cff-version: 1.2.0
message: "If you use these findings or this software, please cite them as below."
title: "MousePods: AirPods 3 head tracking on Linux and the Apple RemoteHID (HID over AACP) protocol"
abstract: >-
  First public documentation of how AirPods (3rd generation, product ID 0x2013) expose their motion sensors:
  Apple RemoteHID over AACP (RTBuddy descriptor 0x800), the HostConnect / DeviceConnect / SetReport sequence,
  the sensor catalog (devmotion6, accel, gyro, cma, kadabra, mando, neorelay, iedrelay), the L2CAP MTU gating that
  hides them at the Linux default, sample rates up to about 210 Hz, and a Linux mouse/pointer built on top of it.
authors:
  - family-names: Gaudioso
    given-names: Matteo
    alias: starman-tech
date-released: 2026-11-04
version: 1.0.0
license: Apache-2.0
repository-code: "https://github.com/starman-tech/mousepods"
url: "https://starman-tech.github.io/mousepods/"
keywords:
  - AirPods 3
  - AirPods head tracking
  - AACP
  - Apple Accessory Protocol
  - RemoteHID
  - HID over AACP
  - RTBuddy
  - devmotion6
  - reverse engineering
  - Bluetooth L2CAP
  - Linux
  - head mouse