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AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem

(github.com)
1424 points moonleay | 6 comments | 16 Nov 25 00:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.414s | source | bottom
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moonleay ◴[16 Nov 25 00:02 UTC] No.45941605[source]▶
A cool project, when you want to use AirPods outside of Apples ecosystem. Sadly, you have to use a rooted android device with a small patch due to a bug in the Android Bluetooth implementation. https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/371713238
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cbsks ◴[16 Nov 25 01:52 UTC] No.45942063[source]▶
That is such a typical bug report to a large company. A user who spent a lot of time debugging and finding the root cause of an issue, and a few faceless peons at the large company spending a few minutes on it, realizing it’s not a priority, and abandoning it.
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1. fragmede ◴[16 Nov 25 01:55 UTC] No.45942089[source]▶
And not a small bug either. This large an interoperability issue and it takes a nerd not in the employ of Google to fix their shit? This is why Apple's vertical integration makes it one of richest companies in the world. Google's only up there because of their success in that one business of theirs.
replies(1): >>45942113 #
2. mhluongo ◴[16 Nov 25 02:01 UTC] No.45942113[source]▶
Funny, I was under the impression that Apple's stuff is closed source, so no one outside their employ even could fix a similar issue?
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3. fragmede ◴[16 Nov 25 02:05 UTC] No.45942132[source]▶
What does Apple being Apple have to do with Google not paying somebody to work on getting Airpods, which presumably should conform to some Bluetooth spec, in order to get Airpods to work on Android?
replies(1): >>45942395 #
4. butvacuum ◴[16 Nov 25 02:56 UTC] No.45942384[source]▶
Apparently, android isn't fixing it either.
5. catlikesshrimp ◴[16 Nov 25 02:57 UTC] No.45942395{3}[source]▶
>>...due to a bug in the Android Bluetooth implementation.

The issue can be resolved because an android bug can be debugged by a contributor. A similar issue can't even be analyzed from the apple side by anyone but an apple employee.

We are assuming there are bugs in iOS, but their closed sourceness can mislead people to believe there aren't. Then, yes, their vertical integration makes them rich, which in this case is bad for users, in the guise of being good.

6. justinclift ◴[16 Nov 25 03:39 UTC] No.45942562[source]▶
Bearing in mind that Apple does Open Source some stuff: https://opensource.apple.com/projects

They also Open Source the base OS layer pieces for macOS too:

* https://github.com/apple-oss-distributions/

* https://opensource.apple.com/releases/

I don't keep any kind of close eye on this stuff though.