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AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem

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Re: AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem

#441

Post by vee-kay »

toyg wrote: post #221
monerozcash wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But do you think your oh-so-common USB-C cables will work with a new iPhone? They seem to work just fine, yeah.

"Seem". Until they don't. I've had multiple instances of Airpods stopping to connect with phones until I charged them at least once with original Apple cables. They might work fine for months, then stop ehaving unless connected through an all-Apple power pipeline (cable and charger). It's probably firmware updates requiring some sort of validation every now and then.

I know that Apple MFI certified Lightning cables work well with iDevices, but I found that third-party non-MFI-certified Lightning cables to be finicky with iDevices. But I never faced such problem with USB cables for non-Apple devices (Android phones, cameras, etc.).

Apple MFI certifies USB-C cables also, so I'm not sure if it is throttling its iDevices to be finicky with non-MFI USB-C cables.

I know for a fact that Apple did software updates to older iPhones to make them sluggish and drain battery quickly. I realised this when I went to Apple Genius Bar to get my iPhone 7 Plus battery replaced after it started draining too quickly daily, but even with new battery same problem persisted. The friendly staff member unofficially told me it is because of the recent software updates by Apple for older iPhones, and advised not to hold out hope that any future software update will fix the problem. Even a year later, his warning remained true. I gave away the iPhone to my nephew as a backup device for his studies, but he sold it soon, as it was a nightmare to keep charging it frequently.

Apple has faced multiple fines for deliberately slowing down older iPhones without informing users, including a €25 million fine in France and a $41 million fine for deceptive marketing practices. The company admitted to slowing down devices to prevent unexpected shutdowns due to aging batteries, but critics argued it was misleading.

These days, I wouldn't trust Apple with a barge pole, let alone the money from my wallet.

Re: AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem

#442

Post by Lammy »

stavros wrote: post #187
Lammy wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seeing how much effort this takes makes me feel vindicated for never buying in to the wireless-earbud trend at all. I love love love having one of the few modern Androids with a real TRRS jack (REDMAGIC 9S Pro) and wired earbuds (Etymōtic ER4XR), that I never need to charge, that can't get lost, and that can't spy on me: https://i.imgur.com/4yymgYO.jpeg What a silly feature list the AirPods have, too. Transparency? I…

"This one brand is bad, therefore I am right in dismissing the whole category of product."

Imagine having to charge your earbuds lol

Re: AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem

#443

Post by okayjustonemore »

monocasa wrote: post #335
okayjustonemore wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And haters love a conspiracy. Truth is, no one has the full facts so any reasons as to why this was made the way it was is pure speculation. Only a fool would move to condemn or endorse what is not yet fully understood.

As someone who's implemented custom Bluetooth protocols, it's actually quite easy to condemn an Apple manufacturer ID check to expose custom services. And what do you mean by "conspiracy"? I would be shocked to find out this was done by some lone wolf and wasn't built with broad (even if grumbly) consensus in the relevant teams. That's how corporate software is built.

Every time someone opens an argument with the classic appeal to authority “as someone who has…” you can almost certainly expect to have that person miss the point of the discussion entirely.

Re: AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem

#444

Post by monerozcash »

vee-kay wrote: post #441
toyg wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Seem". Until they don't. I've had multiple instances of Airpods stopping to connect with phones until I charged them at least once with original Apple cables. They might work fine for months, then stop ehaving unless connected through an all-Apple power pipeline (cable and charger). It's probably firmware updates requiring some sort of validation every now and then.

I know that Apple MFI certified Lightning cables work well with iDevices, but I found that third-party non-MFI-certified Lightning cables to be finicky with iDevices. But I never faced such problem with USB cables for non-Apple devices (Android phones, cameras, etc.). Apple MFI certifies USB-C cables also, so I'm not sure if it is throttling its iDevices to be finicky with non-MFI USB-C cables. I know for a fact that…

>Apple has faced multiple fines for deliberately slowing down older iPhones without informing users, including a €25 million fine in France and a $41 million fine for deceptive marketing practices. The company admitted to slowing down devices to prevent unexpected shutdowns due to aging batteries, but critics argued it was misleading.

These cases are much less convincing than they may seem if you just take a moment to read about them. iDevices would throttle the cpu to make the battery last longer as it's capacity falls, this kind of throttling is not uncommon and not malicious.

This wasn't misleading, and isn't something that warrants any genuine criticism.

