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AirPods don't “just work”

philip.design

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Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#591

Post by openknot »

pritambaral wrote: post #522
openknot wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is true (iPhones, iPads, and plenty of Android phones these days), but can be mitigated by carrying a USB-C to 3.5 mm audio adapter in the pouch that contains the IEMs. I wish people didn't have to, but it's a straightforward solution that widely improves wired compatibility.

> ... that widely improves wired compatibility. "Wired compatibility" was ubiquitous before. It didn't have room to "improve". Removing the jack is what broke "wired compatibility". Needing a dongle for sth is not an "improved" form of using it, when you could have just used it without a dongle.

Adding a small adapter to where you carry your wired headphones fixes the problem of the current reality where many devices do not have audio jacks. My assertion is to provide a practical solution to the current state of affairs, instead of claiming that the present is better than the past state of affairs (where there were ubiquitous audio jacks) due to audio adapters.

Due to forces beyond the individual's control, it's highly unlikely that audio jacks will once more become ubiquitous, so the second-best outcome is for wired headphone users to start carrying an adapter.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#592

Post by gumby »

brirec wrote: post #399
gumby wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An eyeglass strap works great for this. Put the loops around the airpod stems instead of the eyeglass arms.

I’ve thought about this, but y’know they won’t fit into the charging pod anymore with something (anything, really) on them.

I only endorse this approach for when exercising outdoors, riding the train etc.

And actually most of the time when I'm outside the house I prefer to be able to hear my environment, for safety reasons.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#593

Post by kawfey »

Regarding annoyance 6, Apple replaces crackling airpods for free. https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-airpods-pro-free-repla...

I've had my left one replaced twice now, no charge. But since my left pod is new, and my right is old, the right has a rapidly decaying battery life, which cannot be replaced free of charge.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#594

Post by michelb »

rashkov wrote: post #590
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #47

I generally enjoy my AirPods. They are occasionally quirky, but most of the time they really do “just work” for me. The annoyances are annoying when they happen, though. The strangest part is that the annoyances aren’t getting any better over time. At first I assumed that they were growing pains of an early product launch. Yet now we’re years into the AirPods experience and they continue to be just as quirky as when…

I recently upgraded from an iPhone XR and a lot of frustrating software problems just went away. Nothing to do with AirPods in my case, but it made me realize the effect of having an older phone with less processing power and less developer attention paid to it. I wonder if your AirPods problems might have to do with having older devices connecting — ie. the other side of the Bluetooth connection.

I have an iPhone 13 and I have all of the annoyances, often, except 6+7. In fact I have had these annoyances with all my iPhone and Airpods combinations. It's probably all due to bluetooth, even though Apple uses their own W1 chip to connect.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#595

Post by quacker »

ho_schi wrote: post #564

3.5 mm jack Nasty. Yes ;) I'm sorry but it solves these problems and I think most of us have more prominent issues. Bluetooth - and even overpriced Apple products - are usually working well with one connection only. And the headset profile needs to sacrifice quality for voice input. This is to large degrees a question about priority of the user. If you need good or even excellent quality - opt for a good headset and…

Another option is 2.4 GHz wireless, which is common in gaming headsets, at least, for low-latency / high-quality audio. The downside is it requires a dongle.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#596

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

quacker wrote: post #595
ho_schi wrote: post #564

3.5 mm jack Nasty. Yes ;) I'm sorry but it solves these problems and I think most of us have more prominent issues. Bluetooth - and even overpriced Apple products - are usually working well with one connection only. And the headset profile needs to sacrifice quality for voice input. This is to large degrees a question about priority of the user. If you need good or even excellent quality - opt for a good headset and…

Another option is 2.4 GHz wireless, which is common in gaming headsets, at least, for low-latency / high-quality audio. The downside is it requires a dongle.

>Another option is 2.4 GHz wireless

Sorry to break it to you but Bluetooth also operates on the 2.4GHz ISM band. Those 2.4GHz dongles you're talking about is basically a custom wireless protocol that doesn't follow Bluetooth or any other open standard or OSI stack but is most likely based on some internal protocol of what the three major chip makers in the 2.4GHz space offer (Texas Instruments, Silicon Labs, Nordic Semi) .

I think the world needs less proprietary standards, not more, where the dongle is paired to the device in factory and if you loose the dongle then most likely the headphone or peripheral is instant e-waste.

So I'll stick with Bluetooth for the time being thank you very much.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#597

Post by dangus »

ho_schi wrote: post #564

3.5 mm jack Nasty. Yes ;) I'm sorry but it solves these problems and I think most of us have more prominent issues. Bluetooth - and even overpriced Apple products - are usually working well with one connection only. And the headset profile needs to sacrifice quality for voice input. This is to large degrees a question about priority of the user. If you need good or even excellent quality - opt for a good headset and…

Nice! I love the 3.5mm jack solution.

All we gotta do is solve the “I got my cable caught on the door knob as I walked by” issue and 3.5mm will be perfect.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#598

Post by StaleTortilla »

BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #465

It's weird to me how many people are like "yeah but every other bluetooth is worse". I have Airpod Pros and experienced every one of these issues and many more on the regular with them, but my several years old now Bose QC 35II never have any of these problems, still last like 5 times as long on battery after years of recharge cycles, interact better with two simultaneously connected devices, have better signal range…

Agreed on Bose QC 35II being great. I hardly ever have any issues with them. The only issues I do have with them are when they connect to my work MacBook Pro. The biggest of these issues is that the MacBook refuses to let any other device be the active device. If my Bose QC 35II connect to both my MacBook and my PC or phone (Android), and I want to listen to audio from the non-MacBook device, I have to first disconnect the headphones from the MacBook. But for my PC and phone, I can be dual connected to those, and as long as I have nothing playing, I can start playing something on either device and immediately hear it. At this point I've given up on using the Bose with the MacBook.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#599

Post by jdminhbg »

ho_schi wrote: post #564

3.5 mm jack Nasty. Yes ;) I'm sorry but it solves these problems and I think most of us have more prominent issues. Bluetooth - and even overpriced Apple products - are usually working well with one connection only. And the headset profile needs to sacrifice quality for voice input. This is to large degrees a question about priority of the user. If you need good or even excellent quality - opt for a good headset and…

None of the AirPod annoyances are as bad as having your headphones yanked violently out of your ears when the 3.5mm cable catches on a door handle.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#600

Post by [deleted] »

quacker wrote: post #595
ho_schi wrote: post #564

3.5 mm jack Nasty. Yes ;) I'm sorry but it solves these problems and I think most of us have more prominent issues. Bluetooth - and even overpriced Apple products - are usually working well with one connection only. And the headset profile needs to sacrifice quality for voice input. This is to large degrees a question about priority of the user. If you need good or even excellent quality - opt for a good headset and…

Another option is 2.4 GHz wireless, which is common in gaming headsets, at least, for low-latency / high-quality audio. The downside is it requires a dongle.

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