other time it wasn’t so bad. I could just use my phone or iPod. But when I’m out running, it’s difficult to get to those devices if they’re in an armband or workout belt. The Apple Watch’s new OS now solves that problem.
The text in Workout also got thicker everywhere, making it a little easier to read in the sunlight. My only gripe thus far seems to be that you’ve lost the option to delete a workout when you’re done. You know how every once in a while you’d get in your car after a run and your Apple Watch thinks you just ran another ten miles at 40mph? Well, you now have to use your phone to delete these. I hope they bring back delete to the Workout because I’ll never end up going to my phone later to do that.
The other nice thing for runners has more to do with iOS 11. You can now select what you want the double-tap on the AirPods to do for the left and right earphone separately. Your options are:
- Siri
- Play/Pause
- Next Track
- Previous Track
- Off
I set up my AirPods so that the left one triggers Siri and the right one triggers Next Track. This is probably a bigger deal for people who don’t own an Apple Watch though. Since now raising your wrist to do any of these functions is almost just as easy.
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