Apple Is Releasing a Find My AirPods Feature (theverge.com) 98
For those of you worried about losing an AirPod or two, you may soon be able to find some peace of mind. According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple is adding AirPods support to the Find My iPhone app with the release of iOS 10.3, which will be released in the coming weeks. The Verge reports: Inside the app, AirPods owners will be able to see either the current or last known location of their headphones (although it seems like Apple will determine that based on where the case was last seen, not the actual earbuds). That location data is going to be pretty broad, so it'll really only be good for confirming whether your AirPods are at home or got left behind at work or a coffee shop -- it's not granular enough to say where within your home they might be. To help out with the trickier issue of locating missing headphones that have been separated from their case, Apple is able to blast sound out of each earbud (so long as it has some remaining power). That's by no means an assurance that you'll find a lost earbud, especially if you drop it outside, but it could be pretty helpful if one goes missing around the house.
It dosen't matter (Score:1)
If it doesn't have a headphone jack then I am not buying an iphone.
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It also makes it easier to know where your headphones/earbuds are. (They're attached to your phone!)
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When I was a kid my mum sewed my gloves on pieces of elastic and attached them to my coat.
I guess we now know... (Score:5, Interesting)
Why they pulled the app a few weeks ago that allowed you to track down a lost airpod..
How is this NOT anticompetitive?
Apple use their control of the app store to remove an app, and then release similar (although by the sound of it only distantly similar) functionality a few week later.
I hope the creator of the pulled app knows a good lawyer..
Re:I guess we now know... (Score:5, Interesting)
Why they pulled the app a few weeks ago that allowed you to track down a lost airpod..
How is this NOT anticompetitive?
I hope the creator of the pulled app knows a good lawyer..
Maybe he should ask that guy who wrote the notification app that was copied by iOS7 (iirc?) how much of a case he has.
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Maybe he should ask that guy who wrote the notification app that was copied by iOS7 (iirc?) how much of a case he has.
These guys should probably patent these things and then just stick it to Apple's ass (i.e. charge really steep royalties, say $10 per device) if they decide to remove the app in favor of their own. Maybe not for the notification thing (prior art on Android and all,) but certainly for the method of syncing itunes (proprietary) over wireless, and this find my airpods thing, both of which were likely patentable and Apple just yanked from the store when they decided to make a competing product. In fact it may n
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You mean Comex? He wanted to work for Apple. Interned with them, I think even later interned with Google.
http://www.idownloadblog.com/2... [idownloadblog.com]
I see your point, but if we're talking about Comex (I could be wrong), he's not the best example, but a brilliant kid none the less.
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And thus they gain the functionality that Plantronics has had for five years.
Apple is a jewelry company. When they hired that gay guy as CEO, they lost all real technical innovation- they're followers, not leaders.
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What the hell Tim Cook's sexual orientation have to do with anything?
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Stop injecting your prejudices into the discussion. The commenter just referred to him as 'that gay guy.' No implication was made that his gayness had anything to do with the rest of the comment. Stop acting like calling somebody gay is a pejorative. It's no different than saying ' that redheaded guy.'
You don't actually believe what you are saying, do you?
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He had a good point, but it's not true in this case.
I see the gay culture as being FABULOUS on the outside, BROKEN on the inside.
Thus I was trying to draw an analogy to a computer company that is great at making cases people want to use that contain outdated technology.
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He had a good point, but it's not true in this case.
I see the gay culture as being FABULOUS on the outside, BROKEN on the inside.
Thus I was trying to draw an analogy to a computer company that is great at making cases people want to use that contain outdated technology.
ORLY?
What's "Outdated" in the iPhone 7? It has the fastest CPU and GPU in the industry, industry-leading water-resistance, iron-clad Security, etc.
What's "Outdated" in the 2016 MacBook Pro? It has the latest-generation QUAD-CORE Mobile Intel CPUs; perhaps the ONLY 5k Display in a laptop; industry-leading SSD Speeds; DOUBLE the I/O bandwidth of the next TWO closest laptops COMBINED, and a unique-in-the-industry, multifunction, multitouch input device, not to mention the world's best trackpad.
