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AirPods don't “just work”

philip.design

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Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#791

Post by orhmeh09 »

pjerem wrote: post #738
krferriter wrote: post #689

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think part of the problems you describe is the failings of the bluetooth stack in MacOS, not the Airpods themselves. I have had bluetooth device issues in MacOS on a brand new Macbook, and of course MacOS offers no advanced control options or access to underlying defaults it plugs into device and connection configurations, and there are forum posts about issues going back many years with no acknowledgement by Apple…

I have to reassure you, the Windows BT stack is actually a pile of garbage. And I’m talking about things like the whole audio system crashing when trying to use my XM4 on any videoconférence software, my Xbox controller randomly disconnecting for several seconds while in game (I play at a At this point I’m starting to believe that even Linux has a better Bluetooth stack than windows and OS X. iOS is okayish but I hav…

I have found for years that Linux offers the best Bluetooth experience. Does Android use their BT stack or do they have their own?

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#792

Post by san-fran »

slig wrote: post #464
germinalphrase wrote: post #437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once had an EE friend that built these tiny chips he called Annoyers. They simply emitted a loud chirp at a random time interval. The interval was too long to effectively locate the chip, and the chirp was terribly annoying. It could take weeks to find the quarter-sides device hidden in someone’s home (or the battery would just die). Of course, while he was explaining this to me, the chip slipped from my fingers an…

There's a commercial product called "Annoy-a-tron" that does that.

When I started a new job at a NOC, I was pranked with one of those. I didn't know what to make of the odd recurring ~12khz beeps, and figured it was some old device slowly dying. So I pulled out a stopwatch to see if I could suss out the interval on the beeping. I was too focused on timing the beeps to notice my coworkers exchanging glances with each other after asking them, "Does anyone else hear that?"

I found a pattern emerge. It repeated itself every 10 beeps or so, with irregular intervals between those beeps. Armed with that information, I could effectively predict the next beep within 3-5 seconds (intervals ranged between 3-10 minutes, if I recall.) So I started walking around the room, standing in different locations as I stared at my stopwatch. The farther apart the places I stood, the better chance I'd have of triangulating the source with each beep.

I got within 3-5 feet of it in the ~300 square foot room before the coworkers came clean about what they had done. I wasn't even mad, I was having a blast!

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#793

Post by Gigachad »

kayodelycaon wrote: post #4

Apple stuff "just works" until it doesn't. As much as a fan I am of Apple, the lack of feedback when things stop working is absolutely infuriating.

I think a lot of this is down to the fact that all issues that the user could resolve have already been fixed and when you eventually hit an issue, its some low level problem you have no hope of fixing anyway. While on windows or linux you often run in to situations where its just "Oh don't press that button, thats the button that makes it blow up, press the one next to it" while apple removes the button that makes it blow up.

That isn't always the case, but it tends to be.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#794

Post by _23sd »

I really hope Apple decides to improve things for their ecosystem within the framework of Bluetooth rather than go their own way as some people here have suggested. That route would almost certainly lead to a proliferation of proprietary PAN standards and allow cell manufacturers to tax (or just acquire) consumer audio companies, many of which are struggling to compete with AirPods already. Anyway, we're going to find out soon: Apple has all but confirmed that they're working on something to solve their Bluetooth bandwidth problem [1]. Could just be a new Bluetooth profile, and I feel for the Apple users because that would almost certainly just multiply these annoyances rather than fixing them (wider audio quality gap = more people notice when the connection is inexplicably stuck on the ultra-low quality voice call profile which happens all the time, causes the OP's Annoyance 3 and is one of the causes of Annoyance 4). But I think we'll be better off in the long run if Apple and others in the industry work on Bluetooth improvements that everyone can use without paying up to Qualcomm.

[1] https://www.whathifi.com/features/is-bluetooth-holding-back-...

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#795

Post by throwaway_Aef8 »

frosted-flakes wrote: post #734
wruza wrote: post #566

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looking at my SE2 right now. What you mean lower quality? (Btw it has no minijack)

Not flagship. Non-OLED screen, single rear camera, no face recognition, smaller battery, etc. GP's requirements were either a fingerprint sensor or headphone jack before switching.

Heequaet4geongeel1bag0xie9inaB4u

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#796

Post by dempedempe »

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…

I had my QC 35IIs stolen when I forgot them in a Sixt rental. I decided to get some Airpods as a replacement as most reviews I found online said they were comparable. God, I miss my QC 35IIs...

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#797

Post by chipotle_coyote »

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.

I don't think you need a new standard for that -- UWB radios, like Apple's already-deployed U1 chip, have the bandwidth to easily be bandying about 96/24 FLAC/ALAC files, at the least. (Personally, I'd settle for topping out at 48/16 lossless ALAC.)

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#798

Post by Gigachad »

soared wrote: post #169
DoingIsLearning wrote: post #52

I would add to the list that it is environmentally negligent to allow for such a complex device to be near irreparable (specifically on battery replacement). Unless you are selling medical devices your electronics should never be thrown away because after-sales cannot swap a battery. Then again Google just dropped the Pixel 3 after just 3 years so this is clearly an issue with the consumer electronics business model.…

Airpods are insanely small and the outside casing is pretty much a single piece of plastic. I am all for right to repair, but it does not seem feasible or reasonable for AirPods - they’d have to be bulkier.

The airpods in entirety would be less waste than the packaging most spare parts come wrapped in. It just feels worse because they cost a lot more than a plastic foam pack your steak comes in.

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#799

Post by the_watcher »

Annoyance 4 is the one that really bothers me (although to be fair, I have Beats Studio Buds that have exactly the same issue). Also, they get _really_ dirty and are very irritating to clean. Really not sure how Apple hasn't produced a good cleaning tool (or at least identified one and listed it in the store).

Re: AirPods don't “just work”

#800

Post by Gigachad »

delecti wrote: post #202
soared wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Airpods are insanely small and the outside casing is pretty much a single piece of plastic. I am all for right to repair, but it does not seem feasible or reasonable for AirPods - they’d have to be bulkier.

> they’d have to be bulkier Then make them bulkier. What's worse, filling the planet with garbage, or a few industrial designers having slightly less impressive portfolios?

It's actually pretty bad for the airpods. The gen 3 airpods are bulkier than the 1 and 2 which now means they don't stay in my ears nearly as well. I never had issues with the originals falling out which I now do with the gen 3.
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