Level 1

48 points

Audio stops on airpods

Hi there, is anyone else having issues where the airpods no longer transmits audio. For example, I'm listening to a podcast & the audio frequently just drops, the podcast is still playing just goes silent. The airpods still appear connect and the app needs to be restarted to get audio again. Really annoying, it might be more that just the airpods however that's where I notice it. This never happened prior to the most recent update to 11.3, never happened before.

iPhone 7, iOS 11.3

Posted on Apr 4, 2018 12:48 AM

Top-ranking reply

Jason5101

Level 1

13 points

Posted on Jun 18, 2018 10:07 PM

Solved! but it's a hassle...

After talking with Apple Support, we determined it's probably due to a faulty version of iOS on our phones. I restored my phone in recovery mode and then restored from a backup. AirPods+ iPhone have been working perfectly since then (24 hours!) with no audio stops or phone call audio issues.

Here are the steps I followed:

Backup

1. Backup your phone to iCloud and turn off find my iPhone.

2. Backup your phone to your computer using iTunes. (It'll restore faster from an iTunes backup plus horcruxing your phone is always a good idea.)

Restore

3. With your phone plugged into your computer and iTunes open, put the phone in recovery mode. On my iPhone 7, you hold down the sleep/wake button and the volume down button simultaneously until a "connect to iTunes" logo appears.

(enter recovery mode instructions for different iPhones: If you can't update or restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support)

4. iTunes will tell you "There is a problem with the iPhone that requires it to be updated or restored." Follow the prompts to restore (not update) the iPhone. This step fully removes the faulty version of iOS on the phone and replaces it with a new copy that iTunes will download.

Setup from backup

5. After the restore is complete, set up your phone from one of the backups you made in steps 1 and 2. This step puts all your information and data back on the phone.

6. Once you've finished setting up your iPhone from the backup, try using AirPods. Hopefully the issue is resolved.

It's been 24 hours since I did this process and I have not had any problems with my AirPods since then. They're working just as well as they did before the iOS 11.3 update when this started happening all the time. It was to the point where audio would drop on nearly every track or podcast I played. Now they work normally again. It was a time consuming fix, but well worth it to get this unbearably annoying problem resolved. Hopefully it works for you guys too!

Shout out to Steve at Apple Support for the idea

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69 replies

rickboot

Level 1

9 points

Apr 10, 2018 3:14 AM in response to mowatb

Same problem. I was using my iPhone 7 and Airpods to listen to Apple Music for months without issue. I upgraded to iOS 11 yesterday and now audio stops frequently playing. Resetting the phone and re-pairing the Airpods do not solve the problem. I have to switch audio to the built-in speaker and then back to the Airpods to resume playback.

Apr 24, 2018 11:56 AM in response to mowatb

Yes extremely random and only the AirPods.I can listen to anything over Bluetooth with no problems but AirPods connects and disconnecting with only switching Bluetooth on and off as a fix.Right after 11.3 had no problem before at all.

bbskeelz

Level 1

4 points

May 14, 2018 11:59 AM in response to vatoemperor

great description of this problem vatoemperor, this accurately describes what has been happening to me as well. I actually did not think the "underwater" calling was related , but now that you mention it, I can totally make that connection as well.

just want to pile on, this is a real issue, and needs to be fixed right away. For a premium product such as the airpod, this is not acceptable.

Thanks,

Sean.

May 29, 2018 2:11 PM in response to mowatb

ARRRRGH! Upgraded to iOS 11.4 this morning, and its STILL happening! It's like bugs for every connected device except AirPods are being addressed in these updates...

Has anyone restored from a backup and seen any impact on the performance? I'd like to try but avoid the PITA if I know it won't work.

Hibaki

Level 1

4 points

Jun 3, 2018 6:23 PM in response to vatoemperor

Well listed and pointed out. Having the same key issues:

- underwater sounds from calls

- phone will not wake from power on button for a while

- AirPods not having audio even though it’s still paired and music is playing

Jun 8, 2018 7:30 PM in response to mowatb

This happened to me. I had my watch out on a run so no phone. My AirPods worked for about an hour then all of a sudden would stop as described. They would play one song then stop and couldn’t get them to play again for the rest of the run.

