❴ How-To-Fix ❵ AirPods Connected But Sound Coming From Phone

I live in Valentine, the most beautiful city in Nebraska. Since it’s located in the Northern part of Central Nebraska, you’ll find the most desirable and pleasant weather here, especially these days in July.

What a bright sunny day I woke up to !! The sky was full of white, fluffy clouds. I was in no mood to sulk at the office; rather I simply wanted to drive to Sandhills with Michelle and enjoy my day but looking at the list of meetings scheduled up, I realised, I better be only dreaming about it and headed straight to my office. 

Sipping on Veranda Blend from Starbucks, to relieve myself , the moment I played ‘I Gotta Feeling’ , Jennifer appeared simply from thin air, winking at me and said,”Ah! Black Eyed Peas?’ My fav, too!! Shocked, I looked first, at her and then, at my iPhone. 

Before I could even ask her about how she heard what I played on my phone when I actually hadn’t heard anything on my AirPods, she drew nearer and warned me,” Boss is sitting in the next cubicle, keep the volume down’.

I was like, totally aghast !! I had my AirPods connected but sound coming from phone ? Quickly releasing the mess I was in, I kept my Coffee aside and quickly set out to fix this issue because if the world was now actually going to hear what I played on my device, I would be in a hot soup !!

I collected my wits and after researching exhaustively on this for about an hour, luckily I was able to fix this issue. Actually, this was pretty different from the last time when I faced similar issues on my AirPods while playing music. The AirPods had just begun to pause intermittently and would die very fast while the songs played on. Since I had successfully resolved these issues, fixing this one wasn’t abstruse ! 

So, here in this article, I wanted to share in detail about what I did when I had my AirPods connected but sound coming from phone made me go neurotic. Pick up the methods mentioned here to never find yourself in an odd situation like mine.You don’t have friends like Jennifer to save you, isn’t it ! 

So, stay with me today, to learn about ways to help yourself when you find yourself in a similar situation. 

Why Do The AirPods Say Connected But Aren’t

The Support Team at Apple has acknowledged the occurrence of these odd issues with the AirPods when they are well-connected to the device but the sound plays on the iDevice.

Whenever the AirPods muddle up with their connectivity, there can be not one but many possible reasons because the smooth functioning of the AirPods depend on the many essential features on the iDevice like the battery, the audio-balance on the iDevice, the bluetooth connectivity, the Noise Cancellation and the EQ ( Equaliser) settings ( on the AirPods Pro) etc. 

So, if you have been baffled about why are my AirPods connected but not playing music, you’ll have to check on a  few of the essential aspects of your iDevice ; be it the iPhone, iPad or Mac etc, and fix each one of them if distraught. All of the below mentioned issues should be fixed to ensure proper audio connectivity on your AirPods. 

• Poor Bluetooth Connectivity
• Outdated Software on iPhone
• Low Battery on the AirPods
• Dirty AirPods
• Improper Audio Balance 
• Permission denied on the Music app
• Automatic Ear Detection ‘On’ 
• Incorrect Network Settings on AirPods

If even one of the above mentioned issues has been occurring on your phone, then this will affect the AirPods’ connection directly and thus, result in a ‘no-sound’ or ‘low-sound’ issue. Both the iDevice ( iPhone, at the moment) and the AirPods need to be in-sync with each other for you to hear the music properly. 

Such complications have been reported by the users while trying to listen to sounds on the iPad and the Mac as well. I will be dealing with their fixes separately  in the next section. Till then, go on to learn the easy-fixes for the trying times  when you can’t help but wonder about why do my AirPods say connected but not working. 

10 Definite Ways To Fix When The AirPods Say Connected But Sound Coming From Phone

So, here onwards, you’ll learn the methods which can fix these ludicrous sound issues on your AirPods and you’ll never have to speculate about why do my AirPods say connected but not working. Take a look at the most relevant and the practical fixes mentioned below.

1. Restart your iPhone
2. Re-connect the AirPods
3. Update the Software
4. Reset the AirPods
5. Select AirPods as The Output Device
6. Check out the App’s Permissions
7. Turn ‘off’ Automatic Ear Detection
8. Clean the AirPods
9. Remove the Music Volume level Limit and the Audio Balance 
10. Hard Reboot your phone 

I am going to be explaining and demonstrating ten different methods to fix this issue with your AirPods and I am positive that by the time you reach the last method, you’ll definitely be able to hear the music on your AirPods which you play on your phone. 

