How to Stop Losing Your AirPods and Wireless Earbuds

Wireless earbuds solved one problem beautifully.

The wire.

No more tangled cords. No more cable running from your ears to your pocket. No more getting caught on a backpack, jacket or airplane seat.

But getting rid of the wire created another problem.

Now there are two tiny earbuds to lose.

Why are wireless earbuds so easy to lose?

Think about how many times you take your earbuds in and out during the day.

You order a coffee.

Someone starts talking to you.

You get on a plane.

You take one out while walking.

You finish a run.

You jump on a call.

You put one in your pocket for a minute.

Every one of those moments creates another opportunity for an earbud to get left behind.

The problem isn't always losing your earbuds. It's how many places we put them.

Technology can help you find them

Apple's Find My technology can help locate compatible AirPods® after they've gone missing. Depending on the model, Find My can show their location, play a sound, provide nearby-finding functionality and provide separation alerts.

That's useful technology.

But there's another way to think about the problem:

What if they didn't get lost in the first place?

The old wire actually did something useful

Wired headphones weren't perfect.

The cable tangled. It got caught on things. And most importantly, it physically connected you to your device.

Bluetooth fixed that.

But the wire had another purpose we rarely talked about:

It kept your earbuds together.

When you took wired earbuds out of your ears, you could simply let them hang around your neck.

No pocket.

No case.

No wondering where you put the other one.

Your headphones stayed with you.

Wireless earbuds removed that connection entirely.

Maybe we threw out something useful along with the wire.

 

How to keep AirPods from getting lost

There are several ways to make wireless earbuds more secure.

Use the charging case.

It's still one of the best places to store your earbuds when you're finished listening. But putting your earbuds back into their case every time someone talks to you isn't always practical.

Use Find My.

Apple's Find My technology can be extremely useful when compatible AirPods have already gone missing.

Use ear hooks.

For running and other activities, ear hooks can help keep earbuds securely in your ears. They don't necessarily solve what happens when you take your earbuds out.

Use a wearable AirPods lanyard.

This takes a different approach.

Instead of finding your earbuds after they're lost, keep them physically connected to something you're already wearing.

Wireless doesn't have to mean disconnected.

 

Wireless when you want it. Connected when you need it.

That's the idea behind Alt + Esc [wear].

The [wear] AirPods® band lets compatible AirPods connect to an adjustable wearable band, so instead of constantly moving your earbuds between your ears, hands, pockets and case, you can simply wear them.

Around your neck.

Around your wrist.

Take them out.

Let them hang.

Put them back in when you're ready.

Your earbuds remain wireless.

They're just not loose.

Wear them. Don't carry them.

 

You can even build the connection into what you're wearing

The same idea can become part of your clothing.

The Alt + Esc [wear] AirPods® hoodie incorporates an AirPods-compatible drawcord directly into the hoodie.

Take your AirPods out and let them hang.

When you're ready to listen again, they're already there.

 

 

 

 

That's usually a good thing.

But smaller technology also means more tiny objects we're expected to keep track of.

Our approach is simple:

If technology is small enough to lose, maybe it should be designed to be worn.

Wireless doesn't have to mean disconnected.

Sometimes the best solution isn't adding more technology.

It's adding a little connection.

A+E