Those are
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The iPhone 7 contains no technology at all that didn't already exist in Samsung, Asus, and LG phones.
The 2016 Macbook pro is no different than any other Intel based laptop of the same class and half the price.
Face it, it's just sparkle you're paying for with the apple tax these days. Fabulous looks and specs, nothing innovative underneath.
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The iPhone 7 contains no technology at all that didn't already exist in Samsung, Asus, and LG phones.
The 2016 Macbook pro is no different than any other Intel based laptop of the same class and half the price.
Face it, it's just sparkle you're paying for with the apple tax these days. Fabulous looks and specs, nothing innovative underneath.
Depends on the definition of the nebulous term "technology", now doesn't it? If you mean "It didn't have a built-in Transporter", then no. But having the world's fastest CPU and GPU and the best Security is certainly "Technology that doesn't exist" in other brands. As I said, it all hinges on the definition of "Technology". Too bad you had to resort to a bullshit catch-all term to try and prove your sad little point.
As for the MacBook Pros: Name me one other laptop of ANY brand and at ANY price that has 8
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I've seen all of this at Intel. Other people make the hardware, Apple's just a packager. LG has a five-in-one that can do all of that and then some. The Apple 5k display is actually an LG product to begin with.
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I've seen all of this at Intel. Other people make the hardware, Apple's just a packager. LG has a five-in-one that can do all of that and then some. The Apple 5k display is actually an LG product to begin with.
Duh! You truly are an idiot.
Apple doesn't claim that LG display; just that they worked with LG on it. It is LG-Branded, and looks NOTHING like an Apple product.
Apple, however, is MUCH more than a "packager".
Where did they buy that Touch Bar display and custom SoC from? Whose parts catalog can you point to?
Where did they buy that TouchID and custom SoC in the new MBPs from? Whose parts catalog can you point to?
Where did they buy the custom SSD controller in the new MBPs from? Whose parts catalog ca
Re: I guess we now know... (Score:2)
Either way, Tim Cook seems more like a salesman than an inventor. Same problem Microsoft had with Steve Ballmer.
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Exactly. Though in this case, there is a bit of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" mentality that seems to be going on.
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Either way, Tim Cook seems more like a salesman than an inventor. Same problem Microsoft had with Steve Ballmer.
Funny - you guys said the same about Steve Jobs until he died. Then he suddenly became the one true inventor that kept Apple alive. "Due already Apple, you should have imploded the second now that Steve died."
Have you ever considered that not understanding Apple when Jobs was still alive is no good reason to believe you understand Apple after Steve died?
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"Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"
Supposedly, the stereotype I was trying to reference is that gays are awesome at fashion and appearances, but that once you scratch beneath the surface, you find broken psyches.
Similarly, Apple is wonderful at making innovative cases that people like to look at, but the technology inside is, well, outdated.
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More importantly, did the original developer remember to file a patent on the process of locating wireless speakers through the use of signal analysis?
Only on Slashdot can people in seriousness claim somebody should get a patent on "finding wireless headphones" by simply displaying Bluetooth signal strength. Which at best finds you the room the headphones are in, not the headphones themselves.
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The app store has a policy against duplicating built-in functionality. Many apps have been rejected for this reason.
Apparently, it includes future functionality.
Or they could have left the plug (Score:2)
alone in their "brave" design and not had to deal with this particular mess which keeps coming back to bug them.
But what do I know? I'm not an exec trying to make their quarterly projections.
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It's called: Knowing your customer base.
Apple removed the headphone jack to prevent users from molesting the phones.
Some other phone brands don't seem to believe their users physically capable of this and thus kept the headphone jack.
Typical Apple (Score:1)
It will use the last place seen rather than have them emit a sound. Yup.
Re:Typical Apple (Score:5, Informative)
It will use the last place seen rather than have them emit a sound. Yup.
No, according to the summary (you didn't even need to read the article!) it will do both...at least until some idiot does this while wearing the airpods and goes deaf at which point I expect the feature will be pulled.
Re: Typical Apple (Score:2)
Just have it start quiet and crescendo.
