To clarify because this is confusing: The AirPods work as regular old BlueTooth earbuds on other devices already. This is an implementation of some of the extra features and interfaces that are integrated into Apple products.
KOKomoD1 天前
How is it confusing? The top of the README explains it.
> LibrePods allows you to use AirPods features that are exclusive to Apple devices. It implements the proprietary protocol used to exchange data between AirPods and Apple devices
And then has a table listing the features.
SPSpringtime1 天前
I wasn't aware they operated as baseline Bluetooth headphones by default on other devices, so even having read the readme it wasn't obvious.
HAhack13121 天前
How else did you think they worked
SPSpringtime1 天前
I assumed, like Apple's Airtags (which use Bluetooth LE), that they used some proprietary pairing that's incompatible with non-Apple devices.
AUAurornis1 天前
> How is it confusing?
Judging by all of the other comments that assumed otherwise, a lot of people either weren’t reading the README or weren’t parsing what it was saying.
BIbigiain1 天前
:sigh:
There's very little point having a discussion about something where other people can't even be bothered to properly read the link that was submitted - and even more frustrating when that link was literally a README file.
FIfiresteelrain1 天前
I didn’t follow that either from the README and I read the README before coming to the comments.
I have only used AirPods on iPhone and didn’t realize there were special features.
Therefore like most I had zero context.
HAhaunter1 天前
_A lot of times_ people comment based on the title alone. I think it’s more common than one would imagine.
TRtruncate1 天前
So far most of the "discussion" on this thread is why did he post this. He just posted what he thought others missed, if people find it useless it will further down the page. TLDR, I find the comments under that thread questioning why he posted even more pointless.
STstasomatic1 天前
That's not why one buys the AirPods. These things go with me from the iPhone to Apple TV, to my MBP, to the Mini. There is better sound available for less, but the sound is the least of the story.
LEleokennis1 天前
Unfortunately, somehow AirPods also at random go from my wife's iPhone to my iPad. And then when she "steals" them back switch to my Mac a minute later.
Doesn't matter that they are linked to her iCloud account/Apple ID and my devices are linked to mine.
Apple "it just works" smarts are very nice, until it doesn't just work anymore and you have no way to disable them.
It's the reason I switched to JBL earbuds with a touch screen case, where I can explicitly tell them what device to connect to.
BObookofjoe21 小时前
I disable Bluetooth on iPhone when I'm ready to go running using Apple Watch with AirPods Pro. Otherwise it's a big pain in the butt with the phone insisting of me doing stuff when all I wanted to do was check AirPods Pro battery level....
SMsmcg18 小时前
I bought Airpods second hand because I got a good deal on them. I don't use Apple devices. This mod is useful to me.
GHghostly_s1 天前
The very first paragraph of TFA adequately explains this.
AUAurornis1 天前
I know. That’s why I wrote the comment. I wasn’t responding to the repo, I was leaving some info for all of the other commenters who were confused about this.
WAwalrus011 天前
If I remember right, there have been several Android applications that show the battery level of AirPods since at least 2021. For essential features in addition to being connected as an ordinary Bluetooth audio output and audio input device.
BObookofjoe21 小时前
I've wondered since inception why AirPods case doesn't at least show a color indicator — red/yellow/green — for AirPods battery level.
SMsmcg18 小时前
The case inside does show a color if the airpods are inserted. You have to open it to check, which is a bit annoying.
ZOzombot23 小时前
I cannot see my AirPods in my Linux Bluetooth device list, ever.
JAjalk15 小时前
You have to put them in pairing mode first:
For airpod pros: Open the lid, keep the earbuds in the case, double tap your finger on the case just below the green led, The led should start to flash white and the airpods now appear in the device list in linux so that you can pair with them. Non-pro have an physical button on the rear IIRC.
JAjamwise1 天前
If I wasn't certain Apple will do their best to patch every avenue to this working in the future it might be motivation to buy AirPods.
JIjitl1 天前
Why would they try to make the AirPods a worse purchase? Apple is happy to let you run whatever operating system on your Mac -- they aren't actively hostile there, but they don't help the community either.
