How To Fix Live Listen Not Working With AirPods

Is Live Listen not working on your iPhone or iPad? Does it prompt you to ‘Connect a compatible audio device to use Live Listen’ even though you have your AirPods connected to your iOS device? This is most likely caused by a software glitch and you’ll probably be able to fix it following the tips provided in this article!

Live Listen Requirements

First of all please make sure that your hardware and software qualify for the Live Listen feature. According to Apple, you need to use compatible devices like an iPhone or iPad and supported headphones: AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods 2 and AirPods Max. Beats headphones are supported too.

Important: Live Listen isn’t supported by the Apple Watch! This means that you can’t use your watchOS device as a baby monitor and neither reroute the iPhone’s microphone to your Apple Watch speaker! Unfortunately the same goes for Mac. Live Listen isn’t currently available in macOS Big Sur!

Fact: Of course, that Live Listen also works with made for iPhone hearing aids, as it was initially supposed to!

What is Live Listen?

It’s an Accessibility feature that allows you to route the audio captured by the iPhone’s microphone to a compatible headset. This comes to aid those with hearing related issues. The feature is also popular because it allows owners to use the iPhone for spying!

5 Ways To Fix Live Listen Requirements

We don’t count this one, but please make sure that your device is running the most recent version of iOS / iPadOS!

1. Force Close Unnecessary Apps

Live Listen could be blocked by an app running in the background such as the Podcast player. First, make sure that you close all apps that you don’t need!
How To: Open the App Switcher and swipe-up the cards of the apps that could interfere. An example would be Podcasts.

2. Reboot iPhone

The first troubleshooting step implies to force restart your iPhone and see if a minor glitch is preventing Live Listen from working as it should.
How To: Quickly click & release Volume Up, Volume Down followed by a press & hold of the Side Button until the Apple logo is displayed on the screen!
Be patient until the iPhone reboots. Provide your Passcode, check the Bluetooth settings and make sure that your AirPods are connected. Next, bring up the Control Center and tap on the Hearing icon. Start Live Listen! Does it work?

3. Forget and Pair AirPods Back

If Live Listen doesn’t work after rebooting, your next option is to unpair your AirPods and reconnect them with your iPhone.
How To: Open Settings -> Bluetooth. Tap the blue ‘i’ icon available next to the [AirPods name]. Now use the Forget This Device option.
Next, reboot your iPhone as recommended at Step 1 and Re-Pair your AirPods. Try to see if Live Listen works.

4. Turn On Automatic Ear Detection

Another way to fix Live Listen is by enabling Automatic Ear Detection, if it’s not already active for your AirPods.
How To: Go for Settings -> Bluetooth. Tap the ‘i’ next to the [AirPods name] and activate Automatic Ear Detection. Does this help out? Use the comments section available at the end of this article and let us know.

5. Enable Hearing Aid Compatibility

The Live Listen not working issue can be also caused by a missing Accessibility setting. Don’t get me wrong, it should work perfectly without it, but I’m trying to tackle this issue from every angle.
How To: Browse for Settings -> Accessibility -> Hearing Devices -> Hearing Aid Compatibility.
Fact: This setting has the role to improve audio quality for some hearing aids, but it might also fix Live Listen!

Fact: Starting with iOS 14, you can also check the audio levels of your headphones in real time! This is done from the Hearing toggle available in the Control Center. Tap it to access detailed decibel-level readings.

Have the above tips helped you out to fix Live Listen with AirPods? Use the comments section available below and let us know. Do you need more help? Don’t hesitate to ask!

Live Listen on Mac

As mentioned above this feature isn’t available in macOS. However, there is a workaround that allows you to re-route the audio captured by the computer’s microphone to the headphones. That’s achieved with the help of the built-in QuickTime Player app.
How To: Launch the app from Finder -> Applications. Click File, available in the top-left corner and select New Audio Recording.
Use the Volume bar available in the Audio Recording window to increase the audio intensity!

Related: You might be also interested in how to fix AirPods Automatic Switching not working!