AirPods Pro New Head Gestures Are Great For Privacy And Accessibility

Key Takeaways

• In iOS 18, AirPods Pro get a ton of new accessibility features.
• Apple has radically expanded the ways we can interact with our computers.
• Head gestures will be useful to everyone who uses AirPods.

The AirPods Pro will soon detect nods and head-shakes, and let you decline or answer calls, interact with notifications, and more, all without saying a word. It's a huge win for accessibility, but it is also a glimpse at a kind of third way of using our computers, where we don't have to talk or use a mouse to get things done.

"From an accessibility standpoint, this head-tracking technology could be revolutionary. It essentially turns the AirPods into a powerful, compact environmental control system. Just a nod or headshake to answer calls, dismiss notifications, or control audio playback provides a new level of independence and ease of use. For those with limited mobility, this hands-free operation is incredibly empowering," meditation and wellness soundtrack creator Michelle Justice told Lifewire via email.

AR FTW

Apple's promo video showed one neat aspect of head gestures. In it, a man in a crowded elevator gets a call, and Siri asks him if he wants to take it. He shakes his head no, and Siri bumps the call. This interaction also works anywhere that Siri might require a yes/no answer, and it's frankly genius. Even when I'm alone, either at home or walking outside, I feel odd talking to my computer assistant. Nodding and shaking your head feels much better suited to interacting with Siri than having to talk to it.

Perhaps this new feature comes from Apple's research into gestures for its Vision Pro headset, where you interact using a combination of pinch gestures and looking at the thing you want to control. Or from its research into interpreting fist squeezes and finger taps for Apple Watch control. You see where we're going here. While trackpad and touch-screen gestures are still the main interaction methods with Apple's computers, many alternative methods exist.

They may not be as versatile as using a mouse or tapping and dragging on a screen, but in the right context, they're much better. At the least, adding interactions gives people more choice to fit the computer to their own abilities. But at best, you can just use the most natural method for any context without really thinking about it.

"This will have huge implications for Accessibility especially as we think about mobility challenges and overall reducing the steps and clicks taken to complete a task, as simple as checking a notification or making a call. It isn't limited to accessibility and goes beyond making the AirPods more usable and versatile for users! The higher number of inputs and types of inputs makes technology and products more user friendly—not everyone uses technology the same way and this new feature accounts for that," Nandita Gupta, accessibility product manager at Microsoft, told Lifewire via email.

AirPods Upgrade

In iOS 18, the AirPods Pro are getting some pretty impressive upgrades overall. One is a new hearing-aid mode, which can provide simple boosts and corrections for anyone who needs them. When we covered early reports of this features back in March, we likened hearing aid mode to reading glasses, the kind of off-the-shelf correction that can make a difference to many people, especially those who might not otherwise seek help for mild hearing loss.

"The hearing aid mode is also a huge accessibility win in my view. Hearing loss can be incredibly isolating, but the financial and social barriers to obtaining hearing aids are massive for many. By leveraging the AirPods' impressive audio processing capabilities, Apple is democratizing access to affordable hearing assistance. This could improve communication, safety and quality of life for millions," says Justice.

Also new for AirPods Pro is more control over the adaptive noise feature. This is a great automatic mode in AirPods Pro 2 which acts just like transparency mode until things get noisy, when it automatically switches to noise-canceling mode. You will be able to tweak the balance, for more or less noise canceling, depending on your needs.

And there's more. The iPhone can already cut out background noise in your environment when calling other people, so they won't hear street noise, washing machines, or construction work when you're on a work call. This is coming to AirPods Pro, so you can have conversations while walking outside without annoying the other parties on your calls.

The AirPods Pro are already one of Apple's best products, and they just keep getting better. If only you could swap the batteries in them so they could last more than a few years before becoming non-recyclable e-waste, they'd be almost perfect.