AirPods · Accessibility

Use AirPods as a hearing aid–style assistive tool

Live Listen turns AirPods into a directional microphone that streams nearby conversation to your ears from across a room, while Conversation Boost on AirPods Pro amplifies the voice of the person in front of you while reducing background noise.

What you should know

  • Enable Live Listen by adding it to Control Center under Settings → Control Center, then activating it and placing the iPhone near whoever you want to hear.
  • Conversation Boost turns on automatically as part of Transparency mode's Conversation Awareness features on AirPods Pro, and can be adjusted under Settings → Accessibility → AirPods.
  • Headphone Accommodations can further amplify soft sounds and tune audio for specific hearing needs, layered on top of these features.

Best practices

  • Place the iPhone running Live Listen close to the person or source you want to hear, and within reasonable range, since it streams over Bluetooth rather than amplifying acoustically.
  • Pair Conversation Boost with a well-fitted ear tip — like Active Noise Cancellation, its effectiveness depends heavily on a sealed fit.

Common problems and fixes

Live Listen isn't available in Control Center
Add it manually via Settings → Control Center → Live Listen, since it isn't included by default.
Conversation Boost option is missing
Confirm you're using AirPods Pro specifically — it isn't available on standard AirPods or AirPods Max.

Tips and tricks

  • Live Listen can run from a second iPhone placed near a speaker at a lecture or meeting while you keep your own iPhone in your pocket, effectively creating a personal remote microphone.

Frequently asked questions

Are these features a replacement for a medical hearing aid?

No — they're consumer accessibility features intended to help in specific situations, not a substitute for a clinically fitted hearing aid.