New Find Find feature at a glance with AirPods Pro – WatchGeneration

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New firmware 4A400 AirPods Pro and AirPods Max provide earphones with support for the most advanced functions of the Find Network. After the necessary passage of the update, often tedious (the process being left to the goodwill of Apple), the AirPods gain several new options in the Find My app.

Looking for the AirPods Pro case.

An ersatz Precise Location function is displayed, with an interface that indicates if you are approaching the lost AirPods. Why ersatz? In the absence of U1 chip in the earphones or headset, the function cannot display the big arrow pointing to the lost device, like with AirTags. You have to be content with an animation that stirs as you approach the AirPods.

But where did my left AirPod go? ?

The locate function distinguishes the left earpiece from the right one. So, if you have lost just one, just indicate it by touching the L or R button at the top of the screen. Only headphones are supported, not the case; if the case is lost, there must be at least one earpiece inside so that Localiser can locate it.

But after all, the risk of losing an earpiece is definitely greater than for the case. The location panel also knows how to ring the lost earpiece, or the box if it contains an earpiece. You have to strain your ears to hear the little beep, so if the earpiece is hidden under a pillow you will probably have to dig a little.

For some reason that escapes me, although both headphones were in their cases, the locate feature suggested that I spot either of the headphones. But anyway, it gives a little idea of ​​how this function works.

The signal is sometimes a little long before catching the precise location. The function therefore requires moving a little in the opposite direction, it is to enter the area covered by Bluetooth. In my tests, it worked pretty well even though I sometimes wondered if the location was really going to be able to pinpoint the AirPod that had been left in the trunk.

The AirPods Pro and AirPods Max also benefit from a lost mode that is much more efficient than what was offered until now: the Locate app only displayed the location of the last connection. With this new firmware, it is the power of the Locate network (which is based on the billion Apple devices in circulation in the world) which is used to find the lost earpiece.

You can choose to leave a message to the one who finds the AirPods, a note accompanied by a phone number or an email address.

The Find My Network is very efficient, it only took a few minutes to receive a notification after stashing an AirPods (with the iPhone completely turned off). Obviously, the effectiveness of Lost Mode depends on the density of iPhones and Apple devices where the earpiece went.

The notification launches the Find My app and displays the location where the earpiece was lost.

Another very practical function for the heads in the air, it is now possible to receive a notification warning that one has left behind AirPods Pro or Max. It works like AirTags or other Locate compatible objects, just activate the function Notify me in case of forgetting, specifying if necessary the places where it is not necessary to prevent (at home, for example).

You can add as many places as you want from the map or by entering an address.

Might as well warn right away, the notification is not immediate and I was already quite far from the AirPods when the alert fell.

Not completely unnecessary for people like me who regularly forget their AirPods at home when they go out.
You can tell the Find My app that there is no need to warn when the AirPods have been forgotten at the address found.

In terms of accessibility, firmware 4A400 activates the conversation amplifier function, available in the settings Accessibility > Audio-visual > Headphone adaptation > Transparency Mode, It’s at the bottom of this panel (yes, it’s quite Sioux).

Once this function is activated, it will make the AirPods Pro focus on the party speaking in front of the user, in order to help them better follow a face-to-face conversation.

The options Hearing available in the control center make it possible to reduce the background noise to a greater or lesser extent, again to make conversations easier to understand.

If the Audition button is not present, it must be activated in the control center settings.

All these new features strengthen the functionality of the AirPods Pro and Max a little more, in particular the support of the Locate network which will undoubtedly save more than one earphone from total and permanent loss.