iPhone Bluetooth
How do I stop my iPhone from trying to connect to random AirPods around me?
iPhone 14 Plus, iOS 16
Question marked as
Your iPhone is not trying to connect to random AirPods. If AirPods are set to pairing mode, then every iPhone around them will pick them up. Since it's impossible to know what iPhone should be the one to actually pair to them, it appears for all of the iPhones around, including your own. You can turn off bluetooth on your iPhone if you want to avoid it completely or just ignore it.
It should only happen with AirPods that are set to pairing mode. Not just every random set of AirPods around.