Still, I would recommend the Sony WF-1000XM6 if you're not an Apple computer or phone user already. The UX is reportedly worse and a bit buggy, but the sound should be better.
RORohansi1 天前
> Apple is happy to let you run whatever operating system on your Mac -- they aren't actively hostile there
Weird to praise Apple for the one line of devices they let you install your own operating system on and ignore that every other device doesn't.
RUruszki1 天前
Even that is a lie. It allows other OSs, but they know quite well, that without drivers, it’s an empty promise. I can’t run anything else on my Mini for example.
RORohansi1 天前
I'm expecting them to lock down future devices because of this. Asahi can't keep up so the feature is basically unused.
NOnozzlegear19 小时前
> Even that is a lie.
> It allows other OSs
So it's not a lie?
MAmarysol523 小时前
This is the same Apple that sued people making "Hackintosh" machines...
JOjorisw1 天前
> Why would they try to make the AirPods a worse purchase?
Why assume this is what they're doing?
Apple can only QA so much. To open up proprietary tacked-on features to a hardware ecosystem they can't control, opens up AirPods to be perceived as buggy on those devices, which isn't going to help the perception of quality of Apple products for non-iPhone/iPad users.
JAjabwd1 天前
You can configure them to pause them when you take them out of your ear, except when it is not an Apple device. They will refuse to do so, even though they clearly detect the event since you can no longer use the stem as a pause button when you do so.
Clearly they make it worse just because you didn't get an Apple device, so yeah idk what you're smoking but give me some.
JIjitl1 天前
yeah the fact that many things start working if you change the host ID to apple device is very sus. i retract.
MImicrogpt1 天前
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AUAurornis1 天前
The AirPods already work outside of the Apple ecosystem. This is just someone building out interfaces for their extra features that are already integrated into Apple operating systems.
SOsocks1 天前
Be wary - I do not have an iPhone, and I once connected my AirPods to my wifes MacBook. They now chirp at me loudly every time I pick them up, automatically try to connect to her phone etc, and I cannot unregister them from her account. I want to add them to Find My - I cannot add them to Find My from my MacBook, I 'need' an iPhone or iPad to do that...
HAHandrail1 天前
I had the same problem but for me resetting them fixed that quickly. Then I was able to add them on my Macbook so they don't do that anymore when connecting to other peoples apple devices.
JAjamwise1 天前
Yeah I understand. But there are plenty of good headphones that work with Android and include most of the features. That's kind of the point of Librepods right? To bring AirPods up to par for non-Apple devices and make them a viable option for Android and/or non-Mac users. So "this working" means those features.
BIbigiain1 天前
Still a useful project for those of us with a foot in both the iOS and Android camps. (And who use Linux as well as macOS)
JAjamwise1 天前
Yeah no criticism of the devs here, it's a great project. I meant to point at Apple. Though I'm a customer and like many of their products. I do hate their rigid clearly profit driven walled garden.
DRdrnick11 天前
Since the AirPods are an offline device, if you buy a pair now they should work indefinitely. But perhaps it would be better to reward manufacturers that don't make you jump through such hoops to use the hardware that you bought.
JOjorisw1 天前
> an offline device
Until you or someone else pairs them with an iPhone and leave them sitting overnight. The iPhone will send them the latest firmware.
THthrowaway1523211 天前
Sure. But on the other hand it makes sense to reward manufactures that make good hardware. And AirPods are very good hardware for me so I'm perfectly ok rewarding them for it.
RAraffraffraff1 天前
By "reward manufacturers that make good hardware" do you mean "purchase their hardware" or do you mean some other long term commitment to them? Or is this a jab at the person who suggested you not buy their "good hardware" for other reasons?
Personally, I will use whatever gear is good as long as there's no risk of it becoming a paperweight because the manufacturer aggressively gets in the way of using it with other operating systems. I'm not "all in" on Apple and never will be. I love certain apple hardware but I'll likely never buy an M series Macbook because one day they'll stop supporting it even though it still works perfectly, and it doesn't support Linux.