1. Restart your iPhone

Initially, you should begin with re-starting your device, i.e your iPhone on which you are playing the music. If your phone is battling any bluetooth connectivity issues with the phone’s system, this step will surely reset the connection and clean itself off any faulty background lags or interruptions. See how this can be done here in steps below. 

1. First, press and hold either the Volume button and the side button on your phone.
   
2. Then, the Power-Slider will appear on the screen.
3. Drag the slider and then, wait for 30 seconds to let your device turn ‘off’.
   
4. Now, to turn ‘on’ the device again, press and hold the side button ( at the right side of your phone).
   
5. You’ll then see the Apple Logo.

Now, when your iPhone restarts using the steps mentioned above, you’ll be connecting your AirPods once again to your iPhone to refresh all the connection settings.Jump onto the next step to learn how you will be reconnecting your AirPods with your iPhone once again.

2. Re-connect the AirPods

After your iPhone had a soft reset by the restart on it, the next step is to re-connect your AirPods with it to make sure that the connectivity issue is not from the Airpods’ side. 

1. On your phone, open the Settings and tap on Bluetooth.
   
2. If it’s off, tap on it to turn it ‘on’.
3. Now, keep the AirPods back in their Charging Case and bring them close to your phone.
   
4. Your phone will automatically scan the nearest device for connection i.e. the AirPods.
   
5. Tap on ‘Connect’ when it pops up on the Screen on your phone.

Now, after connecting your AirPods, play some music and try listening on the AirPods to check if the issue has resolved. Still have a complaint that my AirPods are connected but sound is coming from speakers ? There are other methods too, don’t worry! Check out the next fix to solve the issue.

3. Update the Software

If a fresh connection on the phone and the AirPods hasn’t resolved the issue, there might be a lag at the phone’s system software. If the software on the system is incompatible , that could be one possible reason for the incorrect sound delivery when music is played on the phone. 

If your phone is not updated on the latest Apple’s software, such connectivity issues like wrong sound delivery, abrupt pause on the AirPods when music is played or AirPods becoming quiet in the middle of a song or a conversation are likely to occur. 

Hence, it is essential to make sure that your device’s firmware is updated and it is compatible with the AirPods. Here’s how this can be done. 

1. Click to open the  Settings on your phone and then, tap on General.
2. Click on Software Update.
   
3. If any recent updates are pending, it  will be shown there. Click on Update if there are any. 
4. Also, tap on Automatic Updates to turn this feature ‘on’. In future, your phone will be updated automatically in case of a new software launch. 

If there are any pending updates, your phone will take a few seconds to update itself. I recommend restarting the device after the updates have been launched. Thereafter, play music and now check if the sound is still coming from the speakers. 

4. Reset the AirPods

If you can’t still hear on your AirPods while playing music on your phone, now, I recommend resetting the AirPods to once again establish a fresh connection on the phone, from the very beginning. The steps for you to reset the AirPods are listed down below. 

1. Grab the AirPods and seat them back in their Charging case.
   
2. Now, close the Case’s lid and wait for about 10 seconds. 
3. On your phone, now go to Settings and then, tap on Bluetooth. 
4. You’ll see your AirPods’ name in the list of devices. Click on the ‘i’ icon, next to your AirPods’ name.
   
5. Tap on ‘Forget this device’.
6. Now, open the AirPods’ Case and draw it near to your phone.
   
7. Press and hold the Set-up button, at the back of the Case, for about 15 seconds.
8. A pop-up for your AirPods will now appear on the phone’s screen. Tap on ‘Connect’.
   

Now, when you connect the AirPods to your phone, it’s a very fresh connection that has been set up and should have possibly removed any misleading connectivity signals which was preventing you from hearing audio from your phone on your AirPods. 

Now, try playing audio and listening on your AirPods. If you are stuck on why are my AirPods connected but not playing, you must check out the permission settings on the music app. It can be entirely possible that mistakenly, you denied the music app an access to the AirPods and that is why you the music is still playing on the device and only the AirPods are deprived of it. This takes me to the next point where you’ll learn how to grant permission to your AirPods to access the music played on your device. 

5. Select AirPods as The Output Device

At times, your iPhone might not select an audio device on its own, which is the AirPods at the moment. It needs to be done manually in this case so that the audio/music when played, gets delivered to the correct output source and you get to hear the music on the AirPods. 

To prioritise AirPods as an Output device on your iOS, follow these steps : 

1. Swipe down at the upper right corner. 
2. Use the 3D Touch or long press the music widget to show the audio outputs.
   
3. There is a triangle with three circular strips over it in the upper right corner. When you click on it, tap on your AirPods on prompting.
   
