With iOS 27, Apple brings order to a corner of the system that had become cluttered over the years: The AirPods settings in the first developer beta are significantly more organized, with clearly structured menus and icons. While a dedicated AirPods app is still missing, the improvement over iOS 26 is noticeable.
Apple unveiled iOS 27 at WWDC on June 8, 2026, and released the first developer beta. Besides the major new features, it also includes a significant improvement in a smaller area: the AirPods settings have been thoroughly redesigned. Over the years, Apple had added more and more features – from Adaptive Audio to the practical AirPods improvements in iOS 26 – making the settings page increasingly long and difficult to navigate. This is precisely where iOS 27 comes in.
Clean menus instead of a long list of switches
The basic location remains unchanged: As before, the AirPods settings appear at the top of the Settings app, and only when the AirPods are connected. What's new is how the options are organized. The previously loosely arranged switches are now grouped into a clearer set of menus in iOS 27. Each of these menus is labeled with an icon, making it easy to identify the different sections at a glance. As a result, the main AirPods settings page is significantly shorter and therefore quicker to navigate.
All that's missing is the dedicated AirPods app
A dedicated app for AirPods, like those already available for many other Apple products, is not yet in the cards. However, the new structure in the settings is a clear improvement over iOS 26 and significantly reduces the clutter caused by the growing number of features. Since this is an initial developer beta, the layout may still change before the final version this fall – but the trend towards greater organization is likely to remain. (Image: Shutterstock / photoschmidt)
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