I hated the AirPods Pro s Transparency Mode until I discovered this hidden fix TechRadar Skip to main content TechRadar is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's why you can trust us. I hated the AirPods Pro s Transparency Mode until I discovered this hidden fix By Matt Bolton published 7 July 2022 Wish you could customize this mode Turns out you can (Image: © Apple) Ever since I've first used Apple AirPods Pro, I've had one consistent major gripe with them: the Transparency Mode is too transparent. It lets in (and actively boosts) so much noise that it easily overwhelms anything you have playing, which is not such a problem if you're using it quickly to let in conversation with someone for a moment in a coffee shop, but isn't great if you want to use it when walking around so that you're more aware of road noise, since it means you might as well not use the earbuds at all. Lots of the best noise-cancelling earbuds, including the Sony WF-1000XM4, include multiple modes so you can adjust how much sound is let through the noise cancelling system when needed, but with AirPods Pro, there's no adjustment for the Transparency Mode… or is there? I recently discovered the hidden setting, tucked away deep into the iPhone 'Accessibility' options, that lets you customize pretty strongly how the Transparency Mode works. I hope that in the future – perhaps with AirPods Pro 2 – Apple will include more easy pre-set modes for this that you can access quickly, but for those who have the current model, here's how you can alter Transparency Mode more to your liking. (These will also work on AirPods Max, but I already find that the Transparency Mode there is better balanced with the music than on AirPods Pro.) Find the Audio Visual settings On your iPhone, head to the Settings app, then tap Accessibility > Audio/Visual > Headphone Accommodations > Transparency Mode (this is hidden at the bottom of the Headphones Accommodations page). Tap this and you'll a whole screen flush with options for tweaking how the Transparency Mode sounds. Turn on 'Custom Transparency Mode' at the top, and then you can tweak to your ears' contentment. To better suit my tastes, I ramped up the 'Ambient Noise Reduction' setting, which immediately cut of a lot of the cacophony of noise that Transparency Mode allows in – including the air con in the TechRadar office, which is the thing that annoys me most about using it while working. I want to hear when people speak to me, but I really don't need to hear the vents – finally, I can do that. But I found that using this suppressed some other noises a little more than I want, so also boosted the Amplification slider a little. This has resulted in some sounds hitting slightly harder if I use Transparency Mode in a quiet room, but the balance is better for me overall. The other features here include a Transparency Balance mode (for shifting the noise that's allowed in all to one ear, if that's useful for you), and a Conversation Boost mode that's supposed to focus on conversations near you rather than further away, though I didn't hear much of a change from the latter in the office, and when out and about, I noticed some additional wind noise with this on, so I didn't use it. The last setting is one you should play with, though: 'Tone'. Moving the slider from lighter to darker can shift the timbre of what you're hearing through the system. I actually decided it was fine on the default setting for my taste, but once you've played with the Ambient Noise Reduction and Amplification settings, you might well find that you want to tweak this too. So that's it; after years and years of using AirPods Pro, I finally found the improvement to my problem – I just wish that, as with many of our tips for improving AirPods' audio quality, the option wasn't hidden among settings that most people wouldn't even think to check.Today's best Apple AirPods Pro deals (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)$226.99 (opens in new tab)View Deal (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)$249.99 (opens in new tab)View Deal (opens in new tab)We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices Matt BoltonSenior Editor, TV & AudioMatt is TechRadar's Senior Editor for TV and Audio, meaning he's in charge of persuading our team of reviewers to watch gorgeous TVs and listen to fantastic speakers and headphones. It's a tough task, as you can imagine. Matt has over a decade of experience in tech publishing, and previously ran the TV & audio coverage for our colleagues at T3.com, and before that he edited T3 magazine. During his career, he's also contributed to places as varied as Creative Bloq, PC Gamer, PetsRadar, MacLife, and Edge. TV and movie nerdism is his speciality, and he goes to the cinema three times a week. He's always happy to explain the virtues of Dolby Vision over a drink, but he might need to use props, like he's explaining the offside rule. See more how-to articles TechRadar Newsletter Sign up to get breaking news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more, plus the hottest tech deals! Thank you for signing up to TechRadar. You will receive a verification email shortly. There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again. MOST POPULARMOST SHARED1The iPhone 14 Pro is made of the wrong stuff; the Pixel 7 proves that to me2Stop saying Mario doesn't have an accent in The Super Mario Bros. Movie3Google Pixel Tablet is what Apple should've done ages ago4RTX 4090 too expensive? Nvidia resurrects another old favorite5More than one million credit card details leaked online1The iPhone 14 Pro is made of the wrong stuff; the Pixel 7 proves that to me2iPhone 15 tipped to come with an upgraded 5G chip3Google Pixel Tablet is what Apple should've done ages ago4If this feature succeeds for Modern Warfare 2, Microsoft can't ignore it5Apple October launches: the new devices we might see this month