If you’ve ever fallen asleep to the gentle sounds of white noise played through a set of wireless earbuds, you’ll know just how soothing it is to let the din of a rainy forest or ocean waves beckon you to Dreamland. But if your audio plays all night long, you’ll also know how frustrating it can be to wake up to zero (or very little) battery life. For those of us with AirPods or Beats wireless buds, though, Apple introduced a convenient new feature for iOS 26 that automatically pauses your audio after you’ve fallen asleep.
The aptly-named “Pause Media When Falling Asleep” function is nothing but a quick on-off toggle on your iPhone or iPad. The setting is also available in macOS Tahoe and tvOS 26, for those of us with MacBooks and Apple TV hardware. At this time, the Pause Media function is only available for the AirPods 4, AirPods Pro 2, and AirPods Pro 3.
Before we teach you how to enable this new AirPods feature, you’ll want to make sure your iPhone, iPad, Mac computer, and/or Apple TV streaming device is updated to the latest firmware. Now pop your compatible AirPods into your ears, and let’s get started.
How to enable Pause Media When Falling Asleep
If your AirPods are connected to an iPhone or iPad, go ahead and launch the Settings app. Tap the name of your AirPods (located toward the top of the screen), then turn on Pause Media When Falling Asleep.
To enable the feature in macOS Tahoe, make sure your AirPods are connected to your computer, then open the System Settings app. Click the name of your AirPods in the sidebar, then switch on Pause Media When Falling Asleep. For Apple TV users, all you have to do is open the Control Center, select your compatible AirPods, and then turn on Pause Media When Falling Asleep.
Not only does Pause Media When Falling Asleep help you hang on to some extra battery life, but when activated, the feature should automatically save your spot in a podcast or audiobook.
If you ever wish to disable the Pause Media feature, simply follow the same instructions for whatever Apple device you’re using that we outlined above, then select Pause Media When Falling Asleep once more to turn the function off.
Your AirPods’ accelerometers could be powering this new Apple feature
While Apple is still being tight-lipped about exactly how the new Pause Media function works, there’s speculation that it has something to do with the use of the AirPods’ built-in accelerometers, which are used to detect motion and other haptic feedback like taps and stem squeezes. Maybe once your AirPods have recognized that your head hasn’t moved for a certain period of time, the feature kicks in.
As time goes on, we may get the official explanation we don’t have today. Until then, if you’re trying to optimize your AirPods’ battery life beyond the Pause Media When Falling Asleep feature, we recommend running your AirPods with Active Noise-Canceling disabled. You could also try keeping your AirPods at a lower volume when listening to music, podcasts, and other audio.
Of course, it always pays to be running the latest firmware version for any Apple device you’ll be connecting your compatible AirPods or Beats buds to. And for even more coverage on iOS 26, we suggest taking a look at our guide on all the latest Apple software’s best features and settings.
