Why does my AirPods Pro Transparency Mode keep turning off?

Just updated to IOS 18 hoping some of the transparency drop-out problems would go away and to take advantage of the advertised hearing aid enhancements. Transparency seemed to have worked at first after the update for a few minutes but then turned off and nothing I do can seem to get it to work again. I am very dissatisfied with Apple with regard to transparency mode. It seems to get no support from Apple at all yet they have made a big deal about hearing aid enhancements in IOS 18. The developers should be forced to have a set of AirPod Pro 2's glued into their ears and set to transparency mode all day long until these problems get fixed.

WHY IS NOBODY AT APPLE LISTENING TO THESE PROBLEMS? Oh..., I guess they can't hear because transparency isn't working in their customer feedback and bug reporting systems or they plainly just don't care.

Yes, even after the 18.0.1 my AirPods still cut out and have still have to go back into control center each time to reenable my custom transparency mode

Transparency Mode keeps turning itself off on my Airpods Pro 2, which I have already been using as hearing aids for 18 months, prior to the iOS 18.1 update.

I am convinced that Transparency Mode keeps turning itself off because of very poor integration with the Apple Watch, e.g. Transparency Mode on and working, get a notification or look at your Apple Watch and Transparency Mode turns off!

It's difficult to replicate because it is very inconsistent, i.e. this might happen several times over the space of 20 minutes, then Transparency Mode might work fine for a few hours, but this problem keeps on occurring and has been since mid 2023.

In addition, iOS 18.1 brought the Hearing Test/Aid functionality to the iPhone/Airpods Pro 2, but ONLY in North America. The updated Airpods interface (e.g. the Loud Sound Reduction, etc.) on iOS 18.1 for everyone else in the world actually stops custom Transparency Mode from working. My audiograms now do nothing and I've had to reset my Airpods and re-pair them, then use iPhone Audio & Visual Settings to create a custom audio setup which seems to be acceptable.

I'm very disappointed with Apple for making such a mess of Airpods Pro 2's custom hearing options. If there was a suitable Android alternative, I'd be jumping ship.

the Same is happening to me now with Pro2, and it used to happen with the Pro1 a year ago and then out of nowhere it worked fine on the Pro1..

i guess its IOS related, two airpods and two iphones (iphone 15 pro now and iphone 13 pro back then) and still the issue managed to be replicated.

Resetting the Airpods did not help ..

I have been using Airpods Pro 2 as hearing assistive devices for over a year and this became a problem months ago. Transparency Mode is essential for these to be worn as hearing assistive devices because when it turns off I effectively become deaf! (It makes more sense not to wear Airpods!)

With the new FDA approval for Airpods Pro 2 to be used as hearing aids this problem needs to be fixed.

I'm on iOS 18.0.1 and every time there is an update to iOS (or the firmware version) I always hope that this problem will be fixed, but nothing ever seems to happen.

Transparency Mode turns off randomly several times a day, often within a couple of minutes of me turning it back on from my iPhone.

I have a theory that Apple Watch is causing this, are all of you guys have an Apple Watch at least added to your devices ?

I literally have this same problem ! An agent suggested me to have my AirPods Pro (Gen 2) serviced an Apple Store or authorized retailer, but I’m like… this issues didn’t happen until I updated to iOS 18. What’s more my AirPods keep disconnecting a lot every few minutes for no reason.

One clue to this problem is that every time my Apple Watch registers a new hour, the custom transparency mode switches off. The watch seems to send a signal that triggers the switch. Possibly other activities on the watch or iPhone are doing the same thing.

after the iOS 18 update still doing it. I hate going back in To change it back on.

Count me in, too. The specific problem I’m seeing after updating to IOS 18 on my 15 ProMax is the Headphone Accommodations turn off spontaneously for transparency mode. I’m using my AirPods Pro 2’s that worked flawlessly with the same phone under IOS 17. The fastest way to turn it back on is using the audio shortcut in control center (the little ear icon), rather than navigating into it from the settings app.

[Edited by Moderator]

Yes! After a year of this ongoing problem I’m thinking that it’s something to do with the connection to my Apple Watch too. Possibly a problem with handoff, but turning handoff off on the Apple Watch renders it pretty useless.

Apple really need to sort out how their devices work together - it doesn’t “just work”

I think it is fixed. Make sure you have at least iOS 18.0.1 and your AirPods are 7B13d or more recent. I’m not sure when the latest version update occurred. But it may have been this upgrade that fixed it.

@jbartiny, It's not the Firmapdate that is the issue. Its iOS18.01. Select the custom transparency mode. Then, turn your iPhone off and see if the transparency mode will drop. On my end, it did not. But you end up without a cellphone while using AirPods Pro. :o)