Re: AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem

#445

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

Zetaphor wrote: post #440
raw_anon_1111 wrote: post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does the “average” help? It still isn’t actionable. It doesn’t tell me whether I need to charge my case, put my left AirPod in a fully charged case or put the right AirPod in a fully charged case. If you know the average of those three, what does it tell you? What other manufacturers have figured out how to report three devices that represent to a Bluetooth host as one device in a standards conforming way that wi…

You, like the person this thread started with, are (deliberately?) missing the fire in the forest because you want to talk about the state of one tree. Yes, the standard should be improved to support multi-part devices, nobody here is arguing against that. This entire thread started with someone trying to claim that Apple was not in the wrong by restricting these features, of which battery reporting is A SINGLE ONE.…

Yes because it’s easy as long as you ignore the details. Speaking of which, how do you surface all of the other features of the AirPod using the Bluetooth protocol?

You claimed other manufacturers have “figured this out” - how?

Every single thing that you say Apple should do is about how Apple can do that in a method that conforms to the spec - you kind of have to “fixate” upon the spec if you claim that Apple isn’t conforming to the spec.

The battery reporting is the one you brought up and had only horrible ideas.

Re: AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem

#446

Post by intrasight »

BrawnyBadger53 wrote: post #423
4dm1r4lg3n3r4l wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By locking their products "in", they're also locking third parties "out". How on earth would they be able to "lock-in" the Apple Watch to the iPhone while at the same time NOT "locking-out" third parties? It's the same thing.

I think they're suggesting that lock in implies apple didn't write the code to help support 3rd parties. Lock out implies they actively wrote code to prevent 3rd parties.

With other companies there may be a difference. But with Apple, for all intents and purposes, it's the same thing. Because they are hostile to third-party integration using undocumented API's or interfaces.

Re: AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem

#447

Post by inferiorhuman »

angoragoats wrote: post #390
sroussey wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The multi battery levels thing is native proprietary on every platform since there is no Bluetooth spec for more than one battery level and even that just uses uint8.

As I posted elsewhere in the thread, this is incorrect. The Bluetooth Battery Service spec allows for a single device with multiple batteries and individual battery reporting for each. [0] They even give the example in that doc of earbuds which are one “logical device” but two physically separate pieces, each with its own battery. As additional evidence, there are "AirPods-like" earbuds on the market such as the Sony…

  The Bluetooth Battery Service spec allows for a single device with multiple batteries
As of version 1.1 of the battery service which was finalized at the end of 2022. Given Bluetooth's track record, who knows what kind of interoperability landmines exist.

Re: AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem

#448

Post by sosborn »

raw_anon_1111 wrote: post #402
sosborn wrote: post #400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that's my point.

If it’s not part of the BT spec - how is Apple going to report three battery levels in a way that’s compatible with non Apple devices?

Again, that's what I'm saying. We are in agreeance but you really seem to want to argue.

Re: AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem

#449

Post by danielsju6 »

12345hn6789 wrote: post #354
zoover2020 wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ANC doesn't work on non iOS or macOS/iPadOS devices, though. Holding the stalk won't work

This is misinformation. I change anc modes using the air pod while connected to my non root android device. The anc works identically when connected to an Apple device

You needed to have configured it on Mac/iOS though.

Re: AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem

#450

Post by vee-kay »

monerozcash wrote: post #444
vee-kay wrote: post #441

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know that Apple MFI certified Lightning cables work well with iDevices, but I found that third-party non-MFI-certified Lightning cables to be finicky with iDevices. But I never faced such problem with USB cables for non-Apple devices (Android phones, cameras, etc.). Apple MFI certifies USB-C cables also, so I'm not sure if it is throttling its iDevices to be finicky with non-MFI USB-C cables. I know for a fact that…

>Apple has faced multiple fines for deliberately slowing down older iPhones without informing users, including a €25 million fine in France and a $41 million fine for deceptive marketing practices. The company admitted to slowing down devices to prevent unexpected shutdowns due to aging batteries, but critics argued it was misleading. These cases are much less convincing than they may seem if you just take a moment t…

In my experience, the only 2 mobile phone companies whose phones drain battery too fast are Apple and Samsung. Apple does this deliberately for older phones, whereas Samsung has this problem even for new phones.

You will not find this quick battery drain problem in Motorola, Nokia, Oppo, Sony, etc. Their phones last several years even with ageing batteries. An 10+ years old Oppo phone I have, still holds almost full charge at idle, throughout the day.

As batteries get older, their capacity to hold charge reduces, but if a phone battery is draining too fast even in idle mode, it is likely due to software, not hardware. And if it is due to software, then the manufacturer company is to blame.

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