Why does my AirPods Pro Transparency Mode keep turning off?

In the jump from 17 to 18, I too had Transparency mode fail. 18.1.1 didn't solve it.

In Headphone Accomodations under Control Centre, when adjusting the Transparency Mode Amplification slider nothing audible would change.

Just had a Genius Bar appointment where they ran the AirPods through the 30 minute diagnostic which concluded there were no issues with the AirPods.

I asked the Genius to also test their set. Their personal AirPods had no issues.

This pointed to a potential issue with the phone.

Left with that unresolved. But I didn't want to erase my phone at that point.

Fortunately I had a second older pair to test. They too failed the Amplification Slider test.

Everything now pointed to the phone since two different pairs of AirPods failed.

Two options: General > Reset All Settings or Erase and Restore from an iCloud backup.

Reset All is the less time consuming path.

Tried Resetting All and AirPods are now working with Transparency Mode and the Amplification and other sliders are now working.

Note that Credit Cards, Text, Network and Notifications are all reset as part of this process.

So Reset All is one thing to try. There isn't a lesser version of reset that is applicable to AirPods.

I went through 3 Genius Bar appointments and they still cannot figure out the problem, I did a factory reset and start as a brand new phone and still the issue persists and even with replacement AirPods , case and all and still custom transparency mode keeps turning off 😞

Interestingly, when testing Transparency Mode a Message came in and I heard a notification sound. Sitting at a Mac with the Phone - both are connected to the same set of AirPods.

Coinciding with that notification sound, Transparency magically went into possibly Noise Cancellation mode. Checking the iPhone AirPods was no longer in Transparency mode. But the AirPods weren't the default device - the volume control in Control Centre showed the speaker icon, not AirPods.

You then have to briefly play some audio to kick the phone back into AirPods default out mode.

We are not out of the woods. There seems to be a separate bug which in my case might be triggered by a notification sound that originates from a Mac.

One theory I have is that it has something to do with "energy saving" so when the AirPods stop playing other content they eventually shut down processes to save power. Just an idea.

I'm playing a background sound at a really low level (around level 12) as well as have transparency mode enabled. So far, it hasn't dropped...

Anyone else want to try?

Could also be Mac related too. I did something similar with the Mac.

Was in Transparency on the phone and then played content from the TV app (on Mac). As soon as it started playing, Transparency mode dropped.

Consistent with a notification being played also on the Mac, Transparency dropped shortly after the notification sound played.

Also had Background Sound confused when a call came in. It seemed to stop during the call because the call took over the AirPod in and out sound, but when the call hung up background sounds started playing from the phone speaker, not the AirPods. It didn't remember the prior audio state following the interruption.

I'm going to try Watch > Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Silent Mode. My guess is that it has less to do with Bluetooth but more to do with audio sessions coming and going.

I may have it! Contacted apple support and while texting the in app text sounds disabled transparency every time I sent a message, kept turning on and sent a message back, it went off, reset AirPods and the issue was resolved, the difference is that I had taken a hearing test, the reset cleared that. So I can only assume the hearing test on with transparency mode is causing an issue with in app sounds. Custom mode is off btw. So far it’s stayed on, I’ll report back, maybe try that!

After over 12 months of Transparency Mode not working, making the Airpods Pro 2 useless as hearing aids - I found a solution: Clean all of the microphones with putty (or White Tack).

This worked... Until I restarted my iPhone one day and that was the end of Transparency Mode altogether!

Apple Support have provided me with assistance three times recently. None of the solutions worked, or only worked until I restarted my iPhone.

I have relied on Airpods Pro 2 as hearing aids, even before they got the FDA approval (iOS 18.1 actually made them worse!). I have spent many hours/days trying to get Transparency Mode to work consistently during this time, and it's not worth the time and effort. Looking at other websites and Airpods Pro 2 appear to "fail" after around 12 months.

My Airpods Pro 2 tied me to the Apple ecosystem, but this ongoing problem has made me switch to Samsung: Samsung's Galaxy Buds3 Pro are very similar to Airpods Pro 2 and so far they work better than APP2 did and Samsung's hearing test gave me exactly the same results as my professional audiogram. Apple's hearing test feature was nowhere near as good.

I purchased mine in London at Christmas and posted here about all of these issues that are listed. Indid everything that was suggested,

as soon as I got back to California in January, they work perfectly, even the hearing aid too. Transparency works. So it must be location based.

I don’t think it is related to the Apple Watch. I’ve done a deep dive on all settings related to the AirPods Pro Gen 2 and this is the best way I’ve found to get the Transparency Mode working.