4. As shown above, when you click on the triangle widget, your AirPods will appear and upon clicking on them, you select them as the audio source on your phone, meaning that whatever now you’ll play on your phone, will be heard on your AirPods.

6. Check Out the App’s Permissions

There are times when the connectivity settings on both your iPhone and AirPods are well-functional but the app on which you are trying to play the music, bears an issue.

Lack of permission on the music app can result in limiting the connection of the AirPods when an audio is played on the app. 

To ensure that there is proper sound output when an audio is played on the app, you must check out the app’s permissions. 

1. Open the Settings on the phone and click on Privacy.
2. Now, tap on Bluetooth.
3. Tap on the app on which you are playing the audio/music and toggle its switch ON.

After you have switched the music app ‘on’, now play music and listen on the AirPods. The sound should most possibly be heard on the AirPods, in place of the phone’s speakers but if the status still hasn’t changed even a bit, move on to the next step. 

7. Turn ‘off’ Automatic Ear Detection

The AirPods come with this built-in feature wherein they can automatically sense when they are plugged in your ear. On confirming this, you begin to hear audio on your AirPods.

If there is any lag during this simple process of connectivity, the audio won’t be heard on your AirPods, rather, it will be heard on the phone’s speakers; the issue you are dealing with at present. 

I would recommend that you turn ‘off’ the ‘automatic Ear Detection’ feature on your phone so that when you wear your AirPods this time, you’ll have to tap on the audio manually to hear on your AirPods. 

Note : After you turn ‘off’ the ‘Automatic Ear Detection’ on your device, music will keep playing on your AirPods even after they have been plugged out because now they cannot detect automatically if they are being worn or not. 

Be careful in this case and pause the audio when not listening to music otherwise, the music will keep playing on your Airpods even when they are inside your bag, draining out their battery completely   and you’ll be totally unaware if they are now dead and lost.  

Steps to turn the Automatic Ear Detection ‘off’ : 

1. Open the Settings on your phone and tap on Bluetooth.
2. Next to your AirPods’ name, click on the ‘i’ icon.
   
3. On scrolling down, you’ll see the option ‘Automatic Ear Detection’.
4. Turn it ‘off’.

Check out now if the problem has been solved or not. If not, I suggest, look closely and see if there is any debris on the AirPods or the Case and clean them, which I am going to elaborate upon in the next step, too. Afterwards, turn ‘on’ the Automatic Ear Detection and see if it made any change. 

8. Clean the AirPods ( To Fix the Sound Block ) 

When you use AirPods for long hours on a day-to-day basis, accumulation of dust on them is common. However, to keep your AirPods healthy and free from dust and debris, they need to be cleaned regularly, just like you make efforts to purposefully clean the rest of your possessions because they tend to get dirty due to regular usage. 

If it’s not a habit to clean your AirPods, along with their Case, you’ll face tough issues like AirPods dropping quiet abruptly, pausing in the middle of a song or a conversation or a battery that dies very fast even on charging frequently.  

Be extra careful while cleaning your AirPods as they are very delicate. If you end cleaning them up aggressively, it might rather damage the fragile speaker meshes and probably won’t ever hear again on them. 

Prefer using a cotton swabdipped in 70% Isopropyl Alcohol for cleaning the AirPods gently and leaving them fresh scented but be extra cautious, as I said above, during wiping out the frail speaker grilles so that no drops of liquid seeps in them, blocking the sounds further.

Dirty speaker grilles of the AirPods can be considered as a potential reason for no sound delivery on the AirPods. After the AirPods have been cleaned generously, you should definitely be able to hear on them as by this step, you have already sorted most of the connectivity issues on them and have reset them already. 

Now, after the dust also has been wiped out from their surface, no blockage should now be faced when any audio is played. 

9. Remove the Music Volume level Limit and the Audio Balance

One very important thing to ensure while dealing with the issue of AirPods connected but sound coming from phone is to check that the volume of the AirPods should not be set too low to hear. 

The iOS devices come with an option of letting you control the volume on them. Since you have not been able to hear the audio on your AirPods, it becomes a necessity to check the Volume Limiter on your device if it has been turned off by fault. 

Steps To Set The Volume Limit  :

1. Open the Settings on your phone and click on Music.
2. Now, drag the Volume Limit to a maximum.

Steps To Set The Audio Balance :

1. Go back to the Settings and now, tap on Accessibility.
2. Now, click on Audio/Visual and drag the slider in the middle to enable audio on both the Left and the Right AirPod.

These steps suitably tackle if there was any trouble caused by the inefficient volume settings on the phone and if it were responsible for no sound on the AirPods. 

