While we are still a few weeks away from getting the official release of iOS 17, Apple has been adding and experimenting with new features in iOS 17 beta. Apple AirPods, on the other hand, have picked up three new features this year – Adaptive Noise Control, Personalised Volume, and Conversation Awareness.
When Apple introduced the Conversation Awareness feature on the stage of its World Wide Developer Conference, everyone was quite excited about it. What the feature does is combine noise cancellation with Transparency Mode.
Essentially, when you are wearing the AirPods and the Conversation Awareness feature is enabled, the AirPods will automatically lower the volume in your AirPods and enhance the volume of the person who is speaking to you.
This will help you engage better in conversations without removing the AirPods.
While this is quite a useful feature and if you have tested the feature using AirPods beta firmware, you would know that Apple does not show any disclaimer message or explains the feature when you enable it.
So, when the Conversation Awareness feature is enabled, it kicks in automatically when someone is talking to you. If you are not aware of how the feature works, you might think that your AirPods are glitching as the volume lowers automatically.
As spotted by 9to5Mac, Apple has introduced a new feature in the iOS 17 beta wherein Siri now explains the feature to you in AirPods when it kicks in for the first time.
“One of our team was listening to a podcast after installing the latest beta, and spoke to someone. As he did so, the volume on his AirPods Pro 2 turned down, transparency mode was switched on, and Siri explained what was happening with a message along the lines of:
Just so you know, AirPods lowered the volume due to Conversation Awareness,” writes 9to5Mac.
This is a great feature that will not confuse the first-time users of the Conversation Awareness feature.
Notably, the Conversation Awareness feature is exclusive to AirPods Pro 2 only.