Tuesday 5 August 2014

Tips & Tricks to use Apple EarPods

The iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c and the upcoming iPhone 6 all ship with Apple EarPods. Here's how you unlock their true potential

A majority of people completely ignore the shiny white Apple EarPods that come with every iPhone and iPod touch. There are several reasons for that. Many of us already have a pair of headphones we love. If not, we assume that any earphones that come with a product must be cheap. After all, compared to other earphones like Beats, which Apple just bought, they’re not as “cool”, or with earbuds made by Bose they’re not as good sounding.

But Apple’s tiny EarPods actually have a number of hidden features many people don’t know about – features which are cool enough to make using them as your primary earphones worth it. Here’s a list of 13 hidden features Apple’s packed into its EarPods that will make you think they’re the best earphones you’ve ever owned.

The Basics: Volume and Play/Pause
Many people I’ve run into who never bother opening the EarPods that come with their iPhone or iPod touch don’t even know it’s got a tiny remote built into its lead wire. If they had opened it they would have been able to tell this remote does some very basic things. For starters, there is a tiny + and – button on either end of it. Pressing these will increase or decrease the volume of audio on your iPhone or iPad.

But it’s not just music audio that is changed. Press the + or – button to increase or decrease the volume of music, movies, system sounds, or phone calls.

The space between the volume buttons looks like a flat white recession that does nothing but provide tactile empty space between the volume buttons. But this space is actually a button itself and if you click it once it will act as the Play button for audio or video and if you click it again it will Pause currently playing audio or video.

Fast Forward Audio and Video
Beyond volume and Play/Pause, this remote has slightly more invisible features hardly anyone knows about. For starters, the middle button allows you to fast forward audio and video. To do this press the middle button rapidly twice and then hold it down after the second press. The currently playing audio or video will begin to fast forward. Release the middle button to stop fast forwarding.

Rewind Audio and Video
As you might have guessed, you can also rewind audio and video tracks. To do this press the middle button rapidly thrice and then hold it down after the third press. The currently playing audio or video will begin to rewind. Release the middle button to stop rewinding.

Skip To The Next Track
You can also skip forward to the next audio track or video track using the remote. To do this press the middle button twice in quick succession.

Skip To The Previous Track
To go back to the previously playing track simply press the middle button thrice in quick succession.

Take Photos
This is perhaps my favorite EarPod tip. You can actually use its remote as a shutter release for iOS’s Camera app. Simply press the Volume + button when the Camera app is open and it will act as the shutter release. This is immensely helpful for those of you who shoot photos and videos with your iPhone on a tripod or other mount.

Activate Siri
This is another one of my favorite tips. Press and hold the middle button for a few seconds and you’ll activate Siri. Once you hear the familiar Siri chime just speak your request and Siri will speak the answer back to you. This is awesome when you need a quick answer to something but your iPhone is in your pocket or purse.

Answer Incoming Calls
If someone calls you while you are listening to music with your EarPods you can simply press the middle button once to answer the phone call. Unfortunately iOS won’t yet speak the caller ID of the person, so be sure you look at the screen first to see it’s a call you want to take.

Hang Up
Once you’ve completed the call simply press the middle button again to hang up.

Reject An Incoming Call
If you don’t want to pick up an incoming call you can reject it using just the EarPods. To reject a call simply press and hold the middle button for two seconds. You’ll then hear two small beeps, which will tell you the caller has been sent to voicemail.

Switch Between Calls
Sometimes we’ll be talking on the iPhone and receive another phone call. Using the EarPods you can switch between these calls easily. While on one call simply press the middle button once to be switched to the other. The first caller will remain on hold while you talk to the second caller. To switch back to the first simply press the middle button again.

End The Current Call To Answer A New Call
Sometimes you might not want to switch between calls, instead choosing to end your current call to give you undivided attention to the new caller. To do this press and hold the middle button for two seconds when the new call comes in. You’ll hear two small beeps and then the original call will be ended and you’ll be switched to the new call.

Use The EarPods With Your Mac
Apple’s EarPod aren’t only limited to use with iPhones and iPods. Plug them into your Mac and not only will you be able to use them as normal earphones, but the Play/Pause and volume control buttons will work with both iTunes and QuickTime player.

It’s pretty cool that Apple’s built this functionality into OS X – and with OS X 10.10 Yosemite and its Continuity feature that lets you send phone calls to your Mac, it’s likely that the EarPod’s remote answer features could be extended to a Mac desktop near you.

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