I love my wife, but I won’t share AirPods with her anymore, thanks to this iPhone trick

When my wife and I travel, we usually download some shows to watch during our flight, but we always have to split some AirPods. That means that while one of our ears is enjoying the show, the other is forced to endure the crying baby behind us on the plane. But thanks Audio sharing from Apple feature allows us to enjoy a show together while using our own sets AirPods, AirPods Pro or other headphones.

Apple introduced Audio Sharing with iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 in 2024. There can be two pairs of compatible AirPods or Beats headphones can be combined with a single iPhone or iPad. This way you and someone else can immerse yourself in music, films or a TED Talk without disturbing the people around you.

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Here’s how to share audio with another set of AirPods or Beats headphones.

How to enjoy music and podcasts together

1. Open Music, Podcasts, Spotify or a similar app with your AirPods in your ears and connected to your iPhone or iPad.
2. Start playing music or a podcast.
3. Open your Control Center by swiping down from the top right corner of your screen.
4. Go to your audio controls page. By default, this is your second Control Center page.
5. Tap the silhouette of two people on the right side of your screen.

6. Bring the other pair of AirPods in the case or Beats headphones near your device. You may need to press the button on the back of your AirPods case to enter pairing mode.
7. Crane Share audio when your device detects the other AirPods or Beats headphones.

Each pair of headphones can change their own volume via the headphone controls, or you can change the volume for each pair via the connected device. But you can enjoy a podcast or other music together without splitting a pair of AirPods or disturbing people around you.

How to watch a movie or show with separate headphones

Pairing another pair of headphones to your device to watch a movie or TV series is similar. Here’s how.

1. Open Apple TV, Netflix, YouTube or another streaming app with your headphones on.
2. Start playing a movie or program.
3. Open your Control Center by swiping down from the top right corner of your screen.
4. Go to your audio controls page. By default, this is your second Control Center page.
5. Tap the silhouette of two people on the right side of your screen.
6. Bring the other pair of AirPods in the case or Beats headphones near your device. You may need to press the button on the back of your AirPods case to enter pairing mode.
7. Crane Share audio when your device detects the other AirPods or Beats headphones.

Now you and someone else can watch a video together without disturbing those around you and without splitting a pair of AirPods.

For more iOS news, here my review of iOS 26how to enable phone conversation And text screening in the operating system and all that new ringtones on your iPhone. You can also take a look at our iOS 26 cheat sheet.