Apple will finally help you find missing AirPods
The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern first reported the upcoming feature.
According to Stern, the feature will use the AirPod's wireless technology to help you find missing AirPods, and it'll be included in the iOS 10.3 update, which will "soon be available to the public."
The feature will work similarly to the way the Find My iPhone app works to, well, find your iPhone.
Apple's app will pinpoint where geographically your AirPods are by using the AirPods' last known location while they were connected to your iPhone.
If they're within the 30-foot Bluetooth range, you can make the missing AirPod(s) make a sound, just like the iPhone or iPad. And you can make individual AirPods make sounds, too.
However, if your AirPods are out of battery, you'll have to rely solely on their last known location. Considering AirPods only have a five-hour battery life, it doesn't leave you much time to realize if you had lost an AirPod. Still, it gives you an idea of where they last were.
Making your missing AirPods make a sound to find them is easier than using the 3rd party Finder for AirPods app.
The Finder for AirPods app used the AirPods' Bluetooth connection to a paired iPhone to show you a Bluetooth signal strength bar between your iPhone and the missing AirPod, which indicates the distance between you (your iPhone) and the AirPod. The closer you get, the bolder the bar gets, and you get a better idea of where to look for that pesky AirPod.
Soon after its release, however, Apple pulled the app from the App Store. A Deucks developer claimed to have spoken with Apple to get an explanation, with Apple allegedly stating that it "didn't like the 'concept' of people finding their Airpods and hence was deemed 'not appropriate for the App Store'."
Clearly, Apple does see the value of such a feature.
Indeed, it was surprising that Apple hadn't implemented this feature when the AirPods were first released, considering how easily AirPods can be misplaced. Their small, lightweight, and totally cordless design makes it easy for the pair to become separated and lost in any nook and cranny you encounter. Losing one or both of your AirPods posed a costly predicament: If you had permanently lost an AirPod (or both), your only option was either to buy a replacement directly from Apple for $69, or buy an entirely new pair for $159 if you lost the pair.