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AirPods don't “just work”

philip.design

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Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#71

Post by lowercased »

kop316 wrote: post #29

Heh, I got my spouse a pair of AirPods, and long ago she went back to a pair of wired earbuds due to various issues with them. IIRC, noiuse cancelling didn't work well and causes a lot of sudio issues, there were connection issues all the time. The cheap wired heaphones work much better for her. Out of curiousity, does anyone have a good recommendation for a good pair of 3.5mm wired headphones with a microphone? I st…

I generally like the QC20, but I think those were recently discontinued. The mic wasn't the best, but for regular conversations generally didn't have problems if I clipped the mic to a shirt. If it bounced around and rustled on a shirt that wasn't good, but that's going to be a problem with any mic on a wire, I'd think.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#72

Post by darrenf »

hetspookjee wrote: post #5
rogual wrote: post #3

Annoyance 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.

What bugs are you referring to?

> 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.

I have the WF-1000XM4s. On the iOS headphones app, visiting System and turning off "Notification & Voice Guide" gets rid of the power on and battery level announcements leaving only the connection/disconnection alerts (although I keep all of them on as I find them useful, and wouldn't characterise them as screams).

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#73

Post by justinator »

martneumann wrote: post #56
justinator wrote: post #11

Oofta. Is anyone having trouble with white text on black background? That was a design anti pattern that I thought died out in the early 2,000's.

Same for me. It produces some glare for me and I use dark mode almost everywhere. I also don't like the huge font. Looks almost what I'd expect an h2 to look like.

There IS also a difference (as well) between Dark Mode and pure white text (or close to it) on pure black background. Usually a Dark Mode will have the contrast be slightly less (both text and bg are grays).

Sorry to point this out, but it IS a UI design site, and the person is griping about the minutia problems of an Apple device, so: fair game.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#74

Post by boardwaalk »

Meanwhile I’ve given them up since the charging contacts have gotten so bad at reliably touching. Most of the time I’ll pick them up and they’re dead or I’ll spend several minutes (not exaggerating) putting them in the case and taking them out to get them to activate properly.

No amount of cleaning or other finagling really helps.

And this has happened to me in the very first AirPods and the AirPods Pro.

I’m not sure how this bad design survives but fool me three times…

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#75

Post by SigmundA »

I turn off auto switching, it causes too many issues. Otherwise for me they have worked better than any other wireless headphone / earbuds.

They need double the battery life and they would be basically perfect for my use, I am hopeful ver 3's will do this along with maybe some crazy move away from bluetooth which I still believe is the root of all the issues that even Apple can't fully solve without just making some different wireless protocol.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#76

Post by Grumbledour »

the-alt-one wrote: post #2

Good to hear the gripes with AirPods are identical to my $80 earpods, nothing missed out on in other words :-). Edit: I have a pair of JBL LIVE300TWS. They're good!

It feels really good to hear that the expensive models have mostly the same flaws as the cheap ones. So the people who tell me it must be my 40€ anker models, because theirs always work fine probably just don't use them as much, but at the same time, spending more money would not have given me better functionality (except noise canceling).

I guess the real thing to take away is, that cable is still the most reliable option (and also saves a lot on battery!)

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#77

Post by mcphage »

StevePerkins wrote: post #55

I have a $200-250 pair of AirPod Pros, and a $40 pair of Tozo NC7's that I bought for a backup. The Tozo's get way more use, to the point where I regret buying the AirPods. Your ears may vary, but "dot" style earbuds are WAY more comfortable (and likely to stay put in my ears) than the "stem" style buds. The spatial audio thing turned out to be a pointless novelty that wore off quickly, and isn't even supported on ha…

> a $40 pair of Tozo NC7's that I bought for a backup. The Tozo's get way more use, to the point where I regret buying the AirPods

Thanks for the recommendation... I almost lost one of my airpods in 18" of snow last week when snowblowing, and I decided it's not a good idea to wear my airpods when snowblowing anymore.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#78

Post by geoduck14 »

StevePerkins wrote: post #55

I have a $200-250 pair of AirPod Pros, and a $40 pair of Tozo NC7's that I bought for a backup. The Tozo's get way more use, to the point where I regret buying the AirPods. Your ears may vary, but "dot" style earbuds are WAY more comfortable (and likely to stay put in my ears) than the "stem" style buds. The spatial audio thing turned out to be a pointless novelty that wore off quickly, and isn't even supported on ha…

I have a pair of fancy Bose over-the-ear headphones. They have the "connect to 2 devices" feature you mentioned. And it inconvenient.

It will connect to my cell phone and computer at the same time. I'll be on a zoom call (computer) and something will make it decide to disconnect and reconnect from my phone - so I'll get a 10 second interruption notifying me of this glitch.

Also, if someone calls me, I haven't figured out how to force it to switch to my cell phone.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#79

Post by gullywhumper »

My annoyance is that gen3 audio controls are significantly more difficult to use. With gen2 it was possible to simply tap the side of the airpod to pause, skip, or go back, and the user had the option to set which side controlled that functionality.

Gen3 has a sensor that has the same functionality, but it is more cumbersome to use. The sensor is small and angled in a position that makes it more awkward and difficult to access. It requires some precision and dexterity - a pinch rather than a tap. The sensor is on the stem of the airpod, so it feels less secure to press. There is also a small click when the sensor is pressed that gets annoying.

I live in a cold environment and frequently have to wear multiple layers of gloves, mittens, hoods, and hats when I go for long walks, so I lose that functionality.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#80

Post by dannyw »

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…

Apple seems to only improve peripherals (like the AirPods) with new hardware releases; not software updates. They make money based on units of AirPods moved.
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