7 ms·

Also if the README is to be believed the following are also hidden behind an Apple DID (not driver): - Multi-device Connectivity - Accessibility Settings and

by alickz 10mo ago

Also if the README is to be believed the following are also hidden behind an Apple DID (not driver): - Multi-device Connectivity - Accessibility Settings and Hearing Aid While the following are exclusive to Apple devices for market reasons: - Receive Battery Information - Set/Receive ANC Modes - Set Adaptive Audio Noise settings - Receive In-Ear detection Status - Personalized Volume (use at your own risk - might randomly boost volume to some high level) - Conversational Awareness - Ear Detection - Siri (Voice assistant on long stem press) - Hold and Press configuration - Head Tracking (for Spatial Audio and Head Gestures) - Rename AirPods https://github.com/kavishdevar/librepods/issues/20 https://github.com/kavishdevar/librepods/issues/20 I imagine limiting such features to Apple devices is more about incentivizing the Apple Ecosystem than quality or software concerns

trollbridge 10mo ago
Or Apple just doesn't want to bother with the nightmare of supplying and supporting an app to do all those things on other platforms, and in particular, there are regulatory approvals around the "hearing aid" feature that would pretty much require a specific device. They have a basic app for some of their other devices like the Beats line. One other thing you simply can't do without pairing AirPods with an Apple device is enrol them in AppleCare One.
- angoragoats 10mo ago
  You're responding in a sub-thread where others have specifically called out the fact that you can't get battery status from AirPods on non-Apple platforms. This is, to my knowledge, a feature that is supported natively by the Bluetooth stacks on every mainstream OS and requires no "apps" at all. For example, I can connect my Bluetooth mouse to my Linux machine and it happily reports the state of the battery. Care to offer a justification for why this is the case without resorting to "the multi-trillion-dollar behemoth can't be bothered to build an app"?
  - deleted 10mo ago
    [deleted]
  - sroussey 10mo ago
    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.
    - angoragoats 10mo ago
      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 WF-C700N, which have no problem reporting three battery levels over standard Bluetooth on e.g. Linux. [0] https://www.bluetooth.com/wp-content/uploads/Files/Specification/HTML/BAS_v1.1/out/en/index-en.html https://www.bluetooth.com/wp-content/uploads/Files/Specifica...
      - inferiorhuman 10mo ago
        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.
        angoragoats 10mo ago
        Man, HN really likes to make excuses for Apple. No, implementing multiple instances of the Battery Service to report battery state for several batteries has been there since the 1.0 spec. [0] This spec was released in 2011, five years before the first AirPods were released. Doing what several commenters claimed was impossible has in fact been possible with native Bluetooth for a decade and a half. [0] https://www.bluetooth.org/docman/handlers/downloaddoc.ashx?doc_id=245138 https://www.bluetooth.org/docman/handlers/downloaddoc.ashx?d...
- Oranguru 10mo ago
  What "other platforms" are you talking about? Just an Android app would suffice. It's not a huge deal for a company worth trillions, especially if the features are already there and they're just blocking non-Apple products. If they deliberately do that, it makes you think they don't really care about their customers and are more interested in locking people into their ecosystem.
- bloppe 10mo ago
  You're commenting on a post where a random guy provides this "nightmare of supplying and supporting an app" in his spare time, except he actually has to work around Apple's malicious obfuscation and standards non-compliance, so it would actually be way easier for Apple to do it themselves.
  - oofbey 10mo ago
    It is in fact significantly harder for Apple. Because nobody expects random spare time GitHub project to work perfectly. Or even very well. Apple’s reputation, and trillion dollar market value, is based on the idea that their stuff works perfectly.
    - nirava 10mo ago
      good god man, just accept that this is objectively an EXTREMELY easy thing to do for anyone. Yes theoretically there are things that are easier for OSS devs than large companies, THIS AIN'T ONE OF THEM. Ugh, trillion dollar market value doesn't mean they are incapable of making a basic android app. Check their move to ios app if you have any doubts.
      - hluska 10mo ago
        It doesn’t matter how frustrated you get or how many times you write capital letters, Apple is a private company and can do exactly what they want to do. If you would like Apple to do your bidding, acquire a controlling interest - it’s public so there’s nothing stopping you.
        nirava 10mo ago
        Welcome to this argument which is about how easy/hard it might be for a company to implement this particular feature. The argument about whether they ought to is in some other thread I imagine, you might have lost your way. I don't own their airpods so in this particular instance, IDC about the outcome. Caps for emphasis, not frustration.
        10mo ago
deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]
wkat4242 10mo ago
I wonder how well that conversation detection works. Does it really help in a loud environment? As a neurodivergent person I lack the innate human skill to filter voices out of a cacaphony of noise so loud bars etc are hell. There also the "talking with earphones in is rude" but that's an issue that can just be explained. Needing root to enable it is a major deal-breaker though :( and moving to an iPhone is impossible for me. Too much stuff that's not supported.

