AirPods + Kids on iPads = Frustrated

[kjvmartin]

I have an iPhone I use personally. My kids (3) kids each have an iPad, registered to my Apple ID, they use for play and their own Bluetooth headphones. Since they're under my Apple ID (they are too young for their own) my AirPods are always trying to seek them for connection. They get a pop up alert every time I open my case, and sometimes while I'm in the middle of a call, I will suddenly start hearing their game/lesson through my AirPods and lose the call.

TLDR: How can I specifically block an iPad from trying to pair with my AirPods, without turning off Bluetooth.

Thank you.

 

[BootLoxes]

You can turn off auto switching. But thats after it pairs to your phone. To my knowledge nothing can be done when trying to pair other than turning off bluetooth on the ipads

 

[KUKitch]

Could it be worth setting up a second Apple ID for their devices and adding that to your family? That way you’d still be able to manage it/see all the devices in find my/etc, but you wouldn’t run into this issue…

 

[UBS28]

I have the same ****. The auto-switch feature is total garbage by Apple.

I can have a call on my iPad and then all of a sudden it switches to my Mac and then disconnects from my call on my iPad.

It is really poorly implemented by Apple.

 

[KittyKatta]

Just curious, but have you considered giving them their own AppleID? For me, my thinking is that if they have their own iPad then having their own AppleID keeps things more organized.

Not trying to tell you what to do. My kids were born into the "iPad Generation" so I'm just sharing my experience

+ Apple Family features are great
+ App sharing allows me to buy a single item and share to all
+ Screen Time (For monitoring and limiting specific usage)
+ Securing a screen name early
+ Their app screenshots didnt litter my photo album
+ Allowing them to have free reign of taking pics results in hilarious stuff
+ Feeling of "ownership" makes kids more responsible
+ iMessage and FaceTime (limited address book. Just close family)
+ No access to "my stuff"
+ My AirPods only switch to my devices (not theirs)


For me, I secured their gmail/appleID once I decided on their names so they were born with iPads. So far then its been all positives because as they've grown then I've been able to use real world rules, on-device parenting features and a bit of high pitched nudging(nagging) to get them to turn this "toy" into a "tool" in their life. So, while we have had moments where they grumbled at timers and "screen time" lectures, over time then they almost always put them down before any timer (or parent) tells them to. And I give a lot of credit to the choice of making this tool "theirs" instead of "moms".

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I have the same ****. The auto-switch feature is total garbage by Apple.

I can have a call on my iPad and then all of a sudden it switches to my Mac and then disconnects from my call on my iPad.

It is really poorly implemented by Apple.

I have a pair of Surface Headphones that play nicer with my mac and iPhone than the airpods do. It's to the point where I'll reach for the Surface Headphones 100% of the time, and only use the airpods if I'm going out or the Surface Headphones are charging.

 

[chabig]

Since they're under my Apple ID (they are too young for their own)

They are never too young. Apple's ecosystem is designed for each person to have their own AppleID. Family sharing is what you'll use to share purchases with family members.

Create an Apple Account for your child - Apple Support

Instead of sharing an account with your child, which can give them unwanted access to your personal data, create an Apple Account for them. Then you can easily set age-based parental controls, and they can use Family Sharing, Messages, the App Store, and other Apple services.

support.apple.com

 

[kjvmartin]

They are never too young. Apple's ecosystem is designed for each person to have their own AppleID. Family sharing is what you'll use to share purchases with family members.

Create an Apple Account for your child - Apple Support

Instead of sharing an account with your child, which can give them unwanted access to your personal data, create an Apple Account for them. Then you can easily set age-based parental controls, and they can use Family Sharing, Messages, the App Store, and other Apple services.

support.apple.com

It doesn't work well enough at all for small kids.

Every good kids app has in app purchases, many of them are tied to my Apple ID without a family share option. I have running balances of Apple gift card to pay for these apps and subscriptions. With 3 kids under 7, I just want them to all be on the same page. We end up spending a pretty good amount on this, in small doses over time.

Similar for purchased iTunes TV/movies. The "sharing" feature for family is not great. You have to go digging through purchased history to see the shared library, it doesn't flow the same as for the native account holder to just open the TV app and see our library of hundreds of videos. Too complicated to have an Apple ID for the kids and do that. My wife can barely figure it out, she has a separate Apple ID, of course. They want you to go in and download your family shared video content to your device, you can't even stream it.

I pre-ordered myself some Alexa earbuds which will be paired solely to my iOS and iPadOS devices, retiring the AirPods. No other choice. Submitted feedback to Apple, should be able to disable AirPod pairing to certain devices.

 

[Marshall73]

The Apple TV app has a family sharing app which lets you easily browse purchased content by other family members. I think your request to Apple will fall on deaf ears are they have family sharing in place for exactly your situation. I think you underestimate how clever under sevens are with technology and they can likely show your wife how to work it all.

 

[kjvmartin]

The Apple TV app has a family sharing app which lets you easily browse purchased content by other family members. I think your request to Apple will fall on deaf ears are they have family sharing in place for exactly your situation. I think you underestimate how clever under sevens are with technology and they can likely show your wife how to work it all.

To access, you have to go to the library tab and then select my name. That brings an unorganized list of everything I've ever purchased on iTunes. For the native account holder, there is "up next" which is very helpful when trying to remember where you were at in the middle of 10 seasons of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I am the one setting up the show for 2/3 of the kids, and it's absolutely unusable without my account logged in. If they could fix "up next" to work across the family accounts, that might change.

This says nothing to address that family sharing is mostly not available for subscription content in children's apps. I would have to pay $24/month instead of $8 for some of our content. Who would ever do that?

 

[PeterKG]

I have an iPhone I use personally. My kids (3) kids each have an iPad, registered to my Apple ID, they use for play and their own Bluetooth headphones. Since they're under my Apple ID (they are too young for their own) my AirPods are always trying to seek them for connection. They get a pop up alert every time I open my case, and sometimes while I'm in the middle of a call, I will suddenly start hearing their game/lesson through my AirPods and lose the call.

TLDR: How can I specifically block an iPad from trying to pair with my AirPods, without turning off Bluetooth.

Thank you.

On a Mac, System Preferences~Bluetooth~Choose "Options" box showing next to connected device. From the drop down menu next to "Connect to This Mac", choose "When Last Connected to This Mac". Same on an iPhone or iPad, go to Preferences~Bluetooth. Look for connected device and tap on the information circle.