The two-hundred-dollar cordless headphones are fantastic. Until you lose them.
For a long time I resisted buying some beautiful headphones, even on the amazing days of the ubiquitous headphone jack. I know myself and I know how likely I am to lose my headphones, wash them with clothes, or see them destroyed by a child or dog. But my favorite solution (buying cheap wired headphones and using them until they break) was less sustainable when I switched to an offline iPhone and also had to track a dongle. Also, I felt bad for all this technological waste: the $ 5 headphones will break in a few weeks, but they will stay in the dump forever.
So I switched to Bluetooth wireless headphones. I started with several models of cheap AirPod clones for reasons (see above), and in fact proceeded to lose, damage, or wear out several pairs (well, technically what fell down a subway gate is not Lost). Again feeling guilty about all that e-waste (which now includes several useless load cases as well as the buds themselves), I decided spend a little more on some Beats Studio Buds, because they are owned by Apple and therefore work with the “Find My” device recovery system. Unfortunately this method requires the headset to be out of the box and within Bluetooth range, but it’s nothing. (Although it is worth noting that this ability will improve a lot in iOS 15—But only for AirPods Pro or AirPods Max. Ai.)
Even with increased Find My protection (not to mention the anxiety-induced surveillance that comes with not wanting to lose more expensive headphones), I may still lose my last il outbreaks, so I’ll also take advantage of a advice that appeared in the comments of a recent Lifehacker article on all the interesting things the AirPods Pro can do:
I don’t know if Roncore innovated this idea, but for me it’s news and pretty brilliant. It’s extremely easy to rename your AirPods, AirPods Pro or, in my case, Beats Studio Buds to Bluetooth settings. Instead of telling them something nice (my previous headset nicknames include “smolpods” and the aforementioned “il buddies”), change the name to match your email address. The next time the headset is connected to the phone, you will see the new name and they should also appear this way on any other device to which they are connected.
(Edited to add: If you can type the name of a Bluetooth device to the device will vary depending on what your device is and how it uses Bluetooth. Some devices can’t be renamed so that they stick, and from what I can determine, this trick only works with Apple-made headphones that are renamed on an Apple device. I can personally confirm that the method described above works with multiple iPhones, a Google Pixel phone, a MacBook Air, and AirPods and Beats Studio Buds.)
Assuming everything works as planned, there is no guarantee that anyone who finds your expensive headphones will notify you after trying to connect them to your phone, but at least it makes it possible for them to do so easily. Try to appeal to his sense of decency and guilt, that’s what I say.
How to Rename Bluetooth Devices to iOS
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Fantastic selection back to school.
Long battery life perfect for students.
1. Open the file Configuration application and tap Bluetooth.
2. Plug in the headset (or any other device / accessory) if you have not already done so.
3. Touch the circle with the lowercase “i” next to the current headset name.
4. Touch the button “First name” at the top and enter your email address and tap “Fet.”
This article was edited after publication to remove incorrect information and clarify that this method of renaming has only been tested with Apple AirPods and Beats Studio Buds.