“One of the biggest problems (apart from ‘do they actually stay in your ears?’) for Apple’s AirPods is finding the damn things if you lose one down the back of a couch,” James Vincent reports for The Verge. “A $3.99 app that launched last week named ‘Finder for AirPods’ aimed to fix this problem, but Apple, for some reason, has objected.”
“As first reported by MacRumors, the ‘Finder for AirPods’ app has been removed for the App Store without an official explanation,” Vincent reports. “The app itself seems to have been a mixed bag. It used the AirPods’ Bluetooth signal to track them down, telling users they were warmer or colder the signal increased or decreased in strength. As MacRumors pointed out, this is a pretty inaccurate mechanism for locating a small object like an earbud, but, it’s better than nothing.”
Vincent reports, “We’ve reached out to Apple to find out why it removed the app.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: This mythical ability to lose Apple AirPods is vastly overstated in just about any Apple AirPod article ever written. As people who’ve actually used AirPods know:
1) No, they don’t fall out of your ears (even when running; not “jogging,” either – really running).
2) And, no, they don’t get lost because when they’re not in your ears, because they’re in their charging case and if you’re losing that, then you don’t know how to take care of tech gadgets anyhow and therefore deserve to lose things and have to pay for their replacement until you learn how to properly take care of tech gadgets.
Hopefully the developer can abide by Apples rules and get it back on the store. Sounds like a very useful app.
Apple can’t bear the narrative that Air Pods can be lost or misplaced. The mere mention of an app that can find a lost or misplaced Air Pods is too much for whiny nitwits at Apple. It’s not about you as a consumer its Apple’s prestige that is more important.
Why do they sell seperate airpods then?
The only thing I’d say to the MacDailyNews take is, that I have a pair and one size does not fit all. They are quite loose in my ears and can fall out. I’m far too careful to lose them because I make sure I know where they are at all times, but if I were running, they would fall out of my ears.
The other thing about the MDN take is it relies on the assumption that when you’re done with the ear pods, you’re going to put them right back in the charging case. Now I haven’t seen the ear pods, so I can’t say for certain, but even if it’s a good practice that you _should_ do so, it doesn’t mean that the majority of customers _will_ do so. So an app like this does have its usefulness.
I certainly do put them right back in the case as the case is a great size to fit in your pocket without feeling bulky, so I always know they’re safe there.
Wouldn’t hesitate to buy, but no Apple ear piece stays in my ear. I use Skinz covering the wired sku only when lying down…and they consistently need repositioning. To say one needs to be responsible for such things is true, but because they don’t/won’t work for me w/o a struggle, I won’t be a part of the revenue stream that Apple will enjoy replacing skus of the “irresponsible” . MDN you have a case of navel-gazing on this issue and a bit parental.
Of course you are right.
But some people on this site cannot imagine anyone is different from themselves. I.e. “nobody needs larger iPhones because I don’t”, “Nobody needs a smaller iPhone because I don’t”, “Nobody is having graphics cards problems because I hanvn’t”, … “Nobody needs to find their AirPods because I don’t”.
You’re eh… listening to them wrong. Or your ears are wrong. In any case, you’re doing something wrong.
Also, of course Apple pulled an app that lets you find Airpods. That would cost them money. Go buy new ones.
I’ve had my Airpods since last Thursday. It may be premature but I’m having a great time with them. My biggest concern before they arrived was that one would fall out while I was moving and get lost – so much so that I ordered the straps on Amazon to connect them. The thing is they just don’t fall out. I’ve used the strap one time and they actually seemed more likely to fall out then. I JUST depleted the batteries for the first time. The left one made a noise and I put it in the charge case. A few minutes later, the right one made the same noise and I put it in the case. I set a timer for 15 minutes and put them both back on when the timer went off. I’m wearing them now watching a moving on HBO GO on my iPad. They really do work and so far (fingers crossed) no problems with them falling out. I tend to think I’d miss one if it fell out.
