Why does my AirPods Pro Transparency Mode keep turning off?

In the jump from 17 to 18, I too had Transparency mode fail. 18.1.1 didn't solve it.

In Headphone Accomodations under Control Centre, when adjusting the Transparency Mode Amplification slider nothing audible would change.

Just had a Genius Bar appointment where they ran the AirPods through the 30 minute diagnostic which concluded there were no issues with the AirPods.

I asked the Genius to also test their set. Their personal AirPods had no issues.

This pointed to a potential issue with the phone.

Left with that unresolved. But I didn't want to erase my phone at that point.

Fortunately I had a second older pair to test. They too failed the Amplification Slider test.

Everything now pointed to the phone since two different pairs of AirPods failed.

Two options: General > Reset All Settings or Erase and Restore from an iCloud backup.

Reset All is the less time consuming path.

Tried Resetting All and AirPods are now working with Transparency Mode and the Amplification and other sliders are now working.

Note that Credit Cards, Text, Network and Notifications are all reset as part of this process.

So Reset All is one thing to try. There isn't a lesser version of reset that is applicable to AirPods.

The issue with the constant disconnection of transparency mode is related to the Apple Watch; the AirPods keep connecting to it, and there's no way to fix this. If you turn off Bluetooth on the Apple Watch, the transparency problem disappears. Now, to have transparency mode work properly, I have to forget about the Apple Watch. Thank you, Apple. All the problems with transparency mode started after the 18.2 update, where they added hearing aids for the US, but it seems they forgot to test it in countries where it is not available.

I have an Apple Watch Ultra and it has no effect on the Transparency Mode.

I have found the following changes to Settings fix the problem. Try this:

Download the MiMi app and find a quiet place to do your Audiogram. Then:

Settings 

Accessibility

Audio and Visual 

Headphones accommodations on

and then choose Audiogram 

Turn  Transparency Mode on then choose Custom Transparency mode and slide amplification to full right. 

Turn Conversation Boost on

You can adjust tone to sharpen up sound but the effect is not great. 

Ambient noise reduction slider doesn’t do much either. 

This fix finally fixes the stability of Transparency Mode which cut out frequently. The volume is a little less than in Fix Number 1 but it is very stable and reliable. 

I’ve been working on this glitch for several years and Apple kindly replaced the AirPods Pro several times before I found out the specific settings that fix this issue.

I’ll summarize below:

Download the MiMi app and find a quiet place to do your Audiogram. Then:

Settings 

Accessibility

Audio and Visual 

Headphones accommodations on

and then choose Audiogram 

Turn  Transparency Mode on then choose Custom Transparency mode and slide amplification to full right. 

Turn Conversation Boost on

You can adjust tone to sharpen up sound but the effect is not great. 

Ambient noise reduction slider doesn’t do much either. 

This fix finally fixes the stability of Transparency Mode which cut out frequently. The volume is a little less than in Fix Number 1 but it is very stable and reliable. 

When you sometimes put your AirPods Pro in your ears the Transparency Mode will not work until you swipe down right to Control Centre and check off Transparency Mode and Conversation Boost. Then it will work perfectly.

Thousands have weighed in here on the problem with Transparency Mode and AirPods Pro Gen2. The Transparency Mode would frequently cut out. Apple replaced mind FOUR TIMES and the problem persisted.

I worked on several settings tweaks to help but could never get it bulletproof.

after speaking with Apple support today and another deep dive into settings, I think I have a reliable fix. Finally.

Steps are:

FIX #3

Settings - AirPods 

Tap Hearing Assistance - Turn on Hearing Aid.

Below Hearing Aid tap Adjustments. Turn amplification up and turn on “Swipe to control Amplification”.  Will allow you to control amplification with volume control on AirPod stem. 

Take hearing test or use one you have on file

Swipe to control amplification 

Turn on Conversation Boost 

This is a completely different work around from the “Accessability, Audio and Visual, Headphone Accommodations” path that just wasn’t stable.

I hope this helps a lot of people. It takes advantage of the new Hearing Aid feature in iOS 18

A solution-based solution seems to have fixed my issues.

After several more weeks of research and frustration, I determined (for my use case, at least) that this problem may be entirely related to ear wax clogging the multiple microphones located in various places on the Airpods.

These microphones are essential to the Airpods' ability to regulate, counter, and pass through external sounds.

I've read all sorts of ideas about how to clean them. One interesting method is to use poster putty gently pressed onto and rolled off of the microphone grid. The idea being that the taky substance would grab wax and pull it out.

