How to connect two pairs of AirPods to one iPhone, and share music wirelessly with your friends
- You can connect two pairs of AirPods to one iPhone as long as it's an iPhone 8 or newer, running iOS 13 or newer.
- One pair of AirPods will connect to the iPhone via Bluetooth, and the other pair connects via AirPlay.
- AirPods aren't the only headphones that have this feature - you can also use several kinds of Beats headphones.
Sharing things like music used to be as simple as handing over an earpod and sitting side by side.
But with wireless headphones becoming the norm - and with social distancing measures still in place - it helps to have multiple pairs of headphones.
Related Article Module: What version of iOS do I have? How to find which version your iPhone is running and check if there's an update availableLuckily, newer iPhones have the ability to stream music and other audio to two pairs of AirPods (or Beats) at once. As long as you have an iPhone 8 or newer, running iOS 13 or newer, you can set this up in moments.
How to connect two pairs of AirPods to one phone
Firstly, make sure you have the right iPhone and the right headphones. Every AirPods model can use the double-streaming feature, as well as:
- Powerbeats
- Powerbeats Pro
- Powerbeats3 Wireless
- Beats Solo Pro
- Beats Solo3 Wireless
- Beats Studio3 Wireless
- BeatsX
- Beats Flex
For those who have the compatible devices, here's how to connect two pairs of AirPods to your phone:
1. Connect your first pair of headphones as usual, by turning on the Bluetooth in your Settings app and then selecting your headphones from the list of devices.
2. Either open the app you want to play audio from and select the AirPlay icon, or lock your phone and then select the AirPlay icon in the control center.
3. Underneath the already connected headphones, select "Share audio."
From here, the method changes depending on the kind of headphones you have:
- AirPods or AirPods Pro: With the AirPods inside of their case, open the AirPods case and hold it close to the iPhone.
- AirPods Max: Simply hold the headphones next to your iPhone.
- Beats: Put the headphones in pairing mode, according to the directions provided by the manufacturer, and then hold them up to your iPhone.
Finally, when you see your (or your friends') other headphones appear on the screen, tap to select them and then select "Share Audio" again.
You can control the volume, play, pause, and stop from the lock screen's control center. You'll see separate options to control the volume for the headphones using the sliders next to the name of the headphones.
