This simple CarPlay update fixes an age-old AirPods problem
It should stop a lot of annoyance for Apple fans
Quick Summary
A new setting on iPhone should stop some annoyance for AirPods users.
That allows them to keep audio with the earbuds, rather than it jumping to a CarPlay system.
If you're invested heavily into Apple's ecosystem, you're probably familiar with how smooth and seamless most things are. The brand prides itself on ensuring real continuity between devices, which is a big part of the draw for many people.
The new "Keep Audio with Headphones" feature is designed to stop the audio shifting from your AirPods to your CarPlay-connected car. Currently, the audio can switch pretty seamlessly between devices, but that's not always what users want.
Say, for example, you're a passenger in a car trying to use AirPods – your audio could switch to the cars when you don't want it to. Similarly, if you're walking back to your car bopping along to Sabrina Carpenter completely undetected, before opening your car and hearing it blare from the speakers. It's a real problem.
Fortunately, Apple's fix is really easy to implement. Simple open the Settings app on your connected iPhone and tap on General. From there, select AirPlay & Continuity and turn on Keep Audio with Headphones.
If you ever need to switch it back, that's really simple, too. Just head into either the Control Centre or CarPlay to manually switch the audio to the car speakers.
It's not just cars where the feature is useful, either. It'll stop the audio from jumping over to the Bluetooth speakers in your home, which is likely just as annoying.
The feature is a part of iOS 26, so you'll need to have that software installed in order to enjoy the new feature. Personally, I think it's a neat little user-friendliness upgrade which gives people control over how their handsets operate. That's never a bad thing.