I agree, I think you’d miss one if they fell out. The lack of sound or the ability to hear better, should be an indicator 😊
Overall I really like them. I especially enjoy using them at night in bed watching shows and movies on my iPad or sitting in front of my Mac working. It’s walking around outside I have the most concern. These are basically the same size as Apple’s EarPods, so I always had problems with them too. To fix that I purchased earskinz which gave me just right extra width I needed. Clearly there won’t be suitable for AirPods as that will make them not fit into their case.
Duh….
If Apple allowed you to find them then, they couldn’t charge you for a replacement.
Love my AirPods. Fit great, good sound, Siri works well, and works well with my Apple Watch. The charging case is wonderful. A near perfect implementation. Hats off to Apple on this one.
Dam, what have women been doing for decades with earrings? Possibly putting them back where they belong after taking them out.
The ones that constantly lose them are the ones that leave them everywhere.
While the AirPods may not fall out of one’s ears, MDN is way off the mark on this one in stating that people who loose such a small thing “deserve” to to loose them and should be punished by having to pay for them again. Rather arrogant on MDN’s part.
From Apple’s point of view, what if Apple is about to include the same functionality themselves in a free update? Perhaps they may not want to stand by and allow someone else to charge customers $4 for an app they know they will soon provide for free.
My experience concurs exactly with MDN’s take.
And this would be a non-issue if the App could be purchased elsewhere or sideloaded. The only person an app developer needs to satisfy is the owner of the device.
Wholly untrue. The owners of a lot of these devices have bought into the “it just works” mindset — they don’t know what they don’t know. So when an App does what the owner wants it to on the surface but leaves them vulnerable under the hood, someone who knows better has to be able to safeguard that.
And before you even try it, the answer isn’t “well people should just be smarter then.” You wouldn’t say that to your grandma, don’t say it to anyone else’s grandma.
TL;DR: Your argument is both shortsighted and invalid.
I can’t find a spec of logic in your rant.
And thank you for supporting censorship, your contribution is what will make America great again.
Want “it just works” then only buy from reputable stores, even only the Apple App Store. No one forces you to buy this App, but others that might are now prevented.
Do you want me to spell it out for you?
Did it for you already…See immediately above when sorted chronologically (that would be by time)
Let’s talk about all the ways in which you didn’t already spell it out for me. You’ve already admitted by your own words that you can’t find a spec of logic in my position. That means you either lied about not seeing my logic, or you’ve lied about having spelt it out for me.
So, I’ll leave it to you: which statement is the lie?
“It just works” is aa “Apple seal of Approval”
I don’t need an Apple seal of approval, but I would not prevent you from having it. If that’s what you want then YOU should only shop at the Apple store or alternate reputable vendor (which isn’t allowed)
Now class we’re up to “M” tomorrow we will do “N”. Try to keep up Johnny!
You’re presupposing that everyone out there knows that the App Store is an Apple “seal of approval” versus the other theoretical markets that you propose. That’s all fine, well, and good for someone with a level of technical superiority as yours, but for Grandma Elaine out there — someone for whom “an App Store is just an App Store, it all works the same, right, so look at this cool app I found on stealyoinfo.hack” — that’s a problem. She doesn’t know better.
And all of a sudden you have some mystical third party taking advantage of non-techie people whose only sin is not knowing what they don’t know.
Now, class, we’re on to ethics with a side trip to proofreading and commas. Try to keep up, Cynic. 😉
Finally something we can speak about without sarcasm. Thank you.
Grandma Elaine and Little Jimmy should not be dictating how you and I use our computing property. We can all be accommodated. That’s the beauty of computers.
My computer seller certainly should have zero say on what I choose to run.
MS only bundled Internet Explorer (the least of their integrating, world dominating transgressions) and look at the trouble they got into. Imagine if they so much as though (very quietly) of forbidding programs…
When users get in trouble (as will more techies than non-techies) there’s always factory data reset. Problem solved.
If I accept your argument, does it apply to the Mac too?
Ethics? I agree that censorship is unethical on all public levels.