By now, you have literally tried most of the methods and I am confident that you must be listening to music on your AirPods at the moment but if luck still hasn’t shone your side and efforts haven’t paid off, there is still one final step left in my hat to help you overcome this stubborn issue of AirPods connected but sound coming from phone. Be hopeful and try this one for sure! 

10. Hard Reboot your Phone 

After both the phone and the AirPods have been duly reset and even the Volume Settings on the phone have been re-modified, one final step calls for a hard reboot on your device and trust me, it will work as it is a very professional solution and have worked in the times when all hopes had been lost, personally by me while trying to fix my AirPods when they just didn’t play anything without pausing in-between and showed signs of a terrible battery life. 

Hard Reboot For iPhone with No Home Button ( All the latest iPhones ; iPhone X onwards)

1. Fast press and release the Volume Up and Down button.
2. Thereafter, press and hold only the Side Button till the Black Apple Logo appears on the screen.
   
3. Now, wait for some 15 seconds and then, switch to holding only the Side button. 

Hard Reboot For iPhone With Home Button ( 7/7+, 6S/6S Plus )

1. Press the Sleep/Wake button with the Home button at the same time. 
2. Release both the buttons when the Apple Logo appears. 

This way, regardless of which model of iPhone you possess, you have with you the process of hard rebooting your phone. There is hardly any issue which can’t be resolved by a hard reboot on a device and if there is, then the device can only be replaced for it is irreparable .

So, here I am done with demonstrating my tried-and-tested methods of fixing the audio lag on your AirPods and I am optimistic that if you earnestly tried even one of the methods mentioned above, most definitely you are able to hear music back again on your AirPods. 

Notwithstanding that, such issues on audio lags have been reported on other iDevices as well such as an iPad and the Macbook. 

So, along with delving upon the fixes to receive audio on the AirPods rather than the phone, on playing music, I made an endeavour to investigate the same issue faced by the users while trying to listen to music on iPad and the Macbook. 

Solution For AirPods Connected But Sound Coming From iPad

1. If you own an iPad and have faced similar issues of AirPods connected but sound coming from iPad, the procedure remains the same. All the solutions mentioned above can be duly tried on an iPad. 
2. I recommend beginning by restarting the iPad and then, resetting the AirPods on it as the first method to resolve. It can be followed by the rest of the methods and eventually, you’ll be able to hear audio on your AirPods which you play on your iPad.

In the upcoming section of this article, you’ll find yourself embracing the methods to fix the issue of audio lags on a Macbook and will also learn why it happens, at all. 

How To Fix When You Have The AirPods Connected But The Sound Coming From Mac

Most of the above mentioned fixes like rebooting the device, resetting the AirPods and reconnecting them work well in this case too when you have the AirPods connected but sound coming from Mac leaves you startled. 

However, there are a few tricks which have been discovered specifically for fixing such an issue on a Macbook when the AirPods remain connected but no sound can be heard from them. Take a look at those solutions mentioned below : 

1. A Complete Reset of AirPods on your Mac

The AirPods must be reset completely on the MacOS if even after staying ‘connected’, you’re not able to hear sound on them; rather, it’s coming from the Mac speakers. 

Steps : 

1. First, click on System Preferences and click on the ‘Bluetooth icon’ to access the Bluetooth Menu.
   
2. Now, turn the Bluetooth ‘off’ and wait for a while.
   
3. Now, turn it ‘on’ again.  Go to the AirPods Tab and click ‘X’.
4. Now, reset the AirPods.
5. Once the AirPods have been reset, they will go to the pairing mode and will be detected by the MacOS.
   
6. On detecting, connect them with your Mac.

This is the way you’ll be resetting your AirPods on your Macbook. It’s slightly different than how you reset the AirPods on your iPhone since the iOS and MacOS are different in their processing. 

Now, play an audio on Mac and try listening to it on your AirPods. After the reset, it’s rare that the sound still keeps coming from the Mac and not from the AirPods.

If that’s the case, hop onto the next step.

2. Forget your AirPods on Mac

‘Forgetting’ here means disconnecting the AirPods, at first and then, re-connecting them, later. 

Steps : 

It’s a simple process and must be done to establish a fresh connection from the start.

See how this can be done. 

1. First, go to System Preferences and click on Bluetooth.
   
2. In the list of Devices, identify your AirPods and right-click them.
3. Choose ‘Remove’ and Confirm your choice.

3. Disable the Automatic Ear Detection on MacOS

Disabling this feature of Automatic Ear Detection on your MacOS will prevent your AirPods from playing music automatically when they are plugged ‘in’. Switching this feature ‘off’ will give you the authority to manually choose what to play and when. 