I have tried this to some degree of success.

Answer for Me:

Hydrogen peroxide on a cotton swab has given me the best results.

I've actually had to do this twice since my last post here, but the effect is undeniable.

Conclusion

It seems to me that if one is going to manufacture a product that is intended to be placed inside a human ear, one might do well to ensure that ear wax is not the product's Kryptonite.

I am BLOWN AWAY. I was getting paperwork together for another call to Apple support about these AirPods Pro Gen2 buds.

On the support page it had a video on the thorough cleaning of the buds using micellar water and distilled water. I have done this a long time ago but in recent months only brushed them to clean them.

WOW! They are back to working PERFECTLY in Transparency Mode. Unreal. What is it about the microphones on these complex little buds that can mess up the Transparency Mode so much?

So from now on I will do a thorough cleaning with the micellar water and distilled water.

Back to like-new function. So pumped.

I may have the answer as to why. If your “Sounds and Haptics” are set too high, it triggers some sort of audio protection which turns Custom Transparency off. The sound that did it for me was the “swoosh” mail send sound. Immediately after sending mail, the Custom Transparency switched to off… switch to the left. Changing my mail send sound to None. Let me know if this works for y’all.

Guys for me became clear.

custom transparency modes turns off when the Apple Watch connects to the AirPods.

turn off the Apple Watch for couple of days (using it stand alone with BT on the watch off) then Transparency mode is on all the time and it comes one whenever I put the AirPod in my ear.

i turned on the BT on Apple Watch after that and the issue came back.

I was able to fix the issue, and here's how I did it. Hopefully, it works for you as well.

The problem seems to be caused by the Apple Watch. When it connects to the AirPods Pro, it resets the custom transparency mode. Here's what I did:

1. Backed up my iPhone using "Apple Devices" on my PC.
2. Reset the iPhone.
3. Reset the Airpods.
4. Restored the iPhone backup from my PC.
5. Reconnected the Airpods.

After the restore, the Apple Watch reconnected to the iPhone, but this time, the Airpods didn't appear in the watch's settings. Since then, I haven't faced the issue again. However, I can no longer use the Airpods with the Apple Watch (for music or podcasts), as they now only connect to the iPhone.

I have reset my AirPods Pro 2, and tried multiple other fixes- nothing worked. Then I turned off my Apple Watch Ultra- problem solved! Custom transparency mode stays on.

Folks will, of course, want to say that correlation is not causality. That said, I'll admit that my latest issues did seem to correspond with the advent of iOS 18.

However, I'm not entirely convinced that the OS directly affects the behavior of the AirPods. I can (or could) use AirPods Pro 2 while fully disconnected from the phone and still swap successfully between Noise Canceling modes using the long press. Unless the OS updates firmware in the AirPods, I suspect they are not related.

Also, I've had Apple replace my AirPods Pro 2 twice already over the last 30 months for this type of issue. Each time they claimed the microphones were malfunctioning and replaced the pods. Each time, they worked well for 9-12 months before crapping out again.

I may have it! Contacted apple support and while texting the in app text sounds disabled transparency every time I sent a message, kept turning on and sent a message back, it went off, reset AirPods and the issue was resolved, the difference is that I had taken a hearing test, the reset cleared that. So I can only assume the hearing test on with transparency mode is causing an issue with in app sounds. Custom mode is off btw. So far it’s stayed on, I’ll report back, maybe try that!

I tried just turning my watch off and it worked. I went about 20 minutes with custom transparency mode working, then turned my watch back on and within 2 minutes, custom transparency mode went off.

Apple has replaced my AirPods Pro Gen 2 buds several times but I have found a way in settings to get them working properly:

AirPods Pro Gen2 Transparency Mode Fix

Settings 

Accessibility

Audio and Visual 

Headphones accommodations on

Do NOT use a Custom Audiogram

Under “Tune Audio For”:

   Click on “Balanced Tone”, “Vocal Range” and “Brightness” and push all sliders fully to the right. ( You can customize these a little ) At bottom of page select “Transparency Mode” and turn on

Turn on Custom Transparency Mode and slide  amplification fully to right

Then turn on Conversation Boost  

Periodically, you’ll need to swipe diagonally from top right of screen to access “Control Panel”, go to the top screen and select “Transplarency Mode” and “Conversation Boost” if the phone turns them off. Happens usually when  you are working with different apps or getting notifications