AirPods or AirPods Pro, and many other Bluetooth headphones, anyone can connect to listen to music.
However, lending AirPods Pro will be different from other Bluetooth headsets, that is, the owner of AirPods Pro can see the location of the headset through the owner’s Apple ID, similar to the working principle of AirTag.
So, for example, if you borrow your girlfriend’s AirPods Pro and take them far away, when your girlfriend is next to the AirPods Pro, she can see where you are.
If you bought AirPods Pro headphones from someone else, during the purchase process, you only need to connect the AirPods Pro to your iPhone to try and buy, without paying attention to whether the AirPods Pro has not been reset, you still have the seller’s Apple ID, and they can see exactly where that AirPods Pro is in the future.
When you have “unfamiliar” AirPods Pro nearby, your iPhone/iPad will receive a safety message about identifying nearby AirPods Pro.
When you click the message, you’ll see instructions for disabling that AirPods Pro.
How to Disable Location Sharing on “Strange” AirPods Pro
Apple has instructions to do the following if you are sure that your AirPods Pro headphones can be tracked by their owner (either after you have factory reset them in the charging case, or through the headphones without the charging case when you are plugged in) :
Place your fingers over the 2 pressurized (wind) veins on the AirPod Pro earphones (you can also do this while wearing the earphones)
When your fingers cover those two wind sides, you press 5 times on the headphone body (firm touch position)
You’ll hear a click with each press, and after the 5th press, the AirPods Pro will be completely disabled and the previous owner won’t be able to see it.
After disabling through the above method, you can rest assured to use the headset normally
Note that 2 of the edges of the AirPods Pro 2 shirt are positioned differently than the first generation, the other is on top.
As for the AirPods Pro 1, the remaining pressure valve will be located on the bottom, as shown in the top left photo.
Note: The above deactivation method is applicable to AirPods 3.
How Someone Who Doesn’t Know Can Factory Reset AirPods and AirPods Pro
When selling earphones or lending AirPods/AirPods Pro earphones to others for a period of time, it is best to completely reset the earphones so that your Apple ID will not be stuck again.
Or those who bought AirPods/AirPods Pro from someone else can reset it just to be sure.
First you should forget AirPods/AirPods Pro in Settings – Bluetooth Priority (forget this device)
Then you put 2 AirPods/AirPods Pro earphones into the charging case
Open the cover of the charging box, press and hold the button on the back of the charging box for 15 seconds
You will see the front light flash white to indicate the reset is complete
If you are the user of the headset, you will see the headset connection menu pop up on the iPhone / iPad screen after the reset is complete.