Answering calls with headphones that have no built-in mic?

So if you are listening to music on normal headphones which don't have a built in microphone and you get a phone call, what happens? Can you talk into the mic on the phone and still listen through the headphones or do you have to unplug them?

Just wondering, I frequently use the earplug-style noise blocking headphones (like earplugs with speakers in them) to listen to music, and they don't have built-in headphones. It would be nice if I could just leave them in and talk to the mic on the phone...would be easier to hear too, if it's noisy.

Athlon 2000xp

Posted on Jul 15, 2008 11:42 AM

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4 replies

Jul 15, 2008 11:55 AM in response to Greg Corson

From my experience...You can answer the call but the person on the other end wont hear you... I got a call while on a bike ride and listening to a podcast...answered the call and said hello hello like 5 times...they never heard me...so I unplugged the headphones and they then could hear me.

BTW....You do hear the ringer through the headphones.

Message was edited by: DmentD

Jul 15, 2008 12:32 PM in response to Greg Corson

With the 1.0 firmware, you can only use the Apple headset to talk on the phone with the headphone jack. (You can't, for example, use a car stereo like a speakerphone by plugging it in to the headphone jack.)

However, the 2.0 firmware apparently changes this. I just tested it, and the results were very different than the last time I received a call in the car.

Here's how I was set up:
Standard headphones (Samsung earbuds)
Hardware: 1st gen phone
Software: firmware 2.0

I called myself from another phone, and the call rang in my earphones. I answered with the slider on the phone's screen. I could hear the caller in my earphones. The caller could hear my voice picked up by the iPhone's internal mic.

This is really a cool solution for people who use their iPhones to listen to audio while driving, too, since it should essentially turn your car's stereo in to a speakerphone. I'll have to get someone to call me when I'm in the car this afternoon and try it out. 🙂

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Answering calls with headphones that have no built-in mic?

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