iOS 27 beta 3 makes it easier to adjust AirPods Adaptive mode intensity

A new Listening Mode setting lets users more easily adjust how much ambient noise their AirPods can allow through in Adaptive mode. Here are the details.

Adaptive mode’s intensity options get easier to use

After a relatively uneventful iOS 27 beta 2, Apple released iOS 27 beta 3 today, containing several additions, changes, and previously unannounced features.

One of them, as spotted by Aaron Perris on X, is a new way to adjust the AirPods’ Adaptive mode:

If you’re not familiar with the AirPods’ Adaptive mode, here’s how Apple describes it:

Adaptive mode blends Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode together to control the level of noise you hear in your headphones based on the changing noise conditions in your environment. You can customize Adaptive Audio to allow more or less noise.

Currently, to adjust the Adaptive Audio intensity, users need to go to Settings > Bluetooth, and then tap the i button next to their connected AirPods. Then, under Audio, they will find an Adaptive Audio slider, where they can move it “left or right to adjust the amount of ambient noise allowed into your AirPods when in Adaptive mode,” per Apple’s official support article.

As of iOS 27 beta 3, when users open Settings and tap the menu item for their connected AirPods, they’ll see the usual four Listening Mode options: Off, Transparency, Adaptive, and Noise Cancellation.

Tapping any of them immediately activates that mode. Adaptive, however, now displays a small dot on either side, allowing users to choose a stronger or lighter blend of Noise Cancellation and Transparency.

As with the current Adaptive Audio customization interface, users can’t drag the control freely to choose an exact intensity. Instead, they can leave Adaptive mode at its default level or tap either side to make it lighter or stronger.

It is worth mentioning that because the feature was introduced during the beta cycle, there’s no guarantee it will make it into the public release of iOS 27, or that it won’t change based on developer and, soon, public beta feedback.

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