Skip to content

Headphone Controls: Interact Using Earbuds Or AirPods | iOS 17 Guide

The mic button on wired Apple headphones can be used to control playback of music and videos.

Click once to pause the current song or video, then click again to resume playback. Quickly click twice to skip to the next song or quickly three times to go back to the previous song. If you’re more than three seconds into the current track, clicking three times will restart it.

If you quickly click twice and hold on the second press, the song will fast-forward until you let go. If it’s quickly pressed three times and held on the third press, then the song will rewind until let go again.

Automatic pause

If you’re listening to music with headphones and you pull the wire out of the iPhone, the device will automatically pause playback without requiring you to interact with the screen.

AirPod controls

If you have Apple’s AirPod wireless earphones, you can achieve similar playback controls by double-tapping on an AirPod. To customize what happens when you use the double-tap gesture, launch Settings, choose Bluetooth, and tap the “i” button next to your AirPods.

In the Double-Tap on AirPod section, choose Left to customize the gesture for your left AirPod and Right to choose an action for the right AirPod. Options include activate Siri, skip track, pause, or go to the previous track.