Apple's airpods are convenient and wireless. But if you bought a pair or were lucky enough to get some over the holidays, you may still be wondering how to make the most of them -- and how to avoid losing them.
To save battery life, keep one in and keep swapping buds
I've never run out of AirPod battery life in a single day, but if you're a power-user making lots of phone calls, you might find them running low. One AirPod can work on its own as a Bluetooth headset. Keep the other in the case to charge, and then swap as needed. The other bud takes over seamlessly.
Use AirPods on a Mac
If you want to use AirPods to listen to all audio coming from your Mac, you will need to select it as an audio output device.
To do that, click on the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar and select your AirPods > Connect.
Alternatively, you can use the AirPlay icon in iTunes to select AirPods to stream music from your Mac to your ears. Though, my experience with connecting to AirPods through AirPlay in iTunes has been hit or miss; mostly miss.
Change name of AirPods
If you want to listen to a livestream while doing other things casually, pop a single bud in while the other is in the case. It'll pump a stereo signal into one bud. Otherwise, with both AirPods out, it'll only get one ear's worth of stereo.
Check the battery status on an Apple Watch
If you own an Apple Watch, here's a cool trick: When using AirPods, open Control Center on your Apple Watch and tap the battery icon. In addition to displaying battery stats for your watch, you will also find stats for your AirPods.
Give Siri the boot
While viewing your AirPods' settings, you can also change the double-tap function for either earbud. Once again, go to Settings > Bluetooth. Then tap on the "i" icon next to your AirPods' name. Tap on Left or Right to alter the functionality of each AirPod, or disable any double-tap interaction at all.