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AirPods don't “just work”

philip.design

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Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#761

Post by chowells »

TylerE wrote: post #687
chipotle_coyote wrote: post #585

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about "every other Bluetooth," but I certainly experience different problems with other Bluetooth devices. :) My regular experiences: - The AirPods Pro and AirPods Max generally work well. I've experienced most of the annoyances the OP lists occasionally, but not regularly, although the "autoselect the device want you want" outsmarts itself semi-regularly. (Not quite enough to make me disable it, but it'…

I have to wonder if it's time to just say screw Bluetooth, and deploy a new standard that's specially oriented for audio. Requirements aren't crazy. It just needs to support uncompressed 96/24, full duplex.

You can hear 48kHz tones? Wow.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#762

Post by fphhotchips »

withinboredom wrote: post #676
symlinkk wrote: post #660

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there any other over the ear headphones that provide great sound quality, noise cancellation, pair with computers and smartphones, and have a solid mic? I’ve looked at the Sony XM1000’s and from what I understand there is some issue with Windows where if you enable the mic, it goes into some different Bluetooth mode that degrades the audio quality coming out of the headphones. Many wireless headphones are adverti…

Wait is there a device that can do stereo AND mic? I’m not aware of any and I’ve searched long and hard. AFAIK, there is no way it is possible with the current BT spec. Are you saying your Apple headphones can do that?

A quick look through Reddit shows that no, they can't. https://www.reddit.com/r/airpods/comments/kg3w4n/airpods_max...

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#763

Post by Hokusai »

nsxwolf wrote: post #759
Hokusai wrote: post #749

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there's untold little quirks you have to deal with when using a general-purpose operating system "Though initial iterations of the software for the original Xbox and Xbox 360 were based on heavily modified versions of Windows, the newer consoles feature operating systems that are highly compatible with Microsoft's desktop operating systems, allowing for shared applications and ease-of-development between personal c…

There's also a lot of little things. Like, you launch a game and there's no audio. Well, Windows at some point decided to switch audio outputs on you. You may have a lot of them. Line out, headphones, a bluetooth headset, a virtual out for streaming software, a monitor with built-in speakers - and now you've got to click the little speaker icon and try to figure out what should be selected, which may be named after t…

> Well, Windows at some point decided to switch audio outputs on you. You may have a lot of them. Line out, headphones, a bluetooth headset, a virtual out for streaming software, a monitor with built-in speakers

I agree that I have found that problems. I just get the same problems with my TV (Samsung) when I have several audio devices. Maybe one can argue that is a TV problem, not a console problem. But non-portable consoles need a TV to work. So, the problem exists but it's moved somewhere else.

After your comment I realize that portable consoles are that ideal all-in-one, at least older ones without HDMI or Bluetooth.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#764

Post by GraemeMeyer »

davidmurdoch wrote: post #260
uzbit wrote: post #231

I think most of these annoyances can be taken broadly from the fact that everything about any Bluetooth experience is just absolute trash. Why does it take several tries to pair sometimes? When paired, why does it sometimes auto-connect and sometimes not? Why does it just never pair at all? What's with that pair code that it says to enter, but auto fills (sometimes)? And only sometimes do you have to use that code (w…

How have consumers let companies get away with "premium" phones being the ones with fewer features?

I think of it like USB A ports. You miss it for a few years. And then you don't. And the products generally continue to improve along other lines

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#765

Post by throwaway946513 »

323 wrote: post #428
DoingIsLearning wrote: post #385

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Notice that you just went from "people don't really want it", to "it's not really feasible", all the way to straight up ad hominem.

It was a side point, because it's always very rich people with iPhone 13 Max which are like "poor people should use 10 year old phones, but not me, I can't be seen on gram with that, I need credibility so I can speak out about the climate" Modular phones were tried and were a complete market failure. Because they sacrifice thinness, robustness and water proofing. Older standards are removed because they are not used…

> Always the very rich people with iPhone 13 Max ....

Funnily enough, I can name numerous people who use iPhone 13 Pros/Pro Maxes, just bought this past year and are certainly making less than median wage.

Part of it is fashion, 'not appearing poor', and they may only know iOS due to a history of using it. So no, the very rich aren't the only ones buying iPhones. The stigma that they are phones for the wealthy should go, just as the idea that Android phones are for the poor.

