There are times when I feel like my AirPods are pure magic. It’s always impressive how they automatically shift from my Mac to my iPhone when I get a call, or how I don’t need to reconnect them to my iPad when I want to start watching a show. But when it comes to automatically swapping my audio over to Bluetooth speakers, they can get pretty jarring.
Often, speakers and audio outputs will take over audio from my AirPods when I’m wearing them. This happens every time I get in my car while wearing a single AirPod, usually while listening to music or podcasts (I would not recommend driving while using both AirPods). As soon as I turn on my car, bam, the media starts blaring through my car speakers, whether I want it to or not. Until recently, there was no remedy for this (other than manually pausing and then resuming playback from the AirPods themselves).
It seems like I wasn’t the only person annoyed be this, though. In iOS 26, Apple has introduced a dedicated setting that stops speakers from taking over your audio when you’re wearing your AirPods, or any other wireless headsets.
Here’s how to try it. On your iPhone running iOS 26 and above, go to Settings > General > AirPlay & Continuity and then enable the new “Keep Audio with Headphones” setting.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
Don’t worry. This doesn’t mean that you can’t use your car speakers or other audio outputs. Your device will still connect to your car speakers when they’re available, and you can switch to them manually using the Control Center.
As for the rest of your car, in iOS 26, Apple is also starting to play nice with AirPods and CarPlay , adding official support for AirPods in CarPlay systems. So, if you’re accessing content through CayPlay, you can continue using your AirPods to listen to music, or answer calls.
The best part? This won’t take away your AirPods’ auto-switching feature, as that’s powered by Handoff. If you want your AirPods to never automatically switch between any device, you can disable the Handoff feature from the AirPlay & Continuity menu.
