Pairing AirPods with Android devices may sound absurd or impossible, but it’s very possible even though AirPods were designed for iPhones. AirPods are not iOS-exclusive devices which makes it easy for you to pair those wireless earbuds to your Android Phone. Although you may not enjoy all the functions you’d get while using an iOS device, there’s always a way around it.
If you are ready, this article will show you how to pair AirPods to Android devices without any hassle. If you want to enjoy the amazing features that you would when using an Apple device such as the battery indicator showing on your phone, Siri available to answer any of your requests, and so on. You can download the MaterialPods app to display the battery percentage on your Android device. It can also help to launch the Google Assistant by simply tapping one of the earbuds.
Read on to find out more interesting facts about how you can pair AirPods to Android devices and also what works for AirPods when you use iPhone and what does not work when you use Android.
Do AirPods work on Android Devices?
The AirPods are a great wire-free earbuds option that performs more functions than other Bluetooth earbuds available for Android devices especially if you use Android alone
Having both Android and iOS devices will enable you to use the AirPods on both devices with only a few back-and-forths once you have the appropriate Android apps downloaded.
AirPods have amazing features that most Android users will love, even though there are wire-free Android-specific options that Android users may want to explore.
Most AirPods’ users see them as very comfortable and stable in the ears to wear, with little or no risk of them falling out, and it has long-lasting battery life. AirPods work on Android devices.
There’s only one limitation you may encounter when pairing your AirPods to Android devices, and that is audio quality. Apple’s AAC codec does not function as well on Android as compared to the iPhone.
What to do before Pairing AirPods to your Android Device
Before getting started, do the following below first:
- Turn the Bluetooth off on your Apple devices paired with the AirPods to prevent them from interfering (Although, the iPhone, iPad, or Mac) may not cause any issues, but it’s best to stop the interference just in case.
- Ensure that Bluetooth is on and navigate to Settings >> Connected Devices >> Bluetooth on your Android device.
- If you have AirPods or AirPods Pro, open the charging case, place it close to the Android device, and tap on the white button behind until you receive a pop-up on the on-screen list of connected devices, and then click on Pair.
- In case you have AirPods Max, remove them from the case, press the noise control button down until the pop-up gets to appear, and then click on Pair.
Now, the next thing to do is to clearly bring out your Android device while your AirPods are placed firmly in your ears. Although you may not be able to hear those close to you as you are the bridge between Apple lovers and passionate Android users.
How to Pair AirPods to Android Devices
After all the above has been said and done, you can proceed to pair AirPods with your Android devices. Although not all Android devices work the same way, the following steps will guide you on how to connect AirPods to Android devices.
AirPods pair quite easily to an Android device just like any other Bluetooth device, but you need to follow specific steps. These steps work similarly on most Android phones:
- Swipe down from the top of the screen to show the Notification Area on the Android device.
- You will see the Settings icon in the upper right corner of the area.
- Click on it and then select Bluetooth.
- Ensure the Bluetooth radio on your Android phone is on ( go to Settings >> Connections >> Bluetooth).
- You will see a switch usually at the top of the screen, ensure it’s in the On position.
- Open the AirPods’ charging case.
- Behind your AirPods, you will see a tiny button.
- Long-press the pairing button for a few seconds.
- You may need to turn the Bluetooth off and on again for it to show up in the list of Available Devices (AirPods) on your Android device.
- Once your AirPods show up in the list of Bluetooth accessories, click on the “Pair” button.
- After clicking on the “Pair” button, the AirPods should successfully connect to your Android device with the volume bar showing up at the top of the screen.
- A Settings icon should be displayed next to the listing in the Paired Devices section of the Android Bluetooth settings screen.
- Click on it and turn on or off the following; Phone audio, Media audio, or Contact sharing.
- The first two (Phone and Media audio) will prompt the phone to play phone or media audio via the AirPods once there’s a checkmark next to them.
- The last one (Contact sharing) doesn’t work with the AirPods since they only play audio.
- Some headphones store contacts, this setting allows the Bluetooth speakerphones or headphones to access your phone’s contacts list. You may also rename the AirPods if you wish.
Your AirPods should be paired to your Android device now. However, note that since it’s a non-iOS device you are connected to, you won’t be able to use some functions like automatic pausing when you want to remove an AirPod from your ear. You won’t also be able to customize the double-tap feature, instead, it will function as a play/pause button.
Now, you can play your favorite music, make long phone calls, record voices, and do a lot more once the AirPods have been connected to your Android phone. Not that even after you successfully pair AirPods to Android devices, if you need to change your AirPods’ certain functions, you will still need an Apple device. 
Can’t Pair AirPods to Android Devices? Try these Fixes!
Are you having issues pairing your AirPods to your Android device? Then you can try any of the fixes below. The most common issue users encounter when pairing these devices is that the Android phone can’t find the AirPods.
Your Android device may be having difficulty connecting to your AirPods if the AirPods are still connected to a different device. Ensure to check all of your other source devices, and be certain none of them are presently connected to the Apple AirPods. Check out other reasons why you can’t pair AirPods to Android devices below:
The AirPods and Charging case batteries are depleted: If this is the case, you will need to top up the case and earbuds. To do this, follow the steps below:
- Place the AirPods in the charging case and connect it to a lightning cable, or place it on top of a wireless charging mat if you have the wireless case variant.
- Once the headset has been fully charged, you can try the pairing process all over again.
AirPods are too far from the Android Device: Your AirPods may be working perfectly with no issues. However, the problem may be with your smartphone. If this is the case, you may need to place the smartphone close to the AirPods and this should be within 10 meters of one another for the issue has nothing to do with the earbuds but can be traced back to your smartphone. It may be that the smartphone is too far away from the AirPods. They should be within 10 meters of one another for excellent connection strength.
Turn on the Bluetooth function on your Android phone and turn it back off as a troubleshooting measure. If this doesn’t work, you can try to restart your smartphone. If you have another smartphone, you can try using it to be sure that it’s not your device that is having glitches. This should fix the can’t pair AirPods to Android devices problem. If not, proceed to the next step.
AirPods are acting up: Your AirPods may begin to malfunction due to some unknown reasons, you can try a hard reset to fix the issue. When performing a factory reset, you are disconnecting the AirPods from your Android devices and iCloud account. Follow the steps below to perform a factory reset on your AirPods:
- Open the charging case and keep the AirPods inside.
- Go to the Bluetooth Settings on your Android smartphone.
- Click on the cog icon next to the AirPods, and choose “Forget this device.”
- Long-press on the button behind the AirPods case until it flashes red.
- Continue to hold the button until the charging case LED flashes white.
- You can proceed to pair the factory reset AirPods with your Android device.
That’s it! Pairing Apple AirPods to an Android device is not as difficult as many think. All you need to do is ensure the follow the concise steps circumspectly to pair AirPods to Android devices successfully.