NUnunez1 天前
AirPods update while charging in their case and paired with an xOS device. You'll need to make sure that they never connect with an Apple product to "version pin" them.
GHghostly_s1 天前
I wouldn't. Most uncomfortable earbuds in the market at any price.
GRGrombobulous1 天前
I realize your statement is subjective, but AirPods are made up of variants with plastic buds and variants that come with literally 5 sizes of squishy tips in the box.
So you have a total of 6 different fits to choose from. Plus the fact that there are surely dozens of third party tip options available for the Pro models.
The idea that anything with that many fit options can be considered the most uncomfortable earbuds on the market is not really possible in concept. That idea is as meaningless as saying that a size 9 Converse All Star is the most uncomfortable shoe on the market.
We are many generations removed from the original one size fits all product which was much different.
ELelabajaba1 天前
There really aren't very many different tip types available for airpods, since they use a special clip attachment method that means you can't use any standard existing tips.
I've been looking for aftermarket tips for my pro 3s and there's maybe 5 actually different tips available (crappy foam, decent foam, bad hybrid, basic sticky silicone, basic bad rubber). They're distinctly lacking in good quality tips with different textures (can help with comfort and keeping them in your ears) or different bore sizes (comfort and changes the sound signature). TRI clarion, Tangzu Tang Sancai, Penon Liqueur, JVC Spiral Dot are a few different standard tips that would likely be way more comfortable than the standard airpods tips if you could actually use them.
Shoes are actually a great analogy here, because the companies all use different lasts, so it doesn't matter that eg. Adidas has thousands of different shoes in over a dozen sizes, none of them actually comfortably fit my feet because the heel is always too wide and the forefoot too narrow.
Also, they only come with 5 tip sizes (4+1 on the buds) and use an oval shape which I personally find less comfortable than circular tips+stems.
UNunknown1 天前
[deleted]
SMsmcg18 小时前
I'm not sure how Apple could disable this for existing Airpods. Maybe future Airpod models won't be compatible with this version of the mod, but they could update the mod.
GIgiancarlostoro1 天前
I would be surprised if they could. Linux on Macs is still a thing. In fact, Linux on Mac is why I keep all the Macs we have in the house from the mid to late 2000s because they still turn on and work, if I choose to install Linux on any of them they are still usable.
MAmatheusmoreira1 天前
> I would be surprised if they could.
They can. Require a valid signature from the mac's secure cryptoprocessor in order to interoperate. There's nothing we can do.
Remember when we used to use cryptography to protect ourselves from government and corporation espionage? Good times. Now cryptography is used by governments and corporations to protect themselves from us.
One day we'll need such hardware attestations to even get an internet connection.
ROrobotresearcher1 天前
> Now cryptography is used by governments and corporations to protect themselves from us.
Just in case you're not kidding, I'll remind you it was always thus. The Nazi Enigma machines were not created by libertarian anarcho-punks to distribute The Whole Earth Catalog.
MAmatheusmoreira1 天前
I was referencing the time period that saw the invention of the personal computer which democratized access to strong cryptography, leading to the crypto wars as the US government attempted to restrict civilian use.
COcode_duck1 天前
Linux on older Macs, currently. I'd love to install Linux on my M5 (or even ARM Windows 11) but it's not possible due to Apple's lack of documentation and some other issues.
REretired1 天前
Apple is still selling Macs with M3 and M4 chips.
Regarding M5 support, seems like a matter of time.
https://github.com/AsahiLinux/m1n1/pull/578
SLslashdave1 天前
I am pretty sure Apple doesn't care
DUduped1 天前
Basically all the annoying shit I have to handle with my AirPods is made up by how good of a product they are. I have nice headphones, speakers, studio and other microphones, etc for a bunch of use cases. AirPods are my workhorse. I haven't found anything as comfortable with as good a battery life and as good fidelity and as good price. The active noise cancelling is also very good.
And I'm an apple hater, in general.
BEbel81 天前
Would you recommend those for someone with no Apple devices?
I'm thinking of gifting them to someone. But they are Android/Linux user.
