How Airpods and Apple Watch need to work

[Juiceboy]

I'm really finding i miss those inline controls of the standard wired earpods. They had everything you need.
I got an apple watch as i knew i wanted the airpods and i knew they didn't come with controls.

No one wants to use Siri on the bus, train and you can't even on a plane. Being Australian Siri barely even understands me at the best of times. The "now playing" app on apple watch is just too annoying to get to. even with complication on the watch face. that's three steps. (Flick my wrist > Tap music and hope it's on now playing > press button to skip)

My proposal is apple needs to create controls for Airpods when the apple watch screen is off.

The Crown adjusts volume (Get rid of the slowly adjusting brightness)
tap the screen to play / pause.
swipe left to skip track
swipe right to go back a track.

That's it. All that needs to be done is have that as an option to turn those gestures on when the screen is off and that would be perfect. I'm really shocked Apple hasn't implemented it. No need to use Siri, No need to grab and airpod out of your ear and all the controls that you need.

Surely i can't be the only one who wants this?

 

[44267547]

I'm completely content the way the Airpods work now. Inline controls are useful, but Apple obviously wants to stray away from that with being hands free. Aside from double tapping.

 

[MBHockey]

Agree with OP. I have always found Siri quite useless. If AirPods weren't so dependent on Siri I would have bought them already.

 

[xDKP]

Agree with OP. I have always found Siri quite useless. If AirPods weren't so dependent on Siri I would have bought them already.

The main thing I think is very important, is the volume - Skipping songs etc. is nice yes, but volume can be a bit more often used in different songs etc.

Pretty sick we need to ask Siri to do that

 

[mr_phillip]

I love my AirPods and have found they work really well in combination with the Watch. The only frustration I have is that Apple don't have a complication for the Now Playing app.

I agree with the OP that Siri isn't always a great solution, especially in public places but as the control I rely on most is volume, I've found a 3rd party app called Louder that fills that role nicely. All it does is add a volume complication to the watch face, so at least you can quickly change volume with a single touch.

It'd be nice if Apple were to update the Watch so that, when AirPods are in use, the crown could control volume straight from the watch face, but in the meantime Louder works well enough for me.

 

[44267547]

The main thing I think is very important, is the volume - Skipping songs etc. is nice yes, but volume can be a bit more often used in different songs etc.

Pretty sick we need to ask Siri to do that

What I would like to see, is maybe some form of dragging your finger up and down the AirPod to lower or raise the volume. Obviously, you have the option of using iPhone if you don't want to ask Siri. I definitely think Apple can expand on this, as they are ready have with the double tap feature with the Airpods. I have a feeling this will be a feature we will see in the future.

 

[jhfenton]

I love my AirPods and have found they work really well in combination with the Watch. The only frustration I have is that Apple don't have a complication for the Now Playing app.

I use "Musique" (Music?) as a complication. It's not exactly the same app as "À l'écoute" (Now Playing?), but it accomplishes the same thing. I tap the lower right corner of my watch face, and it pops up with the controls I want.

(I use my Apple devices in French, so I'm not 100% sure of the English app names.)

 

[lamar0607]

Is it possible to run with *just* the AirPods and the Apple Watch? I can't get my Air Pods to pair solely with the apple watch. It works fine from the phone, and controlling music through the watch (with the phone nearby). But how do I make it so that I can just run with the Apple Watch and Air Pods?

 

[Siilver777]

Is it possible to run with *just* the AirPods and the Apple Watch? I can't get my Air Pods to pair solely with the apple watch. It works fine from the phone, and controlling music through the watch (with the phone nearby). But how do I make it so that I can just run with the Apple Watch and Air Pods?

Did you try to change the output of your watch?
On your watch face, swipe up and touch the "AirPlay" button (a triangle with waves) and select your AirPods.

 

[jhfenton]

Is it possible to run with *just* the AirPods and the Apple Watch? I can't get my Air Pods to pair solely with the apple watch. It works fine from the phone, and controlling music through the watch (with the phone nearby). But how do I make it so that I can just run with the Apple Watch and Air Pods?

Yes. But there's a little bug for me in the process of switching from my iPhone 6 to my Apple Watch Series 2. I almost always have to briefly turn Bluetooth off on the iPhone. Then I can select the AirPods on the Apple Watch, or they'll often connect by themselves. If the AirPods are connected to my iPhone, though, the Apple Watch is never able to steal control from the iPhone. (In contrast, my Mac, my iPad Air 2, and my iPhone 6 can generally steal control back and forth from each other.)

 

[fischersd]

Is it possible to run with *just* the AirPods and the Apple Watch? I can't get my Air Pods to pair solely with the apple watch. It works fine from the phone, and controlling music through the watch (with the phone nearby). But how do I make it so that I can just run with the Apple Watch and Air Pods?

I'm sure it is - the only question is if you actually have to select to connect to the air pods or not - you shouldn't.
That's one annoying feature of the music app on the watch - it keeps defaulting back to being a remote for the iPhone. It's at the top of the list in the music app, you pick your source - either iPhone or Apple Watch. (You'll need to have the playlist you want to use already synced to the apple watch - otherwise there's no content for it to play).

 

[Bmesnick]

I am a long time iPhone user, since the 1st iPhone I have always been a huge fan of apple, have had almost every mode iPhone, and 2 MacBook pros. Well I’m sure that I will never buy anything else apple after my AirPods experience. The case is bad, went to apple store for them to tell me my warranty was expired by 3 weeks, and want me to pay $69 for a new charging case. I spent $170 on a pair of headphones, that worked for just over a year, and now you want me to spend another $70 so they simply work again, something that should not be broken in the first place. The “genius” at apple didn’t even try to reset, reconnect or anything with the case, and just told me it needed to be replaced but my warranty just expired 3 weeks ago. I’m convinced apple makes their products to have a limited life so you keep buying and buying. Well guess what, I’m going to throw these garbage headphones in the garbage and get some Sony wireless earphones. Thanks apple for nothing, way to support your clients, and stand behind a product you make for pennies and charge exprbent amounts of money to replace.

 

[iPhysicist]

I am a long time iPhone user, since the 1st iPhone I have always been a huge fan of apple, have had almost every mode iPhone, and 2 MacBook pros. Well I’m sure that I will never buy anything else apple after my AirPods experience. The case is bad, went to apple store for them to tell me my warranty was expired by 3 weeks, and want me to pay $69 for a new charging case. I spent $170 on a pair of headphones, that worked for just over a year, and now you want me to spend another $70 so they simply work again, something that should not be broken in the first place. The “genius” at apple didn’t even try to reset, reconnect or anything with the case, and just told me it needed to be replaced but my warranty just expired 3 weeks ago. I’m convinced apple makes their products to have a limited life so you keep buying and buying. Well guess what, I’m going to throw these garbage headphones in the garbage and get some Sony wireless earphones. Thanks apple for nothing, way to support your clients, and stand behind a product you make for pennies and charge exprbent amounts of money to replace.

I'm sorry to hear that. Usually Apple is more cooperative. You can still sell the left and right earpiece to have some additional money for new headphones.