Report: iOS 27 to revamp the AirPods settings UI

While a dedicated ‘AirPods’ app does not seem to be on the cards, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple is working on software improvements relating to how users can modify settings for their AirPods and AirPods Pro.

Bloomberg says iOS 27 will significantly change the layout of the AirPods menu in Settings app. The new design will be ‘more functional, better organized and more streamlined’.

The AirPods settings screen automatically appears at the top of the Settings app when you have a pair of AirPods connected to your phone.

But over time, the layout of the controls inside that screen has been quite cluttered and overwhelming. Apple has added so many new features to the AirPods product experience over the last few years — like head gestures, hearing aid functionality, sleep detection and more — and each new addition has basically been bolted on to the same settings UI that dates back to the original AirPods.

It sounds like Apple is finally giving this screen a much needed revamp from the ground up, which should improve the information hierarchy to make it more organised and promote key functionality.

Whereas Apple Watch and Vision Pro get a dedicated companion app on the iPhone’s home screen, AirPods will still be confined to settings, though.

Bloomberg says these new AirPods settings UI changes should be part of iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27. Apple will officially unveil the new operating systems at its WWDC conference in just a couple of weeks.

The main keynote kicks off at 10 AM PT on June 8. The main focus of the new operating systems will be a major redesign of Siri, now oriented towards a more modern chatbot-like experience and backed by new AI models using Google Gemini technology.

Stay tuned to 9to5Mac for full coverage of all the announcements.