How To Eavesdrop With iOS 12 Live Listen On iPhone And AirPods

Starting with iOS 12 Apple has added AirPods support to the Live Listen feature. This option already allowed iPhone and iPad owners to use their devices as remote microphones for an MFI-compatible hearing aid, since 2014. Now, you can use your iOS device in combination with a pair of AirPods and pull off some serious spy-like surveillance operations, or at least turn your iOS device into a temporary baby monitor!

Of course, that this is not the main goal of this accessibility option. With Live Listen, Apple aims to help people with hearing problems, but as in many other cases this functionality can prove itself useful in other scenarios, too. You can place your iPhone and iPad in a room that you want to eavesdrop on. The device’s microphone picks up the audio and sends it over-the-air to your AirPods, as long as you’re in Bluetooth range!

How To Set Up Live Listen In iOS 12
Before performing spy-like actions with your iPhone or iPad you have to configure Live Listen:
1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap the Control Center label.
3. Select the Customize Controls option.
4. Scroll down for More Controls and tap on the green “+” button to enable Hearing.
Fact: The Hearing control will now be displayed in your Control Center.

How To Eavesdrop Using An iPhone And AirPods
To start to remotely listen to conversations or monitor your baby while sleeping with the help of your iPhone / iPad here is what you have to do.
1. Grab your AirPods and connect them to your iOS device as you usually do.
2. Bring up the Control Center using the specific gesture suitable for your iPhone or iPad model. (Swipe-up from the bottom of the screen iPhone 8 and older, swipe-down from the top-right corner for iPhone X and newer.)
3. Tap the Hearing icon that you’ve just added while following the steps described earlier in this article.
4. Tap Live Listen, available in the Hearing menu.
5. Place your iPhone or iPad in the room, location or near the person that you want to hear. (baby crib for example.)
Tip: Use the Volume buttons available on your iPhone / iPad to adjust the audio output of your AirPods!

How To Troubleshoot Live Listen
If at step 4, instead of a valid Live Listen option, you get the “Unavailable for current route” error message, here is how to fix it:
1. Restart your iPhone or iPad. You can turn it off and then back on.
2. Open Settings -> Bluetooth.
3. Forget the AirPods.
4. Re-pair your AirPods and try again.

Fact: Live Listen works with a single AirPod. This means that you can also use it while playing some other audio (like a podcast) on your iPhone or iPad. Of course that the audio streaming switches to mono to, in this case. It’s important to know that AirPods tap gestures are disables as long as Live Listen is enabled.