Your AirPods are getting even better with iOS 26 later this year. As well as new features like camera remote and sleep detection to pause media, Apple is also improving the charging experience.
With the new update, your iPhone can automatically remind you when your AirPods are running out of juice. These alerts can show even when your AirPods are not currently in your ears, but stored in their case, that is running low on battery.
We’ve all been there before. You are on your way out of your house, when you pick up your AirPods only to notice they are nearly dead.
Previously, the iPhone would show battery status notifications when you first put AirPods in your ears, or when the earbud battery depletes as your are actively listening to media. But the big improvement in iOS 26 is you also get alerts to charge the case, even if you haven’t touched your AirPods for a while.
It even seems like it tries to be intelligent about when it prompts you. In my case, I plugged my phone in at night and it immediately notified me that I should charge my AirPods as well. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but it seemed like the perfect moment, as I am likely still near the charger.
As well as battery low notifications, the iPhone can also now prompt you when AirPods charging is complete, so you know when they are finished and ready to be unplugged.
If you don’t want these notifications, you can turn them off in AirPods settings when the AirPods are connected to your phone. You can find this screen by navigating to the Settings app -> AirPods -> Battery, and then toggling the preference for ‘Charging Notifications’.
iOS 26 is currently in developer beta and will be available as a free software update later this year. A public beta is set to arrive sometime this month.
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