Why does my AirPods Pro Transparency Mode keep turning off?

Transparency Mode keeps turning itself off on my Airpods Pro 2, which I have already been using as hearing aids for 18 months, prior to the iOS 18.1 update.

I am convinced that Transparency Mode keeps turning itself off because of very poor integration with the Apple Watch, e.g. Transparency Mode on and working, get a notification or look at your Apple Watch and Transparency Mode turns off!

It's difficult to replicate because it is very inconsistent, i.e. this might happen several times over the space of 20 minutes, then Transparency Mode might work fine for a few hours, but this problem keeps on occurring and has been since mid 2023.

In addition, iOS 18.1 brought the Hearing Test/Aid functionality to the iPhone/Airpods Pro 2, but ONLY in North America. The updated Airpods interface (e.g. the Loud Sound Reduction, etc.) on iOS 18.1 for everyone else in the world actually stops custom Transparency Mode from working. My audiograms now do nothing and I've had to reset my Airpods and re-pair them, then use iPhone Audio & Visual Settings to create a custom audio setup which seems to be acceptable.

I'm very disappointed with Apple for making such a mess of Airpods Pro 2's custom hearing options. If there was a suitable Android alternative, I'd be jumping ship.

Now that I'm back and (somewhat) working on 18, I now see various issues when Transparency drops out. Here are my observations to see if any of you are seeing similar state of the on screen controls.

• For some reason, even though AirPods are connected they stop being the default audio output device - I notice this because the volume slider in Control Centre goes from the AirPods icon to the speaker icon. If I play music, it comes out of the phone speaker, not the AirPods - even though bluetooth says the AirPods are connected.
• There are times when you enable background sounds and it goes out of the speaker not the AirPods - not what you expect
• The music widget in Control Centre continues to show the AirPods icon even though the volume slider shows the speaker icon - so there is an inconsistency of audio output being shown across two controls
• When the speaker icon is default on the volume control going back to Hearing Accomodations you see that Transparency Mode is either not present under Media and Phone anymore, or the previously visible check mark has gone.
• When Transparency drops there is still very quiet audio being heard, and Settings > AirPods still shows the mode as Transparency. Switched to Noise Cancelling and then back to Transparency and the audio is noticeably different. So the EQ that is being applied due to Transparency custom settings is no longer working. Having just disconnected the AirPods from Bluetooth, this might be the equivalent of "AirPods off" in your ears when there is no active noise cancellation - you still hear something.

One theory I have is that it has something to do with "energy saving" so when the AirPods stop playing other content they eventually shut down processes to save power. Just an idea.

I'm playing a background sound at a really low level (around level 12) as well as have transparency mode enabled. So far, it hasn't dropped...

Anyone else want to try?

@jbartiny, It's not the Firmapdate that is the issue. Its iOS18.01. Select the custom transparency mode. Then, turn your iPhone off and see if the transparency mode will drop. On my end, it did not. But you end up without a cellphone while using AirPods Pro. :o)

IOS version 18.2

Air pods firmware version 7B21

custom transparency mode still keeps dropping when connected to IPhone.

if I disconnect it from iPhone it will stay on. HOWEVER! Current IOS version causes AirPods to be locked to Bluetooth on phone and turns all transparency options on AirPods off if I disconnect from iPhone.

if I connect to my iPad then turn off Bluetooth there, it stays on. iPad Pro OS version is 17.6.1.

it’s definitely something to do with the iPhone IOS

Interestingly, when testing Transparency Mode a Message came in and I heard a notification sound. Sitting at a Mac with the Phone - both are connected to the same set of AirPods.

Coinciding with that notification sound, Transparency magically went into possibly Noise Cancellation mode. Checking the iPhone AirPods was no longer in Transparency mode. But the AirPods weren't the default device - the volume control in Control Centre showed the speaker icon, not AirPods.

You then have to briefly play some audio to kick the phone back into AirPods default out mode.

We are not out of the woods. There seems to be a separate bug which in my case might be triggered by a notification sound that originates from a Mac.

