Got AirPods? You can soon share songs with a friend thanks to SiriKit

A step towards what we want from Apple’s smart earphones

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If you thought the newApple AirPodsfor 2019 were looking a little feature-light compared to what we were expecting from a trueAirPods 2hardware revision, perhaps we’ve all been a little too hasty in casting judgement. AtWWDC 2019Applerevealed a pair of significant new features coming to Apple’s true-wireless headphones.

First up, AirPods can now not only read message as notifications come in, but it can seamlessly respond to them, too. That’s thanks to SiriKit on your paired device – as a message is read out, a short pause will occur after it, giving you the opportunity to respond without needing to prompt Siri to dictate your words.

Whether its Apple’s own messaging app you’re using, or a third party messaging service, this feature will work across both.

Share a song

Audio sharing is also coming to Apple’s audio ecosystem. If you and your buddy both have a pair of AirPods, you need simply to tap two phones together and you’ll both be able to listen in with your individual AirPods to whatever is playing.

This also isn’t limited to any one app, being a system-level feature powered by SiriKit. So whether you’re watching a film, an online clip or streaming a song, you’ll be able to get this feature working.

While there’s still lots we’d like to see introduced to future AirPod models, these smart new features will be great conveniences for anyone jumping in with Apple’s earphones today.

Expect to see these new features land with the full release of iOS 13, which is likely to land in September 2019.

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Gerald is Editor-in-Chief of iMore.com. Previously he was the Executive Editor for TechRadar, taking care of the site’s home cinema, gaming, smart home, entertainment and audio output. He loves gaming, but don’t expect him to play with you unless your console is hooked up to a 4K HDR screen and a 7.1 surround system. Before TechRadar, Gerald was Editor of Gizmodo UK. He is also the author of ‘Get Technology: Upgrade Your Future’, published by Aurum Press.

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