AirPods cut in and out after recent IOS update

My Airpods as well as other wireless headphones (Bose) constantly cut in and out while listening to podcasts or streaming services. This is while iPhone 12 is in my back pocket. This has never happened before and I already tried all the usual fixes (restarts, forget devices and reconnect, toggled bluetooth, check software levels, etc.). I can no longer listen to my phone while walking . This is clearly unacceptable. Issue started with recent IOS updates. Is there a fix?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]