https://community.squareup.com/t5/Payments-Troubleshooting/Magstripe-recognized-as-headphones/m-p/714317#M31737 <P>Hey there SoapsbyKelsey,</P><P>&nbsp;</P><P data-unlink="true">Sounds like your iPhone is stuck in Headphone Mode.&nbsp; If you Google the internet on "iphone stuck in headphone mode", you will find tons of posts and more suggestions than one can count.&nbsp; Some suggestions are a bit out there and others seem to be a bit safer.&nbsp; The cause can be anything from a dirty jack or connector or both.&nbsp; Some people have resolved this issue by doing a "hard" phone reset.&nbsp; Others have simply cleaned the lighting connector and phone jack.&nbsp; Several people said that simply plugging in a headphone and then trying it and then unplugging it fixes the problem.&nbsp; Seems the solutions are all over the place so it's difficult to figure out what the magic fix is.&nbsp; It's even possible that the magstripe reader it self has an issue.&nbsp; As you can tell, there's no way other than trial and error testing.</P><P data-unlink="true">&nbsp;</P><P data-unlink="true">From personal experience, you may want to consider the Contactless Chip and Tap Reader - yep, it's a small investment but, it works well, connects to your device via Bluetooth and you don't have the liability concerns that come with "Swipes". &nbsp;What this means for you as a seller is that there has been a <A href="https://squareup.com/us/en/emv-liability-shift" target="_self">liability shift</A>&nbsp;.&nbsp; If you swipe a chip card rather than using a chip reader, you are automatically liable for any fraudulent transactions.&nbsp;</P><P data-unlink="true">&nbsp;</P><P data-unlink="true">Another option that's available is you can accept Tap to Pay with just your iPhone - no additional hardware.&nbsp; See <A href="https://squareup.com/us/en/payments/tap-to-pay" target="_self">this</A>.&nbsp; Although this feature does work, it can be finicky once in a while (just a heads up), you don't want to have "multiple apps" open and running on your phone while accepting cards.&nbsp; Keep it simple !!</P><H1>&nbsp;</H1> Mon, 04 Mar 2024 23:08:17 GMT JK_Fiber_Art 2024-03-04T23:08:17Z https://community.squareup.com/t5/Payments-Troubleshooting/Magstripe-recognized-as-headphones/m-p/714242#M31736 <P>Every time I plug in my square magstripe with lighting connector it gives this error message repeatedly and it only shows it for a half second but it does it over and Over again. It says are you trying to connect headphones or other device but it doesn’t let me click one.&nbsp;</P> Sat, 20 Sep 2025 19:44:25 GMT https://community.squareup.com/t5/Payments-Troubleshooting/Magstripe-recognized-as-headphones/m-p/714242#M31736 SoapsbyKelsey 2025-09-20T19:44:25Z https://community.squareup.com/t5/Payments-Troubleshooting/Magstripe-recognized-as-headphones/m-p/714317#M31737 <P>Hey there SoapsbyKelsey,</P><P>&nbsp;</P><P data-unlink="true">Sounds like your iPhone is stuck in Headphone Mode.&nbsp; If you Google the internet on "iphone stuck in headphone mode", you will find tons of posts and more suggestions than one can count.&nbsp; Some suggestions are a bit out there and others seem to be a bit safer.&nbsp; The cause can be anything from a dirty jack or connector or both.&nbsp; Some people have resolved this issue by doing a "hard" phone reset.&nbsp; Others have simply cleaned the lighting connector and phone jack.&nbsp; Several people said that simply plugging in a headphone and then trying it and then unplugging it fixes the problem.&nbsp; Seems the solutions are all over the place so it's difficult to figure out what the magic fix is.&nbsp; It's even possible that the magstripe reader it self has an issue.&nbsp; As you can tell, there's no way other than trial and error testing.</P><P data-unlink="true">&nbsp;</P><P data-unlink="true">From personal experience, you may want to consider the Contactless Chip and Tap Reader - yep, it's a small investment but, it works well, connects to your device via Bluetooth and you don't have the liability concerns that come with "Swipes". &nbsp;What this means for you as a seller is that there has been a <A href="https://squareup.com/us/en/emv-liability-shift" target="_self">liability shift</A>&nbsp;.&nbsp; If you swipe a chip card rather than using a chip reader, you are automatically liable for any fraudulent transactions.&nbsp;</P><P data-unlink="true">&nbsp;</P><P data-unlink="true">Another option that's available is you can accept Tap to Pay with just your iPhone - no additional hardware.&nbsp; See <A href="https://squareup.com/us/en/payments/tap-to-pay" target="_self">this</A>.&nbsp; Although this feature does work, it can be finicky once in a while (just a heads up), you don't want to have "multiple apps" open and running on your phone while accepting cards.&nbsp; Keep it simple !!</P><H1>&nbsp;</H1> Mon, 04 Mar 2024 23:08:17 GMT https://community.squareup.com/t5/Payments-Troubleshooting/Magstripe-recognized-as-headphones/m-p/714317#M31737 JK_Fiber_Art 2024-03-04T23:08:17Z