VoiceOver lag when using AirPods

Submitted by Luke on Tuesday, February 27, 2018.

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iOS & iPadOS

I recently got a pair of AirPods for my new iPhone 8 and I'm loving them for listening to music, browsing YouTube etc, but trying to type with VoiceOver while wearing them is tedious. I find that there's a noticeable lag when using the on-screen keyboard, meaning there is a short pause between my finger touching a character on the keyboard and VO announcing that character, making it extremely hard to type. Has anyone else experienced this issue and found a solution? These things weren't cheap so I'm really hoping something can be done. Thanks.

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The lag you're talking about

The lag you're talking about is just the nature of bluetooth, as it takes longer for everything that needs to happen for your airpods to play a sound than wired earbuds or the speaker on the phone. You'll get used to it over time, though. I've had mine for about 6 weeks and hardly notice.

The Lag Is Normal

Hi Joe, unfortunately the lag is typical for Bluetooth. I too thought, after listening to podcasts, that there would be no delay, or at least extremely minimal, but alas, there is a noticeable lag. You kind of get use to it really. For typing, I tend to always dictate anyways, find it easier then typing.

Either then that, I find that, although they are a little on the pricy side, the sound is far better then the standard EarPods. You will also notice that on a Mac, the lag is far less annoying. There is still a slight lag, but it is not as bad as on the iPhone.

My 23 dollar bluetooth ear piece has no lag, as far as I can tel

I have had five or six bluetooth ear pieces through the years, and while some of them had lag the last few I have had did not. If there is any lag at all with the cheep mono ear piece I'm using now it's so tiny that I can't detect it.

Thanks for the replies

I agree about voice dictation but it is not always an option, especially if I am in a quiet setting or on public transit where I don’t really want to broadcast the details of my conversations or posts. It’s a shame Bluetooth technology is still this sluggish. Hasn’t been around for like 20 years or so? You would think it would be more advanced by now. LOL. Anyhow, typing issues aside, I still give the AirPods a thumbs up. Very easy to use and it’s nice to be freed of cables

Not Bluetooth.

Hello,

You can’t say it’s a Bluetooth issue. I have a couple of BT hearing devices which uses BT 4.0 and there is no lag when using the on screen keyboard.

Have you tried asking a sighted person to try typing with VO off and see if there is a lag when they type a key and when it shows up on the screen. I’m thinking it might be VO related.

The other thing I’m thinking is the Air Pods might not always be on to save battery. So when you type, it turns on then off then on.

HTH and good luck.