Without Apple device a firmware upgrade is not possible.
AirPods don't “just work”
111–120 of 966 posts
Re: AirPods don't “just work”
#112Some of these problems are because of Bluetooth (see complaints in this thread about Sony headphones — a company that many consider to have a similar product design ethos as Apple). Others are due to bad configuration defaults from Apple. Forcing AirPods to connect to the last device and turning off “pause music on removal” fixes two of the author’s problems. This isn’t a defense of Apple or AirPods. They obviously d…
> Others are due to bad configuration defaults from Apple. Forcing AirPods to connect to the last device and turning off “pause music on removal” fixes two of the author’s problems. I don't even necessarily think these are problems. I almost always want whatever I'm playing to stop when I disconnect my headphones, and there are times I don't want the headphones to connect to the last device (ie: I've been listening t…
Ok, so the reason I said bad is because this happens to me. I’m playing music on my laptop. I go to the bathroom. Maybe an auto-playing video with sound pops up on my iPhone. The headphones switch to my phone. Now I’m back at my laptop and have to manually reconnect the headphones.
Perhaps this is what people want, but in my cases it’s two tech annoyances (auto play video and fumbling with the Bluetooth menu).
Re: AirPods don't “just work”
#113All valid annoyances, but I really think OP should try using another brand of Bluetooth headphones for a week just to get some perspective of how well AirPods "just work" compared to the competition. Manually having to re-pair once in every blue moon, one earbud playing while the other isn't, no automatic device switching without having to go through the Settings app everytime, A/V desync, dodgy mic quality, earbuds…
Y’know what headphones really did “just work” though? Wired headphones, circa 2017. Their battery life was infinite. You could “pair” them in seconds to any device with a headphone jack, aka any device, because we’re in 2017. Oh, and they were cheaper and better for the environment. Courage, indeed. And this is why I’m currently typing my comment on an iPhone 6S...
Honestly, the fact that I no longer snag my earphones on random protrusions, like doorknobs and bus ticket validating machines is a bliss. Cables inside at a desk: sure, why not. Cables outside: hard pass.
Re: AirPods don't “just work”
#114All valid annoyances, but I really think OP should try using another brand of Bluetooth headphones for a week just to get some perspective of how well AirPods "just work" compared to the competition. Manually having to re-pair once in every blue moon, one earbud playing while the other isn't, no automatic device switching without having to go through the Settings app everytime, A/V desync, dodgy mic quality, earbuds…
Y’know what headphones really did “just work” though? Wired headphones, circa 2017. Their battery life was infinite. You could “pair” them in seconds to any device with a headphone jack, aka any device, because we’re in 2017. Oh, and they were cheaper and better for the environment. Courage, indeed. And this is why I’m currently typing my comment on an iPhone 6S...
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Re: AirPods don't “just work”
#115Annoyance 8: When I'm using the (good) noise cancelling of the AirPods to eliminate distracting background noise so I can focus, after a few hours the battery will run down to 15% and trigger the EXTREMELY LOUD "PING-pong-pong-pong" low-battery noise, right in my ear, without warning. And it's Apple, so of course you can't turn it off.
You'd be no better off with a Sony Headphone that screams in your ear that a device connected, the device is turned on and the battery is almost empty. The flagship Sony headphone is so bug ridden it's a joke if you ask me.
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Re: AirPods don't “just work”
#116how the hell does a list of annoyances about a product makes it to the #1 of HN
oh Apple I get it
you people need to diversify
Re: AirPods don't “just work”
#117Annoyance 8: When I'm using the (good) noise cancelling of the AirPods to eliminate distracting background noise so I can focus, after a few hours the battery will run down to 15% and trigger the EXTREMELY LOUD "PING-pong-pong-pong" low-battery noise, right in my ear, without warning. And it's Apple, so of course you can't turn it off.
AirPod Pro 4, coming in 2025, will like have a feature to let you choose custom alert sounds, tied to ios 19. And it will be heralded with enormous classy custom Helvetiral fonts in a multi parallax scrolling site announcing "we've heard the future, and it's quiet". Or... "If you listen carefully, you can hear the future". Or they'll provide haptic in-ear custom vibrations in AirPod Pros 5, and their slogan will be "…
I read way too much of this comment before I realised you were joking. Got me good.
Re: AirPods don't “just work”
#118All valid annoyances, but I really think OP should try using another brand of Bluetooth headphones for a week just to get some perspective of how well AirPods "just work" compared to the competition. Manually having to re-pair once in every blue moon, one earbud playing while the other isn't, no automatic device switching without having to go through the Settings app everytime, A/V desync, dodgy mic quality, earbuds…
Adding another voice in the choir of "just use wired headphones" -- I have never had a pair of wireless Bluetooth earphones that make sense from a usability standpoint and at this point I am pretty soured on the whole asset class. My wired headphones just work and give me none of these issues!
Re: AirPods don't “just work”
#119Bluetooth is so broken at a deep and fundamental level. We should really have a low-energy wifi protocol. The listed problems are just the tip of the iceberg.
The fact that my headphones can't be simultaneously connected to both my phone and my computer is ridiculous. The connectivity is awful. The latency of connection and disconnection is embarrassing. On top of that Apple has the worst UI to handle all of of the weird things that can happen.
Re: AirPods don't “just work”
#120Some of these problems are because of Bluetooth (see complaints in this thread about Sony headphones — a company that many consider to have a similar product design ethos as Apple). Others are due to bad configuration defaults from Apple. Forcing AirPods to connect to the last device and turning off “pause music on removal” fixes two of the author’s problems. This isn’t a defense of Apple or AirPods. They obviously d…
> Forcing AirPods to connect to the last device
If only it were that simple. Unfortunately this config option is not a property of the AirPods themselves, but to each individual device you own, so you can’t just set it once. You have to go to each device you have on your iCloud account and set “connect only when last connected to this device”.
But it’s even worse than that, because the option is only available to be changed when you have the AirPods connected, meaning you have to go to each device you own, connect your AirPods to them, then go to the menu, find the option for connection mode, and set it to “when last connected”.
And if you forgot a device, it will happily steal your AirPods connection “automatically” the next time it boots up or decided it wants to connect them. And you have to search around and figure out what the hell your AirPods are even connected to.
Did I mention Apple will occasionally release an OS update which changes this setting back to “automatically” again? Now you get to do this whole dance over again, but slowly, as your individual iDevices get rolled-out updates.
(I have 5 devices near my work desk that are potential AirPod connection thieves, this is a huge annoyance to me if you can’t tell.)