Custom Transparency Mode Keeps Turning Off

My AirPod Pro twos kept turning transparency off and I verified that it’s a hardware problem because I got a new replacement and no longer does it with the same software was going on for two years. Apple sent it in for diagnosis but came back and said they were OK, I think what happened is one of the port got clogged up and that’s what causes it!

iOS 17.3 fixed the problem.

Ends up there was a hardware problem with the AirPod. The problem got worse and i had to buy a replacement AirPod Pro 2 and the transparency dropping went away.

All I can suggest right now, based on my experience, is that when you first wear your AirPods and custom transparency isn't in effect, wait some time (perhaps as long as half an hour) before turning custom transparency back on. I simply don't know how, but this seems to trick iOS into not tickling this bug, or so it seems to me.

Good luck!

Hey there christopherfromkirbyville,

To clarify, does this option change after placing the AirPods back in the case, during use, or both? Is there any chance you might be adjusting this setting when using your AirPods via the sensors?

Check if this might be happening when taking the steps here: AirPods Pro and AirPods Max Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode - Apple Support

Should it persist, continue with the next set of steps to resolve this behavior here: If Active Noise Cancellation isn't working as expected on your AirPods Pro - Apple Support

Take care!

So it's not just me, then. Yes, very, very irritating!

Worth noting too: it's controlled from iOS. If you get the AirPods configured the way you want, then switch to Mac, you will find that this does not happen; your configuration remains as programmed. Something, somewhere, deep in the bowels of iOS, is spontaneously switching this off, for some reason.

I do notice that this tends to happen more often when I move for some reason, especially when I go to the bathroom and the ambience changes noticeably. Of course, from there, it's irritatingly hard to change it back, because you need to do this from the phone directly and not the pods, so if you're fully occupied and it switches off, you're stuck, temporarily.

I also couldn't help noticing that sometimes the controls showed custom transparency as being on and the amplification set correctly, even though it clearly wasn't actually amplifying, but moving the slider even very slightly would instantly restore the correct behaviour. In other words the state of the pods wasn't actually reflected properly in the UI. Sigh.

Absent contacting Apple Feedback (which you should do), or the Apple Accessibility team directly, anyone have other solutions? Could a Siri shortcut do it?

It has gotten worse. Many times transparency mode drops even if the transparency mode is selected. So you need to uncheck and check the selection to make it work until the next drop. Amazing, it's been over a year and this issue is not fixed.

I have two pairs of AirPods Pro, and the transparency mode disconnecting. After disconnecting one pair "Forget The Device" this pair's Transparency mode is no longer disconnecting. Why?

@Mac266 "But it's a pain in the butt and should be fixed.". When I had this problem it was worse than that. I was in the middle of the meeting and the transparency would drop, I could barely hear what people said because at the meeting everyone talked in a very low-key voice. I rely on Aitpods Pro as it was a lifesaver for me. I notice that after iOS updates the transparency drops, until the next update, and so on.

Why I asked about the age of the AirPodsPro because I sold my 2 pairs that were 2 years old on eBay and purchased 2 new ones, and my transparency mode does not drop any longer. I am on iOS 17.3.1 My bad experience with dropping for months, makes me skeptical to update to iOS 17.4 I do not want to go through this "pain" again.

I think I found what caused the transparency mode to turn itself off. If you want to use the transparency mode as a hearing aid and not have this issue, disconnect it in the Bluetooth section of your iPhone, by selecting "Forget this device".

The cause of it is that the iPhone sends a signal, to your Airpods Pro that randomly disconnects the custom transparency mode. This has to be fixed.

In this case, you must connect it back to your iPhone if you want to use them to make calls or listen to music. Or get yourself a second pair, like I did.

I called the Apple senior advisor and asked them for a solution, they had no answer but suggested I report it to the Apple suggestion box, which I did a few days ago. Let's see if my findings would help the developers eliminate the sending signals that affect the Transparency Mode to AirpodsPro!

I thought I'd got this solved for a while, as it seemed I didn't have to do anything to keep them transparent, but alas, the nightmare is back and I'm now constantly having to turn transparency accommodations on again after spontaneously having them not work. Apart from sending Apple feedback, my only real suggestion is to just keep trying: every time it turns off, turn it on again, and maybe there will come a time when it sticks. But it's completely unpredictable and frankly I think this can only be a software issue in iOS, not the AirPods themselves.

Good luck.

I have 17.3.1 and it still happens. It happens when I am driving - unsafe. It happens when I am out walking - also unsafe. I say unsafe because my hearing is much worse with the AirPods in my ears and losing transparency mode headphone accommodations. The original AirPod Pros did not have this issue.

It is random; there's simply no way to know whether you'll be affected. Just now, I'm not affected, but that wasn't the case yesterday, or last week. And since it can happen at any time, you can't preempt it by trying to turn it on ahead of time, toggle it off and on, etc.

Please just write to accessibility@apple.com (it is an accessibility-related feature, after all) and let them know how sad this makes you.

When I saw 17.4, I had hoped that it would resolve it, but after the update I still suffered the problem. At least for a day or two. After that it has been working as well as my older AirPod Pros had been. I'm guessing that perhaps the AirPod firmware was updated in the following days. I now see that the AirPods have version 6B34. Unfortunately I don't know what it may have been earlier. The behavior is now certainly much, much better.

Whatever did it, thanks!

Just completed the 17.4 upgrade. It still turns off randomly. The AirPods shut off transparency but when you go into headphone settings it is checked ON. Only when you click it off there and then ON again does it restore transparency. It will not turn back on from the AirPods. I do have 6B34 ver. on the AirPods now. Maybe that will help. Not sure when that updated.