IDEA - Let’s force Apple to allow us disable background updates of AirPods and other accessories

[addamas]

Hello Everyone annoyed by Apple updating stuff and improving / nerfing on its own making us to be on their leash.

What idea is about?

Let’s ask / force Apple to give us like it’s with App Store and application updates:

- switch to disable AirPods and accessories updates at all
- possibility to press button to update their FW when we need
- switch to allow doing them automatically in background

Let’s wrote a Feature Request or complain to Apple by Feedback App:

Feedback

www.icloud.com

or Website:

Product Feedback

We would love to hear your comments about any of our hardware and software products. Send us your thoughts.

www.apple.com

 

[russell_314]

What w

Hello Everyone annoyed by Apple updating stuff and improving / nerfing on its own making us to be on their leash.

What has Apple nerfed with an AirPods firmware update?

What would be the purpose of making a manual update option? On macOS/ iOS I can come up with reasons but not for AirPods firmware.

Just my opinion if you don't want to be on a proverbial leash you should be looking at open source products and software and staying far far away from anything with an Apple logo on it.

 

[addamas]

What w

What has Apple nerfed with an AirPods firmware update?

What would be the purpose of making a manual update option? On macOS/ iOS I can come up with reasons but not for AirPods firmware.

Just my opinion if you don't want to be on a proverbial leash you should be looking at open source products and software and staying far far away from anything with an Apple logo on it.

It’s wide idea. AirPods Max were for sure nerfed in ANC, same with 1Gen after release when people had headache, maybe now the same happened to Gen1 and Gen2 due to law suit.

You have auto updates for MagSafe chargers, for AirTags where they forced beeping way faster than before, for MagSafe Battery when they introduced 7,5W in place or 5W.

You buy a device but you are not the owner in this case.

 

[NT1440]

These devices are Apple dipping its toes in ambient computing. The idea is that *normal* people never update their stuff anyway, so it will just do it in its own.

We’re on a tech forum, we’re not normal, we are not the center of the universe.

The Gish Gallop of this post means I’m not going to post further.

 

[russell_314]

It’s wide idea. AirPods Max were for sure nerfed in ANC, same with 1Gen after release when people had headache, maybe now the same happened to Gen1 and Gen2 due to law suit.

You have auto updates for MagSafe chargers, for AirTags where they forced beeping way faster than before, for MagSafe Battery when they introduced 7,5W in place or 5W.

You buy a device but you are not the owner in this case.

I didn't know about the updates nerfing ANC. That's interesting.

I know lots of people would absolutely love to roll back or modify AirTag firmware due to the anti stalking / thief assist features. I think if Apple allowed this it would open them up to some legal issues. People have already figured out how to remove the speaker to stop this but I don't think Apple could be held responsible for that.

I'm not against what you propose because it wouldn't drastically change the Apple ecosystem experience and I can't see it having any negative aspects. Of course my opinion isn't important and I don't see Apple doing it because why would they?

I am against some of the more drastic changes some want. For example some people want the MacBook to be like the Framework laptop but I say to those buy the product you want instead of attempting to force change on an existing product that many like the way it is. I don't want my MacBook to be anything like the Framework laptop!

 

[russell_314]

The Gish Gallop of this post means I’m not going to post further.

I learned a new phrase... I've never heard this before so I had to look it up. Interesting because I like learning new things!

 

[cateye]

You buy a device but you are not the owner in this case.

This is a valid idea, with no purchase. Part of what we accept entering the Apple ecosystem is we lose the sort of fine-grained control that would be baseline almost anywhere else.

There's two ways to look at this. Apple has a certain arrogance about removing this control: This device is so Magical and Amazing that there's no way we're going to let you screw it up. This is the Jobsian conceit that made Apple so insufferable for most of its existence. It's what lead to people putting their hands in the air like at a religious service while Jobs paced the stage announcing... what, a new computer? There aren't enough roll-eyes on the planet to deal with that level of consumerism-gone-nuts nonsense.

But if I'm fair, there's an equally valid flipside to this: That ecosystem is the only reason to even consider buying an Apple product. The way in which the edge-cases and rough-edges are managed to allow us to focus on using these objects rather than thinking about them.

To use your example, the AirPods are marvelously complex devices that do far more than just transmit audio to our ears. You (and I), may look at that power and think: Wouldn't it be nice to have more control over what's going on? But that's not the point of buying AirPods. We buy AirPods because we take them out of the box, we open the case, we tap the screen once, and they're already completely integrated with all our devices, ready to play music, cancel noise, create a 3D soundstage, and significantly more. There's so much going on behind the scenes to make that possible that we never need to see or interact with. That's obviously appealing to an enormous audience that doesn't care, or want to care, what's behind the curtain, and Apple is really the only brand that exclusively caters to that vast middle-ground audience.

So, those of us who consider this tradeoff difficult to swallow either need to make peace with it, or exit the ecosystem, because attempting to move the mountain ("Apple should allow [x]") is not going to be successful. This is both deeply stupid, and the primary reason Apple is so successful and their products so desirable, all at once.