FWIW, I used to absolutely hate EarPods, which are, less the cord, of course, shaped exactly like AirPods, and have identical sound profiles; They wouldn’t stay put in my ears for even three seconds, and I had to shove them deep into my ear canals and press my fingers on that weird little ear nub to get any decent sound out of them. Not very practical to have to firmly press on your ears just to enjoy the sound. One three minute session with them when they first came out convinced me I’d never use them, and that carried forward to AirPods for that reason.
I used the previous iPod/Apple Earphones models (MB770G/A[and B]) until I just could no longer find genuine OEM models; I used to order them in bulk for ~$5-10 each whenever I found them; due to heavy use and poor construction I killed at least 3-4/year; then I was forced to start killing Lightning to 3.5mm adapters at around 3 per year, as well (Courage.)
I stuck with the Earphones for so darn long because so very few in-ear headsets from third parties included the full controls on the inline controller, and if they did, the mic or its noise cancellation sucked; the OEMs could be made tolerable for casual listening (especially when also hearing ambient sound was important) by covering them with the thicker foam covers, that both made them more comfortable, and kept the damn things (mostly) in my ears.
I ignored the EarPods entirely, until, again, I couldn’t find any for sale; I had a pile of Apple-provided, never-used EarPods (3.5mm and Lightning) just sitting in the drawer, so I finally broke down and tried some various accessories designed to keep them in your ears. I was SHOCKED at not only how well they could be made to stay in my ears, but how much better they sounded, too.
Apparently I have ears that Jonny Ive and team never thought to test, because I actually use two products in combination; I first place a simple silicone cover (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0778TBVH2/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1) over the bud, then over that place the Earbuddyz brand (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019BREFE4/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1) of winged-covers on top of that to make it not only stay in place, but the double-thickness grants much, much better bass and noise isolation, without sacrificing ambient awareness.
If I could increase that thickness by another 50%, I’d be happier; and if the wings pushed forward as much as they do down, I’d be perfectly happy. I’ve tried several of the winged-type covers, and most are okay, but some are too stiff and hurt after an hour or so, or push in the wrong direction; the Earbuddyz worked best for me (you do NOT want to know how much I’ve spent finding ear covers and in-ear canal memory foam inserts for various headsets over the years).
[When I’m serious about listening to music on the go or working out, I use RHA T20i in/over-ear inserts; the comfort, isolation and stay-putness is awesome, and the sound quality is enough to justify the steep price tag (as low as $180 on sale); however, the controller, though fully capable, is poorly placed and an absolute UX nightmare due to poor physical cues and button size on a barely-distinguishable barrel shape. If I could put the Apple controller on that set.]
If Apple does improve the AirPods controls (the way they continue to sell out supplies suggests they have no reason to ever make them better), I pray that the silicone covers will not interfere, and I can finally ditch the wires that are always snagging on something.