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AirPods don't “just work”

philip.design

341–350 of 966 posts

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#341
post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

I used to be like you. Then i tried, for real, a pair of bluetooth headphones. The disadvantages of the bluetooth is by far outweighed by the wireless advantage. The mobility, flexibility and convenience of no tangles and accidental wire pulling and causing phone to drop - all worth it. And wireless UX is only going to get better. Wired is dead.

>Wired is dead

For as long as we both live, manufacturers will make wired headphones, and people will buy them. Latency and quality might not be important to the casual user, but for some wired headphones and speakers will be, and will always be, essential.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#342
I hope someone at Apple listens to these things. There are a lot of little things that can be improved in general regarding Bluetooth devices. Currently, if my MacBook restarts, I can’t use my Bluetooth mouse and keyboard to input my password, I have to use the built in keyboard. Using Logitech devices.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#343
post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Haha yes. I remember rocking my HD580's with their awkward 12' cable plus an adaptor for the 1/4" plug outdoors. Kids these days have it a bit more easy.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#344
post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

[deleted]

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#345
post #201
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not a feature it’s a bug that will affect nearly all Bluetooth in-ears that don’t share a receiver. The design of Bluetooth buds is such that one of the buds is elected to be the receiver of data from the phone, it then propagates its signal to the second bud. What you’re experiencing is a disconnection of one earbud to the other. FWIW: apples AirPods Pro’s rehandshake (from the “slave” side towards the “master”…

I disagree, it's definitely a feature in my book. It allows me to keep listening or stay on calls basically forever.

The ability to listen with one headphone in is definitely a feature, but the issue is that sometimes that's happening when it shouldn't be. You pulled both Airpods out of the case, put them in your ears, but only one connects. And you can't get the one with no sound to play sound until you put it back in the case and try again (sometimes takes a couple attempts)

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#346
post #195
post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to be like you. Then i tried, for real, a pair of bluetooth headphones. The disadvantages of the bluetooth is by far outweighed by the wireless advantage. The mobility, flexibility and convenience of no tangles and accidental wire pulling and causing phone to drop - all worth it. And wireless UX is only going to get better. Wired is dead.

It's also pretty much confirmed at this point that the next pair of AirPods won't be using bluetooth - which they will get a lot of shit for but is probably necessary to address a lot of these issues.

Is Apple working on their own proprietary Bluetooth or what are future AirPods gonna use to connect?

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#347
post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

I think it goes to show how much “just works enough “ consumers are happy to tolerate for wireless over other advantages of wired. I remember early consumer wi- fi was just garbage compared to wired and… we still used it happily. Granted sometimes we go back… my cars Bluetooth is so maddening I use a cable instead.

I agree, but I'm going to defend the wifi case a little. Ethernet doesn't work if you're using a laptop, because it defeats the purpose of having a portable computer in the first place. You either have to be able to work offline, or you have to stay next to an ethernet plug.

I said above that wired headphones have infinite battery life. I suppose I could say the same about a desktop computer versus a laptop, but I don't think that would be fair.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#348
This is part of Apple’s problem right now.

They’ve lost focus.

TV shows, cars, VR headsets, six different iPad models.

So the small stuff suffers: iOS. OS X. AirPods. Airdrop.

Airdrop just stopped working for me recently. The clock app in iOS still only lets you have ONE reminder.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#349
Annoyance: When I use AirPods Pro and turn on my car, my iPhone automatically switches to the car-stereo's Bluetooth as expected. If I take the AirPods out of my ears for the first 5-10 secs after the switch, the iPhone pauses whatever was playing. I need to wait, or resume manually.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#350
post #63

All 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…

My airpods have constant issues. Maybe you should take notice that Apple's products don't have the simplicity of setup they were once known for...
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