Yamil

Level 1

66 points

Jun 12, 2018 3:09 AM in response to daniellefrommonroe

Same here. ***** when out on a run and then no music. AirPods have been their best new product in years and now they’re messed up like everything else they do recently. On a side note, their fix for an audio CarPlay issue with audio distortion isn’t fixed in 11.4 like they said. No wonder iOS12 is all about stability. I hope that’s the case.

Jnritter

Level 1

4 points

Jun 14, 2018 11:54 AM in response to elsigirl

"It's very frustrating - I've started going back to my wired headset for important client calls because I can't trust the Airpods."

Yes, agreed. I use wired headset for ALL calls since it happens on every call and is annoying and frustrating.

I use the airpods for podcasts and music, until restarting it gets annoying enough where I just play it through the speaker. It's unreal how two Apple products can't work together...

Jun 18, 2018 1:42 PM in response to mowatb

Me too. Just got my new AirPods for Father’s Day filled with hope and joy. My son can listen to music on Pandora with an old LG phone with broken screen and technology from two different companies via Bluetooth but I can’t get the job done with IPhone 7, Apple Music and AirPods. I pulled my wired ear buds out of the garbage and guess I will use them if I want to listen to music on an airplane and have my screen off to save battery llife. I even did my 11.4 update and my Apple Music still skips like old CD’s. I feel like I am 16 again. Only watching **** on a scrambled Cinemax channel could bring me any more joy right now. I love paying premium prices for crap that doesn’t work. Great times.... I hope all the money i have given to apples built a great mothership corporate office. When the novelty of running into glass walls wear off maybe you get functionality up on 11.5. I will be on the watch for it every day so I can fix my expensive system and stop my LG Android loving sin from laughing at me.

Jnritter

Level 1

4 points

Jun 18, 2018 1:53 PM in response to Chris999999

"My son can listen to music on Pandora with an old LG phone with broken screen and technology from two different companies via Bluetooth but I can’t get the job done with IPhone 7, Apple Music and AirPods."

Haha.

You're right. If you want to listen to music via bluetooth, the only way you CAN'T do it is by using all Apple products. Either the phone or the earpieces (or both) have to be from some other company to have it work.

iPhone + third-party earpieces = OK

Android phone + Apple Airpods = OK

Android phone + third-party earpieces = OK

iPhone + Apple Airpods = NOT OK

Sfvenn

Level 1

4 points

Aug 19, 2018 7:55 AM in response to mowatb

I am having the same issues as everyone else. AirPod are about 2 weeks old. I’m running 11.4.1 on an iPhone 7+. What is frustrating is the lack of acknowledgement from Apple that I could find that this is an issue they will be addressing.

Anyone able to find news or an Apple support thread about this with a response from Apple?

Aug 22, 2018 11:57 PM in response to wcsmith02

Yep, this issue has been going on forever and it is still a problem today. What the **** is being done about it? $230AUD for something that I spend a good portion of my time diving into my phone trying to fix. It's simply not good enough.

For christs sake, fix it.

Aug 28, 2018 10:06 PM in response to MrLKennedy

Jeezus! I have the problem too but it's not that frequent. For now I can kind of live with it, it's not right but the AirPods functionality is 97% there. If it happened every ten minutes it would be junk.

Aug 28, 2018 10:09 PM in response to MrLKennedy

I made a question on Apple stack exchange.

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/334933/airpods-abruptly-go-silent-whil e-listening-to-music-from-iphone

I think I'm having the same problem as you guys. Please vote up if you have the same problem. I noticed this thread has 400 "me too"s!!!

BsCaSpEr

Level 1

4 points

Oct 21, 2018 8:34 AM in response to mowatb

In past i purcahsed a cheap phone to use for traveling and that was having same issue so i have to bear with it as that company was not reliable but now i have spent almost 2k to purcahse apple devices and facing same issue and not fixed apple should take it seriously and fix the issue we cannot bear with it and keep having stuck while on call or on run.

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Audio stops on airpods