My HUAWEI earbuds don't respond or respond slowly to touch control shortcuts
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My HUAWEI earbuds don't respond or respond slowly to touch control shortcuts

The earbuds support tap gestures, which are different from touch gestures. Use your fingertip to tap the control area of the earbuds at a certain speed and with certain force to trigger the double-tap or triple-tap shortcuts. Otherwise, your gestures cannot be recognized.

Update the earbuds' firmware to use the triple-tap gesture. For HUAWEI FreeBuds 5, update the firmware to HarmonyOS 4.0.0.178 or later, and for FreeBuds 5i, update to HarmonyOS 2.1.0.202 or later.

If the prompt tone is not played when you tap the earbuds, perform the following steps.

  1. Take off the earbuds and place them in the charging case. Take out the earbuds, put them back on, and check whether the prompt tone is played. If you are using FreeArc, skip this step.
  2. This happens when the gesture feature is set to None. You can set different gestures for the left and right earbuds. Check whether the feature is enabled, and make sure that you are tapping the earbud for which the gesture is set.
    • For FreeBuds series/FreeClip/FreeArc earbuds, refer to Setting up and using my earbuds.
    • For WATCH Buds earbuds, open the Huawei Health app and go to Devices > Earbuds > Gestures.
  3. Ensure that you tap on the touch control area of the earbuds with your fingertip. The touch control areas of different earbuds are as follows:
    • FreeBuds series earbuds: Tap the middle or top of the earbud handle. For FreeBuds SE 3/FreeBuds SE 2, tap the grooved touch control area on the upper part of the earbud handle. For FreeBuds Pro 4/FreeBuds 5/FreeBuds 4E, tap the middle part of the earbud handle. Ensure that you use an appropriate amount of force.

    • WATCH Buds earbuds: Tap the earbuds themselves, area in front of the ears, or auricles, as shown in orange below.

    • FreeClip earbuds: Tap the C-bridge (recommended), acoustic ball, or comfort bean.
      Figure 1. FreeClip touch control area (in blue)
    • FreeArc earbuds: Tap the acoustic bean.
      Figure 2. FreeArc touch control area (in blue)

If the issue persists, take your device and proof of purchase to an authorized Huawei Customer Service Center for assistance.

If you hear a prompt tone when you tap, but the phone or app does not respond after the prompt tone is played, perform the following steps to troubleshoot.

  1. Enable Bluetooth controls or wired playback controls in the music app on your phone. Take HUAWEI Music as an example. Go to the home screen, touch the four-dot icon in the upper right corner, and go to Settings > Start playback on Bluetooth device.
  2. To control music playback on your phone when the screen is locked, open the phone Settings, go to Battery > More battery settings, and enable Stay connected while asleep.
  3. There may be an issue with third-party music app. Try using the HUAWEI Music app instead.
  4. If you have strong requirements for using the earbuds to operate third-party apps, you can urge the third party to solve the issue.
 
  • The double-tap shortcut for answering or hanging up calls is not supported in certain third-party apps, like WeChat, QQ, WeCom, Lark, Yixin, DingTalk, and WhatsApp.
  • In TikTok and other third-party apps, the double-tap shortcut for playing/pausing music may not be supported. This is caused by the occupation of the audio channel after the third-party app is switched. You need to manually play/pause music on your phone before using the touch control feature of the earbuds.
  • When a game or media app is opened during music playback, you can use shortcuts to pause but not resume the playback. This is because the phone does not allow other media services to be started using playback shortcuts from the earbuds when there is an ongoing media service on the phone. You can use shortcuts to switch to the next track or resume playback manually on your phone.
  • If PUBG Mobile is running in the background, this app will occupy the audio channel. Wait for a minute before double-tapping the earbuds to play music, or exit the game.
  • If double-tapping the earbuds does not pause music when the WeChat Read app is open, update the WeChat Read app to its latest version.
  • If double-tapping the earbuds does not pause music when the HUAWEI Recorder app is in use, clear the HUAWEI Recorder app from the background and restart it. Please stay tuned for future app updates and update at your earliest convenience.
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