Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iOS 18 Expands Convenient AirPods-Like Pairing to More Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Accessories

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
64,281
32,083


During its WWDC 2024 keynote last week, Apple announced that iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 will let apps offer AirPods-like pairing for more Bluetooth or Wi-Fi accessories.

iOS-18-AirPods-Like-Accessory-Pairing.jpg

In apps that implement this new pairing process, users would be able to connect accessories to their devices directly in the app, without having to open the Settings app. In addition, Apple said this pairing process increases privacy by preventing accessory makers from gaining visibility into other devices on the user's local network.

Developers can add the AirPods-like pairing process to their apps with the new AccessorySetupKit framework, with more details available in this WWDC 2024 coding video.

iOS 18 is currently in beta for developers, and a public beta will be released in July. The update should be widely released in September, but it will take time for accessory makers to add support for this pairing process to their apps.

Article Link: iOS 18 Expands Convenient AirPods-Like Pairing to More Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Accessories
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/06/21/ios-18-airpods-like-pairing-for-more-accessories/
  • Love
  • Like
Reactions: System603, Apple$, SFjohn and 2 others
sw1tcher

sw1tcher

macrumors 603
Jan 6, 2004
5,603
19,842
During its WWDC 2024 keynote last week, Apple announced that iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 will let apps offer AirPods-like pairing for more Bluetooth or Wi-Fi accessories.

In apps that implement this new pairing process, users would be able to connect accessories to their devices directly in the app, without having to open the Settings app.
Click to expand...
Seems like this could backfire on Apple by giving those who tend to buy AirPods for the easy pairing process a reason to buy another brand.... not that it's that troubling to have to go into Settings > Bluetooth to connect my wireless earbuds or headset.

I can see Soundcore (Anker) adopting this. Would be nice if they can make this backwards compatible with older earbuds.

Come on Sony. 🤞
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: rbramseyjr, System603, sos47 and 4 others
P

phuklok1

macrumors newbie
Sep 28, 2023
17
55
we really need a simple settings option in both ios and mac to select manually connecting to a specific bluetooth device, instead of just automatic or forget. automatic is great for most things but there are many cases where it’s not.

for example, it is annoying that turning on a bluetooth speaker that both my mac and iphone are aware of will wake my mac - which is even more annoying when it is not plugged in on the other side of the house discharging. there are 3rd party fixes but that shouldn’t be needed for such a basic feature and opens up security issues installing random low level things from the internet.

another example is when you share a headset on your iphone with someone and they turn it on and it activates on the other’s device.... annoying.

without this basic feature, you are forced to forget a device and have to pair it every time.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: rbramseyjr, System603, ArtOfWarfare and 2 others
phenste

phenste

macrumors 6502a
Sep 16, 2012
694
1,994
one can only hope third parties catch onto this with any sense of urgency. Apple has quite the habit of giving developers fantastic tools for making their software (and in this case, hardware) more tightly integrated with iOS, while developers take months (if not years) to actually implement it.

I’m reminded of when Uber had the gall to give Apple beta screenshots of Live Activities for WWDC and then take roughly 18 months afterward to get the feature to the public (while Apple was actively using their images as promo for iOS 17)…
 
  • Like
Reactions: System603 and KeithBN
turbineseaplane

turbineseaplane

macrumors P6
Mar 19, 2008
15,676
34,485
I actively seek out home electronics and appliances that are "as dumb as possible"

So many of these "smart" products are just complete e-waste creation

I don't need or want to "track my toothbrushing" or get stats about "drying my hair" and I certainly don't want to worry about it no longer working, or working differently, due to OTA updates 😣

In some ways, this feels like such a lost time in the technology space.
It's like the companies don't know what else to do other than "add an App and connectivity!"

Must. Make. Number. Go. Up.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: rbramseyjr, sideshowuniqueuser, booksacool1 and 7 others
T

txscott

macrumors regular
Oct 17, 2012
199
464
None of the manufacturers will do it because they want the data as much as they want the sale of the device.

This is why HomeKit is so poorly supported. Everybody wants the data. This is also the real reason for the push for alternate app stores. Everybody wants the data.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: rbramseyjr, mhnd, Yujenisis and 3 others
D

DevNull0

macrumors 68030
Jan 6, 2015
2,706
5,408
I wish they could fix their pairing first. Whoever in my family is watching appletv in my home doesn’t need a constant on screen nag to pair my AirPods because I’m listening to music on my phone in another room. I have never used the AirPods on Apple TV and never will.

I don’t need to drop the music on my phone when i play a game on my iPad.

While I’m at it, wtf can’t I hold a second iPhone in my hand while using one? I don’t need a constant file share pop up.

And please let me set my devices to never see SharePlay again. I have it turned off everywhere and I still need to dismiss a box every time I play something.

It doesn’t even pair right in the first place. It’s a nice surprise when one of the AirPods works the first try. Having both actually play music together without going to settings is like winning the lottery in rareness.

Tldr; Apple sucks at pairing everywhere in everything they touch. Don’t bring it to more devices until you fix it or at least let me disable it.
 
Last edited:
A

applefanboysince93

macrumors regular
Sep 19, 2018
159
274
If they can do that for initial pairing for 3rd party headphones then you know they can improve connecting each time you subsequently turn on the headphones to use them—rather than having to dive into Settings, let them auto connect or pop-up!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: System603 and DevNull0
sw1tcher

sw1tcher

macrumors 603
Jan 6, 2004
5,603
19,842
txscott said:
None of the manufacturers will do it because they want the data as much as they want the sale of the device.

This is why HomeKit is so poorly supported. Everybody want the data. This is also the real push for alternate app stores. Everybody wants the data.
Click to expand...
Right... as if Apple doesn't already allow apps found on their App store to track and/or collect data on users. Here's an example of what I mean. No alternative app store needed.

track.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: toto75, H_D and turbineseaplane
N

Nekronos

macrumors regular
Jan 6, 2024
107
163
DevNull0 said:
I wish they could fix their pairing first. Whoever in my family is watching appletv in my home doesn’t need a constant on screen nag to pair my AirPods because I’m listening to music on my phone in another room. I have never used the AirPods on Apple TV and never will.

I don’t need to drop the music on my phone when i play a game on my iPad.

While I’m at it, wtf can’t I hold a second iPhone in my hand while using one? I don’t need a constant file share pop up.

And please let me set my devices to never see SharePlay again. I have it turned off everywhere and I still need to dismiss a box every time I play something.

It doesn’t even pair right in the first place. It’s a nice surprise when one of the AirPods works the first try. Having both actually play music together without going to settings is like winning the lottery in rareness.

Tldr; Apple sucks at pairing everywhere in everything they touch. Don’t bring it to more devices until you fix it or at least let me disable it.
Click to expand...
The pairing as it is works largely well but it is designed with certain use case scenarios in mind.

You know you can disable some of the features you seem to have an issue with.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom