Since 2014, Apple has included a feature in iOS called Live Listen that allows an iPhone or iPad to serve as a remote microphone for an MFI-compatible hearing aid.

When Apple released iOS 12, it added Live Listen support for AirPods and AirPods 2, making it possible to use your iOS device as a directional mic and have the audio relayed to Apple's wireless earphones.

iphone xs and airpods
As an accessibility feature, the idea behind Live Listen is for it to be used by people who are hard of hearing or need extra help separating voices in a loud environment, but it can be useful in other ways, too.

If you're on a family vacation, for instance, you could use your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ as a makeshift baby monitor for when the baby's napping and you're in another room with the TV on. All you'd need to do is put the iOS device near the baby's crib and wear a single AirPod, which should have a strong enough Bluetooth range to allow you to listen in from afar.

Live Listen will work even when other audio is being played on your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ – so you could listen to a podcast, say, and still be keeping tabs on the baby. Just note that whatever it is that you're listening to will switch to mono output to match the Live Listen stream, and the AirPods' tap gestures will be disabled for as long as the feature is active.

Live Listen is easy to set up and use once you know how. The following steps show you how it's done on an ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ running iOS 12 or later.

How to Set Up Live Listen on iPhone and iPad

  1. Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌.
  2. Tap Control Center.
    how to set up live listen with airpods

  3. Tap Customize Controls.
  4. Scroll down and tap the green plus (+) button next to Hearing.

How to Use Live Listen on iPhone and iPad

  1. Put your AirPods in and connect them to your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ in the usual way.
  2. Launch Control Center on your iOS device: On an ‌iPad‌ with a Home button, double-tap the Home button; on ‌iPhone‌ 8 or earlier, swipe up from the bottom of the screen; and on a 2018 iPad Pro or ‌iPhone‌ R/X/XS/XS Max, swipe down from the upper right of the screen.
    how to use live listen with airpods

  3. Tap the Hearing icon.
  4. Tap Live Listen.
  5. Place your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ close to the person you want to hear, preferably in front of them.

If the output to your AirPods is too quiet or too loud, use the volume buttons on your ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ to adjust the volume level.

live listen not working airpods
If you see the message "Unavailable for current route" when you try to turn on Live Listen, restarting your iOS device and then forgetting and re-connecting your AirPods in the Settings app's Bluetooth menu should fix the issue.

Related Roundup: AirPods 3
Buyer's Guide: AirPods (Don't Buy)
Related Forum: AirPods

Top Rated Comments

iLoveDeveloping Avatar
iLoveDeveloping
75 months ago
Wow I knew nothing of this. Is it just me or do apple do a terrible job these days of actually telling users about features? I remember when the iPhone / iPod came out, for years almost every feature was explained and used in marketing on the website, i have literally found features on my phone by accident since getting a new iPhone8 that I didn’t even knew it had or how they worked. And I used to be a developer for 3 years, I can’t image how older users like my parents would even know how to use some thing or if they were even there in the first place. Apple is really doing a lousy job especially in the last 2-3 years in this regard (yes sales are through the roof but I’m specifically talking about informing users about great little features, and that silly tips app is a joke). It’s now more of an ‘object’, who cares what it does just look how pretty it is. A far cry from the jobs days.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kagee1 Avatar
Kagee1
75 months ago
Wow I knew nothing of this. Is it just me or do apple do a terrible job these days of actually telling users about features? I remember when the iPhone / iPod came out, for years almost every feature was explained and used in marketing on the website, i have literally found features on my phone by accident since getting a new iPhone8 that I didn’t even knew it had or how they worked. And I used to be a developer for 3 years, I can’t image how older users like my parents would even know how to use some thing or if they were even there in the first place. Apple is really doing a lousy job especially in the last 2-3 years in this regard (yes sales are through the roof but I’m specifically talking about informing users about great little features, and that silly tips app is a joke). It’s now more of an ‘object’, who cares what it does just look how pretty it is. A far cry from the jobs days.
I couldn’t agree more. Perhaps Apple has gotten “too big for its britches.”
[doublepost=1541422111][/doublepost
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sunapple Avatar
sunapple
75 months ago
Wow I knew nothing of this. Is it just me or do apple do a terrible job these days of actually telling users about features? I remember when the iPhone / iPod came out, for years almost every feature was explained and used in marketing on the website, i have literally found features on my phone by accident since getting a new iPhone8 that I didn’t even knew it had or how they worked. And I used to be a developer for 3 years, I can’t image how older users like my parents would even know how to use some thing or if they were even there in the first place. Apple is really doing a lousy job especially in the last 2-3 years in this regard (yes sales are through the roof but I’m specifically talking about informing users about great little features, and that silly tips app is a joke). It’s now more of an ‘object’, who cares what it does just look how pretty it is. A far cry from the jobs days.
I'm sorry, but nowadays there're just a lot more features than five years ago and finding those features, the important ones, is still very easy. This has zero to do with Jobs.

https://www.apple.com/accessibility/
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FloatingBones Avatar
FloatingBones
75 months ago
Wow I knew nothing of this. Is it just me or do apple do a terrible job these days of actually telling users about features?
The Apple Store's Today at Apple ('https://www.apple.com/today/') sessions are an excellent way to find out about how to do things. I recently attended four of these sessions with a friend for learning iPad skills. This was an excellent way for my non-techie friend to get up to speed on iOS/iPad, but the bonus was how much I learned during the process.

I couldn’t agree more. Perhaps Apple has gotten “too big for its britches.”
Have either of you attended any TaA sessions? Apple's instructors will cover the material for a particular session, plus questions/issues that students have. It kept some of the best features of the old One to One ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_to_One_(Apple)') product: anyone can ask anything in the sessions, and the instructors will work hard to address those questions with the student -- either during the session or in a few minutes afterwards.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Use Same Rear Chassis as iPhone 16

Friday July 19, 2024 7:16 am PDT by
Apple will adopt the same rear chassis manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 that it is using for the upcoming standard iPhone 16, claims a new rumor coming out of China. According to the Weibo-based leaker "Fixed Focus Digital," the backplate manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 is "exactly the same" as the standard model in Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 lineup, which is expected to...
Read Full Article • 133 comments
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Just Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Monday July 15, 2024 4:44 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
Read Full Article • 129 comments
iphone 14 lineup

Cellebrite Unable to Unlock iPhones on iOS 17.4 or Later, Leak Reveals

Thursday July 18, 2024 4:18 am PDT by
Israel-based mobile forensics company Cellebrite is unable to unlock iPhones running iOS 17.4 or later, according to leaked documents verified by 404 Media. The documents provide a rare glimpse into the capabilities of the company's mobile forensics tools and highlight the ongoing security improvements in Apple's latest devices. The leaked "Cellebrite iOS Support Matrix" obtained by 404 Media...
Read Full Article • 66 comments
tinypod apple watch

TinyPod Turns Your Apple Watch Into an iPod

Wednesday July 17, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
If you have an old Apple Watch and you're not sure what to do with it, a new product called TinyPod might be the answer. Priced at $79, the TinyPod is a silicone case with a built-in scroll wheel that houses the Apple Watch chassis. When an Apple Watch is placed inside the TinyPod, the click wheel on the case is able to be used to scroll through the Apple Watch interface. The feature works...
Read Full Article • 133 comments
bsod

Crowdstrike Says Global IT Outage Impacting Windows PCs, But Mac and Linux Hosts Not Affected

Friday July 19, 2024 3:12 am PDT by
A widespread system failure is currently affecting numerous Windows devices globally, causing critical boot failures across various industries, including banks, rail networks, airlines, retailers, broadcasters, healthcare, and many more sectors. The issue, manifesting as a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), is preventing computers from starting up properly and forcing them into continuous recovery...
Read Full Article • 480 comments
Apple Watch Series 9

2024 Apple Watch Lineup: Key Changes We're Expecting

Tuesday July 16, 2024 7:59 am PDT by
Apple is seemingly planning a rework of the Apple Watch lineup for 2024, according to a range of reports from over the past year. Here's everything we know so far. Apple is expected to continue to offer three different Apple Watch models in five casing sizes, but the various display sizes will allegedly grow by up to 12% and the casings will get taller. Based on all of the latest rumors,...
Read Full Article • 37 comments