Many people I know who make well more than three or four times what I do use a variety of Android devices.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#766

Post by smoldesu »

CTmystery wrote: post #723

I'm only an indirect user of AirPods and I really do not like them: Every time my team does a google meet / hangout the folks using AirPods sound terrible to the point that it's distracting. I don't know if it's in the microphone, the bluetooth connection, or the interaction with a google product, but it is much worse than (a) wired earbuds and (b) the folks using Bose QC 35s (which the company gave out a while back)

Dankpods did a pretty good comparison of wired mic quality with wireless: https://youtu.be/N6Y_Q7RYmmY?t=315

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#767

Post by [deleted] »

DoingIsLearning wrote: post #240
ChicagoBoy11 wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's entirely fair, but the issue is the demand for the less bulky bluetooth headset isn't there. To think that this will be solved from the supply-side is wishful thinking at best; if folks really demanded repairable headsets, the supply would take care of itself.

I mean there was no demand for more expensive unleaded fuel but we still regulated leaded fuel out of existence. What consumers want and what is needed for the environment is not always aligned. Consumer demand is not a very good guiding principle for environmental protection.

[deleted]

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#768

Post by gnicholas »

biot wrote: post #751
Spivak wrote: post #665

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a bad end-user experience but I can kinda see the flow. You're listening on your iPhone but using your computer. Device switching then says "okay since they're using their computer if any sound comes from the computer they should hear it" and then iMessage made a sound. Had the thing you did been playing a YouTube video or Spotify then it would be weird if your AirPods didn't switch. I think it makes sense fo…

It's even worse when you're on an active phone call (the standard iPhone phone functionality, not third party meeting/voip app) talking to another human being and an alert sound plays on the computer, stealing the audio from your phone call and you can no longer hear or speak with the other person. I can't think of a better example where "don't steal the audio" is more applicable.

Another similar annoyance: I'm on my phone using my AirPods and I wander in range (but still rooms away from) my Beats, which happen to be turned on. Even though I haven't taken my AirPods out of my ears, my phone switches over to my Beats. Why?

Surely the AirPods know they're still inserted and should be able to override any external switching cue. Also, the AirPods are still much closer to my phone than the Beats, so the signal should be stronger. Lastly, it's not like I just turned on the Beats, and they sent some sort of startup/activation signal. I literally just get home from a walk and my phone migrates to a different audio output. Maddening.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#769

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

nsxwolf wrote: post #733
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 like "workarounds become a reflex". This is a very succinct way of describing one of the causes of why people often claim to have no issues using something that universally has issues. A great example is the gaming PC vs gaming console war. PC gamers often seem to refuse to admit there's untold little quirks you have to deal with when using a general-purpose operating system and modular hardware to play games. They…

>A great example is the gaming PC vs gaming console war.

Which war was that? A bunch of teenagers and man-children arguing online between PC vs console superiority is in no way a 'war' and is anything but a great example for "workarounds become a reflex". Online squabbles between rabid fanboys and brand loyalists should be left alone and not be used in logical debates.

>PC gamers often seem to refuse to admit there's untold little quirks you have to deal with when using a general-purpose operating system and modular hardware to play games.

I highly doubt your broad generalization is accurate. Do you have any sources for your claims? Every PC owner and gamer I know both online and IRL openly admits this hobby is not a smooth sailing endeavor. Again, I would love to see your sources for your claims, otherwise I feel HN is degrading into reddit where people make broad fact-less generalizations with no arguments and others upvote regardless because it gives them self-approval and dopamine hits.

>They don't notice the workarounds they are continuously employing, because it's become a reflex.

My personal example would be MacOS, when I, an outsider who never regularly used MacOS, point out various UX quirks that trip me up and cause issues for me rather than make my life easier as I was promised, I saw that everyone I know who is a long time user of MacOS got so used to the quirks that they formed some workarounds that turned into reflexes and just became part of the experience and not viewed as issue anymore but as tolerated and expected behavior. Basically for them MacOS is simpler because they already know the quirks and workarounds inside and out, not because it's objectively simpler than the alternatives. Same goes for long time users of Linux and Windows if you're coming from the other side.

So in the end it's not about one being objectively better than the other, it's about people always will have more issues with the things they don't know very well and be subjectively biased towards the things they already know and like. It's the nature of humanity.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#770

Post by oynqr »

TylerE wrote: post #687
chipotle_coyote wrote: post #585

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about "every other Bluetooth," but I certainly experience different problems with other Bluetooth devices. :) My regular experiences: - The AirPods Pro and AirPods Max generally work well. I've experienced most of the annoyances the OP lists occasionally, but not regularly, although the "autoselect the device want you want" outsmarts itself semi-regularly. (Not quite enough to make me disable it, but it'…

I have to wonder if it's time to just say screw Bluetooth, and deploy a new standard that's specially oriented for audio. Requirements aren't crazy. It just needs to support uncompressed 96/24, full duplex.

Why waste a bunch of bandwidth on 96 kHz when 44.1 is fine?
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