After over 12 months of Transparency Mode not working, making the Airpods Pro 2 useless as hearing aids - I found a solution: Clean all of the microphones with putty (or White Tack).

This worked... Until I restarted my iPhone one day and that was the end of Transparency Mode altogether!

Apple Support have provided me with assistance three times recently. None of the solutions worked, or only worked until I restarted my iPhone.

I have relied on Airpods Pro 2 as hearing aids, even before they got the FDA approval (iOS 18.1 actually made them worse!). I have spent many hours/days trying to get Transparency Mode to work consistently during this time, and it's not worth the time and effort. Looking at other websites and Airpods Pro 2 appear to "fail" after around 12 months.

My Airpods Pro 2 tied me to the Apple ecosystem, but this ongoing problem has made me switch to Samsung: Samsung's Galaxy Buds3 Pro are very similar to Airpods Pro 2 and so far they work better than APP2 did and Samsung's hearing test gave me exactly the same results as my professional audiogram. Apple's hearing test feature was nowhere near as good.

I am convinced it has something to do with the Apple Watch. Per a previous post on this thread, I diconnected my watch and custom transparency mode worked perfect. After making some adjustments mentioned in the post, my works all most all the time, with only the occational drop.

Count me in, too. The specific problem I’m seeing after updating to IOS 18 on my 15 ProMax is the Headphone Accommodations turn off spontaneously for transparency mode. I’m using my AirPods Pro 2’s that worked flawlessly with the same phone under IOS 17. The fastest way to turn it back on is using the audio shortcut in control center (the little ear icon), rather than navigating into it from the settings app.

[Edited by Moderator]

Same issue!! They do not seem to care. Went to Apple Store, in the past, replacing them has worked—they were not going to do it this time, but since they were so condescending and rude—which made me upset, they gave me a new tech, who replaced them. Unfortunately, it has not worked, they do it less, but still shut off:( the next step is to go through support again and the the issue be sent to an engineer or something like that. If I have time for that nonsense, I’ll update.

I have been using Airpods Pro 2 as hearing assistive devices for over a year and this became a problem months ago. Transparency Mode is essential for these to be worn as hearing assistive devices because when it turns off I effectively become deaf! (It makes more sense not to wear Airpods!)

With the new FDA approval for Airpods Pro 2 to be used as hearing aids this problem needs to be fixed.

I'm on iOS 18.0.1 and every time there is an update to iOS (or the firmware version) I always hope that this problem will be fixed, but nothing ever seems to happen.

Transparency Mode turns off randomly several times a day, often within a couple of minutes of me turning it back on from my iPhone.

You may be on to something but not entirely. I was able to make the "turning off" go away by turning off my mac (sleep) but maybe it has something to do with the "handoff" feature? Not that I'm confident the problem is resolved.

I'm just amazed at how long this has been allowed to go on by Apple. Threads from years ago and apparently daily comments being ignored by Apple.

Could also be Mac related too. I did something similar with the Mac.

Was in Transparency on the phone and then played content from the TV app (on Mac). As soon as it started playing, Transparency mode dropped.

Consistent with a notification being played also on the Mac, Transparency dropped shortly after the notification sound played.

Also had Background Sound confused when a call came in. It seemed to stop during the call because the call took over the AirPod in and out sound, but when the call hung up background sounds started playing from the phone speaker, not the AirPods. It didn't remember the prior audio state following the interruption.

I'm going to try Watch > Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Silent Mode. My guess is that it has less to do with Bluetooth but more to do with audio sessions coming and going.

As I’ve written several times in recent days, I have spent dozens of hours over the last few days and my AirPods Pro are faulty. The Transparency Mode will no longer function. It has been getting steadily worse for about 10 days but they have completely failed. They are in Noise Cancellation Mode Ll the time. Choosing Transparency Mode does nothing or will give a few seconds of amplification, but as soon as any sound is heard, they kick into Noise Cancellation. I have worked constantly for years trying to get Transparency Mode to work, but the AirPods always fail in 6 months or less

I will have to contact Apple to report the problem and see if they can offer another replacement or a fix I haven’t been able to find.