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Apple starts pushing AirPods owners into Transparency mode, with no easy opt out

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Re: Apple starts pushing AirPods owners into Transparency mode, with no easy opt out

#31

Post by Suppafly »

spenvo wrote: post #17
st3fan wrote: post #16

Nobody is asking the most interesting question: why. Why is the option to use the AirPods in “normal” mode being removed? Is Apple hit with some lawsuit or something?

My theory, from the post: "All of this is likely tied to a relatively new feature called Loud Sound Reduction that only works if AirPods are in an active “Noise Control” mode. So Apple perhaps recently decided that everyone needed this feature enabled, and that’s why they made all these annoying changes to Noise Control? I can only speculate." And yes, as JamesonNetworks suggested, the cynical side of me thinks Apple…

> Apple execs knew that this would negatively impact a subset of users' batteries and were at least OK with that

Seems like every 6 months or so they come out with an update almost specifically designed to do that for their phones and other products, so that's not even surprising.

Re: Apple starts pushing AirPods owners into Transparency mode, with no easy opt out

#32

Post by Suppafly »

sethaurus wrote: post #24
st3fan wrote: post #16

Nobody is asking the most interesting question: why. Why is the option to use the AirPods in “normal” mode being removed? Is Apple hit with some lawsuit or something?

> Why is the option to use the AirPods in “normal” mode being removed? I'd challenge the idea that off/passive really is the "normal" mode, from the ordinary user's POV or Apple's POV. The headphones just don't sound good in this configuration, with neither the background nor the audio sounding clear. They aren't engineered to give good sound isolation OR good background pass-through without active support, and until…

>which users would expect to be working whenever they are wearing the headphones (or at minimum, whenever music is playing).

Why would that be the case?

Re: Apple starts pushing AirPods owners into Transparency mode, with no easy opt out

#33

Post by akaike »

chatmasta wrote: post #8

The title should probably specify AirPods 2 and 4. As an owner of AirPods Pro (1st Generation), I was confused because I've only ever had two options: noise-cancelling or transparency. There has never been an option for “off,” so presumably this was a new feature in later generations, which the author explains is no longer available.

I have also the first generation and the option off was always available. It turned off NC and transparency mode.

Re: Apple starts pushing AirPods owners into Transparency mode, with no easy opt out

#34

Post by CrimsonRain »

spenvo wrote: post #22
hombre_fatal wrote: post #20

It's basically a UI/UX problem. Apple rolls out features like the loud sound reduction feature that only work if you're in a non-OFF state. Exactly how it should work really depends on the expectations of the average user. If they turn on loud sound reduction, for example, are they just going to be confused when nothing happens? How many people really understand how to toggle between the 3+ states and that additional…

Yeah. There were clearly difficult decisions within Apple about which tradeoffs to make for people, but the big misstep for me was: Not communicating the changes to me. In a way, I was somewhat happy when they removed the Off option because at least it showed me that there were intentional changes occurring. Before they removed it, I thought iOS' switching me incessantly into to Transparency mode (for days on end) wa…

There's no annoying change. It's a good change for most people. Techies can fiddle with options.

Re: Apple starts pushing AirPods owners into Transparency mode, with no easy opt out

#35

Post by aoanevdus »

st3fan wrote: post #16

Nobody is asking the most interesting question: why. Why is the option to use the AirPods in “normal” mode being removed? Is Apple hit with some lawsuit or something?

Total speculation, but I’m guessing Apple is afraid of liability for hearing damage caused by AirPod use. Someone can argue that the aggregate damage from the hearing loss is worth billions of dollars and do a class action suit or something.

At this point, Apple clearly has a bunch hearing loss experts working there, and they’ve introduced features like Reduce Loud Sounds, the hearing test, and hearing aid mode. Apple can show that they are doing everything possible to prevent their products from causing hearing damage and even taken steps to help users who already suffer from hearing loss. Burying the option to disable Reduce Loud Sounds helps Apple’s case, because it makes it harder for users who suffer from hearing damage to argue that they disabled it accidentally, and perhaps Apple even has evidence that this measure reduces harm to users.

So, there’s a tradeoff between the feeling of frustration some users will have at Apple’s apparent paternalism, and the permanent harm that users are being protected from (and Apple’s liability).

Re: Apple starts pushing AirPods owners into Transparency mode, with no easy opt out

#36

Post by Aaron2222 »

spaceguillotine wrote: post #13
cjoelrun wrote: post #9

My Airpod Pros literally screech at an unsafe noise level if they're in Transparency or Noise Cancellation. I think some part of them got damaged ruining any kind of processing. I've been able to continue to use the in the Off mode for over a year. Hope this isn't too annoying to opt out of.

sounds like a microphone is broken or clogged up with human skin goo

Yep. Good chance it's clogged up with earwax or something. I have similar issues with mine (a high-pitched whine on when in any of the ANC modes on my current AirPods Pro 2's right AirPod, and a lower-pitched rumbling in my old AirPods Pro 1's as well).

Re: Apple starts pushing AirPods owners into Transparency mode, with no easy opt out

#37

Post by grues-dinner »

Regardless of why they're doing it, why does everything that involves an organisation always have to be such a tedious charade?

It's just so tiring to have to cynically second-guess everything all the time. Are they doing it to nerf battery life and promote return business? Scared of lawsuits? Secret AB testing? Technical debt? The word "Off" causes cancer in the State of California?

Just grow a some guts and level with customers for a damn change.

So much for "informed rational consumers" being the fundamental factor in the vaunted free market.

Re: Apple starts pushing AirPods owners into Transparency mode, with no easy opt out

#38

Post by solarkraft »

Kirby64 wrote: post #4
likeabatterycar wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think an 'off' button is not used by 'common users' and is restricted to audiophiles? This is also solved by using $8 earbuds and not shoving overhyped $200 hazelnuts into your ears.

I’d suggest the “off” function on AirPods is used by… almost no one reasonable. I don’t know why an audiophile would use it, honestly. It sounds measurably worse than turning on ANC or Transparency. The only use is if you truly truly need the extra battery life. If ANC bothers your ears, the much cheaper regular AirPods should be your buy… or any number of cheaper non-ANC buds.

I’m so unreasonable using them at home (where there’s no noise to cancel, besides, I often only use a single bud anyway) for prolonged periods.

Re: Apple starts pushing AirPods owners into Transparency mode, with no easy opt out

#39

Post by tiltowait »

1oooqooq wrote: post #27
JamesonNetworks wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Off hand guess: reduce apparent battery life in order to nudge people to upgrading, thinking their batteries are going

that's exactly what the connect implied. as with apple having done that at least twice in the open.

Which instances would this be?

Re: Apple starts pushing AirPods owners into Transparency mode, with no easy opt out

#40

Post by tpmoney »

st3fan wrote: post #16

Nobody is asking the most interesting question: why. Why is the option to use the AirPods in “normal” mode being removed? Is Apple hit with some lawsuit or something?

It's not removed, it's just moved behind a specific toggle. I suspect its one of two things:

1) It's part of parental controls. You can disable in the parental controls the ability to turn off "loud noise reduction", it's possible that since setting to the off mode also disables this, that the toggle exists so that the off mode can be removed from the mode list as well with this restriction in place. I can't validate this because that parental control does not appear to be something you can enforce on your own device when you're the "parent"

2) The medical certifications for the hearing aid functionality require that the device can not be accidentally placed in a state where using the device as "intended" can cause further hearing damage. By placing the mode which disables hearing protection functionality under a separate explicit toggle with notes about what that does, it satisfies the requirement while still allowing the use of the mode.

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