by alickz 10mo ago

trollbridge 10mo ago

Or Apple just doesn't want to bother with the nightmare of supplying and supporting an app to do all those things on other platforms, and in particular, there are regulatory approvals around the "hearing aid" feature that would pretty much require a specific device. They have a basic app for some of their other devices like the Beats line. One other thing you simply can't do without pairing AirPods with an Apple device is enrol them in AppleCare One.

angoragoats 10mo ago
You're responding in a sub-thread where others have specifically called out the fact that you can't get battery status from AirPods on non-Apple platforms. This is, to my knowledge, a feature that is supported natively by the Bluetooth stacks on every mainstream OS and requires no "apps" at all. For example, I can connect my Bluetooth mouse to my Linux machine and it happily reports the state of the battery. Care to offer a justification for why this is the case without resorting to "the multi-trillion-dollar behemoth can't be bothered to build an app"?
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]
- sroussey 10mo ago
  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.
  - angoragoats 10mo ago
    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 WF-C700N, which have no problem reporting three battery levels over standard Bluetooth on e.g. Linux. [0] https://www.bluetooth.com/wp-content/uploads/Files/Specification/HTML/BAS_v1.1/out/en/index-en.html https://www.bluetooth.com/wp-content/uploads/Files/Specifica...
    - inferiorhuman 10mo ago
      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.
      - angoragoats 10mo ago
        Man, HN really likes to make excuses for Apple. No, implementing multiple instances of the Battery Service to report battery state for several batteries has been there since the 1.0 spec. [0] This spec was released in 2011, five years before the first AirPods were released. Doing what several commenters claimed was impossible has in fact been possible with native Bluetooth for a decade and a half. [0] https://www.bluetooth.org/docman/handlers/downloaddoc.ashx?doc_id=245138 https://www.bluetooth.org/docman/handlers/downloaddoc.ashx?d...
Oranguru 10mo ago
What "other platforms" are you talking about? Just an Android app would suffice. It's not a huge deal for a company worth trillions, especially if the features are already there and they're just blocking non-Apple products. If they deliberately do that, it makes you think they don't really care about their customers and are more interested in locking people into their ecosystem.
bloppe 10mo ago
You're commenting on a post where a random guy provides this "nightmare of supplying and supporting an app" in his spare time, except he actually has to work around Apple's malicious obfuscation and standards non-compliance, so it would actually be way easier for Apple to do it themselves.
- oofbey 10mo ago
  It is in fact significantly harder for Apple. Because nobody expects random spare time GitHub project to work perfectly. Or even very well. Apple’s reputation, and trillion dollar market value, is based on the idea that their stuff works perfectly.
  - nirava 10mo ago
    good god man, just accept that this is objectively an EXTREMELY easy thing to do for anyone. Yes theoretically there are things that are easier for OSS devs than large companies, THIS AIN'T ONE OF THEM. Ugh, trillion dollar market value doesn't mean they are incapable of making a basic android app. Check their move to ios app if you have any doubts.
    - hluska 10mo ago
      It doesn’t matter how frustrated you get or how many times you write capital letters, Apple is a private company and can do exactly what they want to do. If you would like Apple to do your bidding, acquire a controlling interest - it’s public so there’s nothing stopping you.
      - nirava 10mo ago
        Welcome to this argument which is about how easy/hard it might be for a company to implement this particular feature. The argument about whether they ought to is in some other thread I imagine, you might have lost your way. I don't own their airpods so in this particular instance, IDC about the outcome. Caps for emphasis, not frustration.
      - 10mo ago

deleted 10mo ago

[deleted]

wkat4242 10mo ago

I wonder how well that conversation detection works. Does it really help in a loud environment? As a neurodivergent person I lack the innate human skill to filter voices out of a cacaphony of noise so loud bars etc are hell. There also the "talking with earphones in is rude" but that's an issue that can just be explained. Needing root to enable it is a major deal-breaker though :( and moving to an iPhone is impossible for me. Too much stuff that's not supported.