Steps : 

1. Once again, go to the System Preferences and click on bluetooth.
2. Under the list of Devices, identify your AirPods and click on ‘Options’ next to them.
   
3. There will be the option of ‘Automatic Ear Detection’. Uncheck it and click Done.
   

4. Choose AirPods as Audio Output 

If more than one AirPods are connected to your Macbook, you’ll now learn how to select your AirPods, or the AirPods you are using at the moment, as the audio output so that when an audio is played, it doesn’t get reverted to the other AirPod automatically and you receive the audio on your Airpods which you have been plugged in.

Steps :

1. In the System Preferences, click on the Sound tab.
   
2. Click on the Output tab and under it, your AirPods should be selected instead of ‘internal speakers’, ‘external Speakers’ or any other device. 

5. Reset the Bluetooth Module on MacOS

Resetting the Bluetooth Module on the MacOS will remove faltering connections or any interruptions, if present during establishing the bluetooth connection between the AirPods and the Mac.

Steps :

1. First, hold the ‘Shift + Option Keys’ and then, click on the Bluetooth icon in the Menu Bar at the top of the screen.
2. Click on the option ‘Reset the Bluetooth Module’.
3. Click and Confirm your choice.

6. Restart your MacOS Device

Steps :

1. Press the Power button and a dialog box will appear. Choose ‘Restart’ from the options. 
2. Click on the Apple Key and then, click on Restart. 

7. Update your MacOS

Steps :

1. Go to the System Preferences and click on Software Update.
2. If there are any pending updates, it’ll show. Click on ‘Update’.

Along with the numerous techniques mentioned above for fixing this audio issue on the AirPods, try these specific solutions for a Mac and without any lag, you will be able to hear audio/music on your AirPods when you play on your Macbook. 

Henceforth, I believe and I can vouch that you have the best of the solutions up your sleeve now to fix this odd issue when the AirPods say connected but aren’t.

Be it any iDevice, the iPhone, an iPad or a Macbook, using the methods listed above, you’ll surely be able to resolve this issue and enjoy music on your iDevice, hassle-free.

FAQs

Q1. Why is no sound coming from my AirPods ?

Answer – If no sound is coming from your AirPods, check the microphone and the speaker mesh of your AirPods. Clean them if you see any piece of accumulated dirt. The dirty speaker mesh can be the primary cause for this issue. Also, check that the audio settings on your AirPods are balanced. For this, on your iDevice, go to the Settings>Accessibility>Audio/Visual>Balance. The balance should be set in the middle to be able to hear properly from each AirPod. 

Q2. Why don’t my AirPods play any sound on Find My iPhone ?

Answer – The Find My App on your iPhone won’t be able to give you the current location of your AirPods if your AirPods are out of the bluetooth range or are not charged. In such a case, you’ll have to locate them manually. 

Q3. Why won’t my iPhone play any sound ?

Answer – If you cannot hear any sound from your iPhone, try restarting it first. Then, check if it solved the problem. If it still didn’t, check for any pending updates on your phone. Do keep a backup before you update your iDevice. 

Q4. Why is my iPad not playing through AirPods ?

Answer – If no sound is playing on your AirPods when connected to your iPad, try putting the AirPods back in the Charging Case and check that both the AirPods should charge properly. Then, go to the Settings on your iPad and under Bluetooth, the AirPods should be selected as the Audio device.  

Q5. How can the AirPods automatically switch devices ?

Answer – While you are wearing your AirPods and are connected on one iDevice, say Mac, go to the Apple Menu and click on System Preferences> Bluetooth. Next to your AirPods, you’ll see an option as ‘List of devices’. You’ll find that the option ‘Connect to this Mac’ is enabled. Now, switch ‘on’ the option ‘When Last connected to this Mac’. Click on ‘Automatically’ to enable this feature and your AirPods will be able to access the devices automatically. 

The Verdict : 

I know this is least expected when you purchase an iDevice but such connectivity issues occur commonly, trust me! They are devices, after all.

The techniques I have mentioned above start from the very basic step of restarting to handling the matter professionally by resetting the factory settings on your device. So, rest assured, if you vigorously try these methods to fix your AirPods when they say ‘connected’ but you cannot hear the audio on your iDevice, the audio will come crawling back to where it belongs and you’ll again be able to enjoy music. 

So, be patient and begin by giving a soft restart to your phone, iPad or Mac. Let me know what worked for you and which method resolved the issue, in the very first shot !Till then, take care and enjoy music !!