How to Configure and Customise Headphone Accommodations on iPad in iPadOS

Listening to audiobooks, video lectures, podcasts, and video calls on your iPad can sometimes be fatiguing if certain vocal frequencies sound muffled or soft spoken words get lost in background noise. To enhance listening clarity for all users—including individuals with mild to moderate hearing sensitivities—Apple built Headphone Accommodations into iPadOS. This accessibility feature tunes audio frequencies, boosts soft sounds, and customises sound balance to your individual hearing profile.

Compatible with supported Apple and Beats wireless headphones (including AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, and Beats Fit Pro), Headphone Accommodations applies real-time equalization across phone calls, FaceTime, media playback, and Transparency mode. You can fine-tune presets for vocal brightness, import professional audiograms, or conduct an interactive hearing listening test directly on your iPad. In this guide, you will learn how to enable Headphone Accommodations on your iPad, configure custom audio tuning, and import audiograms.

Supported Hardware for Headphone Accommodations

Headphone Accommodations functions with a wide selection of Apple and Beats audio gear paired with your iPad:

• AirPods: AirPods (2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation), AirPods Pro (1st and 2nd generation), and AirPods Max.
• Beats: Beats Solo 4, Beats Studio Pro, Beats Fit Pro, Powerbeats Pro, and Beats Solo Pro.
• EarPods: Apple EarPods with 3.5mm headphone plug or USB-C connector.

Step 1: Enable Headphone Accommodations in iPadOS Settings

To activate Headphone Accommodations, ensure your supported headphones are connected to your iPad and placed in your ears:

1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Scroll down the left sidebar and tap Accessibility.
3. Under the Hearing section, select Audio & Visual.
4. Tap Headphone Accommodations at the very top.
5. Toggle the Headphone Accommodations switch to the On position.

Once enabled, the screen unlocks fine-grained audio tuning parameters and frequency presets.

Step 2: Customise Audio Frequency Presets

iPadOS provides three calibrated tuning profiles designed to elevate specific acoustic registers:

• Balanced Tone: Provides a natural, broad boost across all midrange and vocal frequencies. Recommended for everyday music listening and podcasts.
• Vocal Range: Elevates middle speech frequencies to make dialogue crisper and easier to distinguish over ambient background audio. Ideal for FaceTime meetings and audio lectures.
• Brightness: Amplifies high-frequency sounds (such as consonants like ‘s’ and ‘t’ and high musical notes). Helpful for users with high-frequency hearing loss.

Below the tuning profiles, adjust the Boost slider to define how much soft sounds are lifted:

• Slight: Subtle acoustic lift without changing dynamic contrast.
• Moderate: Balanced amplification for speech clarity.
• Strong: Aggressive amplification that brings quiet whispered details forward noticeably.

Step 3: Conduct a Custom Audio Setup Listening Test

If you prefer an interactive walkthrough tailored to your personal listening preferences:

1. On the Headphone Accommodations screen, tap Custom Audio Setup.
2. Ensure you are in a quiet room, then tap Continue.
3. iPadOS plays spoken voice samples at varying volume levels and asks: “Can you hear someone talking?” Tap Yes or No.
4. Next, iPadOS plays music samples alternating between your standard default audio profile and a customized tuning profile.
5. Listen carefully and select whether you prefer Version 1 or Version 2.
6. Tap Use Custom Settings to apply your calibrated profile.

Step 4: Import an Audiogram from the Health App

If you have had a clinical hearing test administered by an audiologist or used a certified digital audiogram app:

1. Tap Custom Audio Setup and choose Add Audiogram.
2. If your hearing test results are stored in the Health app on your synced iPhone or iPad, select the audiogram from your Health records.
3. Alternatively, tap Add Audiogram Manually and input your pure-tone hearing threshold levels (in decibels dB HL) across frequencies ranging from 125 Hz to 8000 Hz for both left and right ears.
4. iPadOS applies precise equalization curves to match your exact clinical hearing spectrum.

Step 5: Apply Accommodations to Phone and Media Audio

At the bottom of the Headphone Accommodations settings page, you can choose where the audio enhancement is applied:

• Phone: Applies the custom tuning to phone calls, FaceTime audio/video, and third-party calling apps (such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Webex).
• Media: Applies frequency boosts and accommodations to music playback, movie streaming, podcasts, and games.

Customising Transparency Mode on AirPods Pro

When using AirPods Pro or AirPods Max, you can also adjust how ambient external noise is routed into your ears:

1. Scroll to the bottom of the Headphone Accommodations screen and tap Transparency Mode (or Customise Transparency Mode).
2. Adjust Amplification to boost quiet sounds in your physical environment.
3. Slide Ambient Noise Reduction to filter out steady background rumbles (such as HVAC fans or engine hum).
4. Enable Conversation Boost to focus directional microphones forward on the person speaking directly in front of you.