Re: Typical Apple (Score:2)
My two year Plantronics headset can sense when it's being worn. I imagine the air pods have the same features, and that the designers worked it into the program.
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It will use the last place seen rather than have them emit a sound. Yup.
No, according to the summary (you didn't even need to read the article!) it will do both...at least until some idiot does this while wearing the airpods and goes deaf at which point I expect the feature will be pulled.
Doubtful, since AirPods know when they are in your ears.
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Loud enough for you to hear across the room.
And then 'accidentally' do this again while you're wearing the earbuds / headphones.
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First you find your phone using icloud.com, then use the phone to find the airpods. Though I suspect that you might find both on the web site.
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I'm waiting for the "Find Your Ass" app. In-app purchases include 2 hands and a map!
I wish I could pay but I lost my wallet (Score:1)
Does apple have a feature to find my wallet so I can pay them whatever they want for this brand new (innovative, non-android) feature??
A fool and his money... (Score:2)
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I don't have any real pity for someone who dishes out that kind of money for headphones and can't keep track of them.
Maybe they should get a string, or wire of some sort to keep them from getting away.
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Ah, yes, telling a stranger how to spend their money, always a good rhetorical strategy. /facepalm
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AIrPods are actually quite cheap. Even among wireless headphones.
You can buy wired headphones that cost more - much more. Sennheisers, Beats, Bose, etc., all make wired headphones that cost more than AirPods. They also make wireless ones, also which cost more. Granted, they are much larger, so instead of losing them, you're more li
Could be done better (Score:3)
If they are paired you can have them emit sound.
While connected you can use GPS and a small table to record the phones location every minute. Round robin it for maybe an hour. Stop writing table when unpaired.
Then when you need to find them you can backtrack from where you were last paired, up to an hour before that. You can even map it.
Most likely they are within 30 feet the last paired location, or someone at that location picked them up. This is NOT rocket surgery. Come on Apple have some courage.
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While connected you can use GPS and a small table to record the phones location every minute. Round robin it for maybe an hour. Stop writing table when unpaired. Then when you need to find them...
Then when you need to find them...your phone's battery is dead.
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Based on last location of case? Junk.
If they are paired you can have them emit sound. While connected you can use GPS and a small table to record the phones location every minute. Round robin it for maybe an hour. Stop writing table when unpaired. Then when you need to find them you can backtrack from where you were last paired, up to an hour before that. You can even map it.
Most likely they are within 30 feet the last paired location, or someone at that location picked them up. This is NOT rocket surgery. Come on Apple have some courage.
The AirPods themselves don't have GPS or WiFi, IIRC.
If they did, don't you think Apple would be using it? In fact, Apple would likely have the AirPod start calling for help when it detected an increasing distance between itself and whatever it was last paired with. But they simply can't add GPS to AirPods without sucking some serious battery life.
In fact, I wonder if Apple could monitor the BT strength from the AirPods in a background process running on the Paired Device(s). Once a second shouldn't affe
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No need to keep track of the location constantly, wasting battery power on GPS. Just do one reading every time they unpair. If they are paired they are close by.
The real problem is that this won't help you at all if one of the pods falls out of your pocket while turned off. The short battery life means you will want to turn them off when not in use. This is probably by design, Apple can make a fortune selling replacement earbuds.
How about a different option? (Score:3)
How about a "Find my Headphone Jack" feature?
Sombitches ... (Score:2)
... were right there in my ears all along.
Bluetooth trackers (Score:2)
I don't need an app (Score:2)
Even better (Score:3)
Wow, an app to help you find your earbuds!
You know what would be even better? What would be even better is if you didn't need an app to find your own fucking earbuds.
The lack of an earphone jack is one key reason that I'd never buy an iPhone. Mostly I like Apple gear, but this "fuck the users, we'll do what we want" attitude is just unbearable. Branding the "fuck you" attitude as "courage" is even more insulting.
Why does this even need an app? (Score:1)
Instead of an app, why is there not a reminder setting?
This setting could be triggered if the phone has a set of airpods paired with it, they become disconnected, and the phone moves more than say 100 feet since it disconnected? Once triggered, the phone rings/vibrates and alerts the user that the airpods may have been left behind.