AirPods Pro Gen2 Transparency Mode Fix

Settings 

Accessibility

Audio and Visual 

Headphones accommodations on

Do NOT use a Custom Audiogram

Under “Tune Audio For”:

   Click on “Balanced Tone”, “Vocal Range” and “Brightness” and push all sliders fully to the right. ( You can customize these a little ) At bottom of page select “Transparency Mode” and turn on

Turn on Custom Transparency Mode and slide  amplification fully to right

Then turn on Conversation Boost  

Periodically, you’ll need to swipe diagonally from top right of screen to access “Control Panel”, go to the top screen and select “Transplarency Mode” and “Conversation Boost” if the phone turns them off. Happens usually when  you are working with different apps or getting notifications 

Even with this, Transparency Mode can cut out for no reason. I’m still working on that!

Apple has replaced my AirPods Pro Gen 2 buds several times but I have found a way in settings to get them working properly:

AirPods Pro Gen2 Transparency Mode Fix

Settings 

Accessibility

Audio and Visual 

Headphones accommodations on

Do NOT use a Custom Audiogram

Under “Tune Audio For”:

   Click on “Balanced Tone”, “Vocal Range” and “Brightness” and push all sliders fully to the right. ( You can customize these a little ) At bottom of page select “Transparency Mode” and turn on

Turn on Custom Transparency Mode and slide  amplification fully to right

Then turn on Conversation Boost  

Periodically, you’ll need to swipe diagonally from top right of screen to access “Control Panel”, go to the top screen and select “Transplarency Mode” and “Conversation Boost” if the phone turns them off. Happens usually when  you are working with different apps or getting notifications 

I have found the following settings will bring Transparency Mode back to life, even though it will still randomly turn off and you have to go to Control Panel and turn it back on.

Try this:

AirPods Pro Gen2 Transparency Mode Fix

Settings 

Accessibility

Audio and Visual 

Headphones accommodations on

Do NOT use a Custom Audiogram

Under “Tune Audio For”:

   Click on “Balanced Tone”, “Vocal Range” and “Brightness” and push all sliders fully to the right. ( You can customize these a little ) At bottom of page select “Transparency Mode” and turn on

Turn on Custom Transparency Mode and slide  amplification fully to right

Then turn on Conversation Boost  

Periodically, you’ll need to swipe diagonally from top right of screen to access “Control Panel”, go to the top screen and select “Transplarency Mode” and “Conversation Boost” if the phone turns them off. Happens usually when  you are working with different apps or getting notifications 

Actually, last night I found a better fix that seems bulletproof. The amplification is not as dramatic but the AirPods stay in Transparency Mode!

Fix Number 2  ( hopefully final fix? ) 

Download the MiMi app and find a quiet place to do your Audiogram. Then:

Settings 

Accessibility

Audio and Visual 

Headphones accommodations on

and then choose Audiogram 

Turn  Transparency Mode on then choose Custom Transparency mode and slide amplification to full right. 

Turn Conversation Boost on

You can adjust tone to sharpen up sound but the effect is not great. 

Ambient noise reduction slider doesn’t do much either. 

This fix finally fixes the stability of Transparency Mode which cut out frequently. The volume is a little less than in Fix Number 1 but it is very stable and reliable. 

The Transparency Mode problem

is not related to Apple Watch. It is simply a series of settings which make them work properly. Not as loud as the other fix I posted but stable and reliable.

 Number 2  ( hopefully final fix? ) 

Download the MiMi app and find a quiet place to do your Audiogram. Then:

Settings 

Accessibility

Audio and Visual 

Headphones accommodations on

and then choose Audiogram 

Turn  Transparency Mode on then choose Custom Transparency mode and slide amplification to full right. 

Turn Conversation Boost on

You can adjust tone to sharpen up sound but the effect is not great. 

Ambient noise reduction slider doesn’t do much either. 

This fix finally fixes the stability of Transparency Mode which cut out frequently. The volume is a little less than in Fix Number 1 but it is very stable and reliable. appl

I have an Apple Watch Ultra and it has no effect on the Transparency Mode.

I have found the following changes to Settings fix the problem. Try this:

Download the MiMi app and find a quiet place to do your Audiogram. Then:

Settings 

Accessibility

Audio and Visual 

Headphones accommodations on

and then choose Audiogram 

Turn  Transparency Mode on then choose Custom Transparency mode and slide amplification to full right. 

Turn Conversation Boost on

You can adjust tone to sharpen up sound but the effect is not great. 

Ambient noise reduction slider doesn’t do much either. 

This fix finally fixes the stability of Transparency Mode which cut out frequently. The volume is a little less than in Fix Number 1 but it is very stable and reliable. 

The more we talk about it, the more attention it can garner and then Apple will have to take a look at it and try to fix it