After pulling the plug on the 3.5mm headphone jack (with plenty of criticism) the dust has finally settled and Apple is now devising ways to help owners of its AirPods find their Bluetooth earphones. Apple’s next update for its mobile operating system, tagged as iOS 10.3, will add support for AirPods in the Find My iPhone app, bringing some relief for owners who often find themselves searching for their lost Bluetooth earphones. The same was revealed in the new iOS 10.3 beta update that is currently available as a public beta for iPhone owners who would like to download, explore and report some bugs.
In its final build, iOS 10.3 will add support in the Find My iPhone app for the new AirPods. Owners of the missing AirPods will be able to use the Find My iPhone app or switch to a desktop using the iCloud website to locate their earphones.
There is however a catch. The AirPods (as pricey as they are) do not pack in a GPS module; so the location you do get will be based on the last device they we paired with before they got separated and could no longer communicate. This again would also depend on the Bluetooth range of the owner’s Apple device.
Image: Reuters
Image: Reuters
Additionally, the owners must be signed into their iCloud account on all of their connected devices for the location tracking to work. If the AirPods happen to simply run out of battery life or happen to be in the case, the location shown on the Find My iPhone app will be the last place where the earphones were used before the owner placed them in the case.
Another cool feature that will be added via the iOS 10.3 update is the ability to play a sound on just one AirPod. This itself would also make for a quicker way to find the missing earphone, provided it is in the vicinity of your home or office.
The update comes as a part of the beta version of the software that just went live a few hours ago. iOS 10.3 is not expected to be a major update, but will bring plenty of new bits that should certainly make it worth the download.