With the loss of the headphone jack in cell phones came the advent and prevalence of Bluetooth headphones. Even though sometimes having to charge headphones can be a pain, especially if you forgot, again. Bluetooth headphones come with a couple of perks. You can access digital personal assistants and utilize hand control gestures to control your device.

Want to watch a full guide on how to use your Airpods?

The Apple AirPods and AirPods Pro have five different generations of headphones. Four are the earbud-style, known as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation AirPods. Also, the AirPods Pro. There is also a fifth style of full-size AirPods known as AirPod Max. Each one does things a little differently, albeit only slightly. Here is how it is done.

How to Skip Songs on AirPods and AirPods Pro

Sometimes you just want to get into the groove while working out or around your home, but there’s always that one song on your playlist that you have to skip. Or you’re on shuffle and have the worst song rotation possible. Skipping songs on AirPods will be slightly different depending on their generation:

  • 1st and 2nd generation AirPods: double-tap and Siri voice command3rd generation AirPods and AirPods Pro: double-tap or triple-tap the force sensorAirPods Max: click on the ear cover two or three times

If you notice you’re skipping songs to test the song quality because there’s buzzing and popping going on with your AirPods, there might be something more going on. Continue reading to learn how to set up and complete each of these actions.

How to Skip Songs on 1st and 2nd Generation AirPods

The 1st and 2nd Generation of AirPods have a sensor in them that can detect when the user double-taps on the right or left AirPod. In the AirPod settings on your iPhone or iPad, you can change what you want the double-tap function to do. You can have the double-tap open the digital voice assistant Siri, but by default, they are set to skip tracks forward and backward.

Set Up Double-Tap in Settings App

You can change the Double-Tap settings for your AirPods in the Settings App on your iPhone or iPad if you want to change the double-tap to open Siri or choose the right or left to be the forward or backward skip. The choice is yours. If you choose to use Siri, you can skip tracks by using voice commands.

  • Open the Settings App on your iPhone or iPadOpen the Settings app on your iPhone or iPadOpen Bluetooth Find your AirPods listed under My Devices and click the More Info icon on the right There will be a menu titled Double-tap on AirPodChoose either the left or right for whichever action you would like to perform. The options are: Siri: This will start the Apple voice command, digital assistantPlay/Pause: This will start and stop the audio playing through the AirPodsNext Track: This will advance the track or audio playing through the AirPodsPrevious Track: This will restart the track or audio playing through the AirPods or play the previous track.After that, you can just use your finger to double-tap the AirPod itself, and it will perform whichever action you choose for either side.If you selected Next Track, you could just Double-Tap the AirPod (either right or left) you assigned that action to, and it will advance the audio to the next track.

Using Siri to Skip Forward or Backward

If you bring up the Apple digital assistant Siri, you can use voice commands by simply saying, “Skip Forward” or “Skip Backward” to skip forward or backward on the audio tracks on your iPhone or iPad.

  • Siri: This will start the Apple voice command, digital assistantPlay/Pause: This will start and stop the audio playing through the AirPodsNext Track: This will advance the track or audio playing through the AirPodsPrevious Track: This will restart the track or audio playing through the AirPods or play the previous track.

How to Skip Songs on 3rd Generation AirPods and AirPods Pro

As with most electronics, each new generation brings a little more quality of life improvements. The 3rd Generation AirPods are no exception. Apple made it a little easier to control skipping songs with the 3rd Generation AirPods. Apple removed the ability to double-tap and added the Force Sensor. The Force Sensor detects pressure on each earbud.

The settings to skip songs on the 3rd Generation AirPods or AirPods Pro are default and don’t need to be changed using your device. As such, the instructions for skipping are much easier to follow:

  • To Skip Forward:Double-Press the Force SensorTo Skip Backward: Triple-Press the Force Sensor

How to Skip Songs on AirPods Max

Skipping songs on the full-size AirPods Max headphones is probably the easiest of all of the styles of AirPods. You can simply use the Digital Crown, Apple’s name for the large knurled knob on the side of one of the speaker ear cups, to skip back and forth to your heart’s content.

  • Double-Press the Force Sensor

  • Triple-Press the Force Sensor

  • To Skip forward: Double-click the Digital Crown on the ear cup rapidlyTo Skip backward: Triple-click the Digital Crown on the ear cup rapidly

Don’t Skip Out

All generations of the Apple AirPods make it really easy to skip songs on the go. They make changing songs, answering calls, and stopping and starting the audio playing through the AirPods able to be controlled at the push of a button or even a simple voice command. In the future, it might get even easier, but it is hard to see how it could get easier than this.