Five AirPods iOS 26 features leaked: sleep auto-pause, camera control, and more

If you think your AirPods could do with more features, you might be in luck. According to a report from 9to5Mac, they have revealed five new AirPods features possibly set to debut at WWDC as part of the iOS 26 update.

First up, Apple is reportedly working on expanded head gestures for AirPods. Last year, AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 gained head-nod controls for accepting or declining calls and notifications. The new update may let you end Conversation Awareness volume changes just by nodding. This is compared to pressing or swiping the stem. It’s a subtle tweak, but it’ll make hands-free use even smoother.

Sleep auto-pause could be the real game-changer. If you tend to fall asleep with your AirPods on, you know the pain of waking up to a dead battery. Apple is working on a way to detect when you’ve nodded off and automatically pause playback. It’s unclear whether this will be a standalone AirPods feature or tie in with the Apple Watch’s sleep tracking.

Camera control is finally on the way. Years after the feature vanished with classic EarBuds, AirPods may soon let you trigger your iPhone or iPad’s camera with a click on the stem.

Audio Mix is also coming to AirPods. This feature, already available on iPhone 16, uses machine learning to separate background noise from speech. Now, it’s headed to AirPods. This effectively turns them into a “studio-quality” creator mic.

Lastly, Apple is improving how AirPods pair with shared iPads, especially in classrooms. This should mean less friction and fewer steps for students swapping devices.

As always, there’s a chance some of these AirPods features won’t make it to iOS 26 at WWDC, so take it with a grain of salt.