When cleaning your AirPods and charging case, you should avoid using any liquids. It may be tempting to use some kind of sanitizing solution or wipe, but they can ruin the polish on the plastic and even damage the electronics themselves. Using a soft cotton swab or q-tip can be a great tool for removing any debris or buildup on the black speaker grilles. Use a microfiber cloth to wipe down the exteriors of both the AirPods and the charging case. If there is any detritus or gunk lingering in the charging contacts of your case, you could try to blow some air manually or with canned air to remove it. Resist the urge to stick anything down towards the charging contacts, though, as that could inflict permanent damage. You should wipe down and clean your AirPods and their charging case regularly to prevent build-up, though. Consistency is key to keeping them in mint condition.
Apple’s AirPods feature automatic ear detection, which means that when you remove one or both of your earbuds from your ear, the music or podcast you’re listening to will pause. When you put the earbuds back in, your music or podcast will begin playing again automatically. While this is a cool feature, it might be more annoying to some users than helpful. You can disable it, though, in Settings. Simply tap the Bluetooth menu in your Settings app and find the AirPods menu. Select the “i” next to your AirPods name and move the “Automatic Ear Detection” slide to disable it.
When you double tap the sides of your AirPods, you will be accessing Siri by default. This can be helpful in some cases, but not in others, like when you don’t have WiFi or an internet connection. There is an alternative, though, for this double tap function. You can change the Siri functionality to a simple play/pause function. To do this, open your Settings and go to the Bluetooth menu. Tap the “i” next to your AirPods name, and underneath the “Double-Tap On AirPods” heading, you can choose “Play/Pause” or “Off”. If you choose “Play/Pause,” you will be able to play your music or pause it by double-tapping. If you choose “Off,” you will disable the double-tap function altogether.