SOsoundnote9 小时前
I've liked Sony, myself, at least before they shit the bed with firmware. They stayed on better, and had better noise canceling. The transparency was a bit metallic. AirPods in comparison rely a ton on a tight fit for noise canceling, but the transparency is magic. Sadly, I'm more of a noise canceling user.
DUduped16 小时前
No. Although I do use them on my Linux desktop I wouldn't recommend anyone use bluetooth on Linux regularly.
ITitsnoone15 小时前
But AirPods are the only wireless headphones with which you can use the mic without having to suffer from horrible audio playback and microphone quality because of Headset/Handsfree.
VLvlod1 天前
I respect the work/hack involved.
However why support a company (by buying airpods) that is this hostile. i.e. I wouldn't be surprised to see a patch to stop this.
GIGigachad1 天前
It's less hostile and more lazy. The Airpods use standard bluetooth for everything that bluetooth has. The stuff that doesn't work on non apple platforms is the configuration, changing what the squeeze actions do and loading firmware updates.
There is no way to do this with standard bluetooth, you have to have a custom app for it. Apple just didn't build a custom app for other platforms but there is no reason they would care about someone else investing the resources in to building it. They still win because you bought the airpods and someone else spent the resources on making the app.
RUruszki1 天前
The fact that simple VendorID spoofing makes features available tells otherwise.
HEHerbManic1 天前
This is my big conundrum with Apple. Their hardware is absolutely brilliant, but their combative nature against the users freedom on their hardware means I will never use it.
Even if you can hack around it, it is the culture that treats the users as someone to be controlled and coddled that bothers me.
DAdainank22 小时前
Out of curiosity, what makes their hardware 'brilliant'? I often hear this but never actually looked into why. What is your take on that?
MAmaleldil35 分钟前
Aside from repairability, the MacBooks are the best laptops in every other respect: battery life, keyboards, screens, performance (especially performance per watt) and overall build quality. They're even competitively priced in the current market. Watches have some of the best sensors in their category. iPhones have the best performance and cameras. I can't say much about the AirPods since I've never used them, but people I know report they work very well.
VLvlod22 小时前
Not parent.
I believe (I don't own their new M-5) their Macbook Pro are very well regarded in terms of trackpad, battery and screen as one (if not the) best out there.
JOjorisw1 天前
What's so hostile about it?
They can't _add_ features on top of regular Bluetooth connectivity, that they choose to only offer on platforms they're able to fully control and QA ?
Is even just making a feature exclusive really that 'hostile'? A company can't offer benefits for going with several of their products?
Or you mean they _are_ hostile because you're _assuming_ they will try to patch this?
MRmrheosuper6 小时前
They did not release any documents about their data model that is used to control their headphones. TBF almost every company does that, but unlike Apple, almost all of them have app on both platform(IOS/Android) to manage their devices so there is little reason to reverse engineer at first place.
VLvlod22 小时前
In regards to Apple hostility. There's obviously the whole app store shenanigans where devs often feel that they have arbitrary rules. DHH has talked about it as has Tim Sweeney.
I listened to Mark Zuck on Rogan about his experience with Apple connecting his Ray Bands to the AirPods. [0]
In that interview, he suggests they won't help with the integration (for stupid reasons) and that he expects that'll come out with a competing product.
I think being a dev and working with the Apple eco (outside of 'normal') is a pita. Yes it's subjective. I'm hesitant to even purchase Apple's excellent hardware for this reason.
[0]: https://youtu.be/7k1ehaE0bdU?si=HB-ZcXNRtB1ox6dx&t=8463
JOjorisw21 小时前
You're commenting on different Apple practices that could labeled as 'hostile'.
I'm strictly talking about Apple tacking on extra AirPods features on iOS devices that they're able to control and QA.
And fuck Zuck.
VLvlod21 小时前
Sure on first point.
However Zuck is directly addressing Apple hostility regarding Airpods, irrespective of how you feel about him/meta.
WHWhyNotHugo20 小时前
Realistically, there's not any other company selling wireless noise-cancelling earbuds with these features _and_ including documentation for folks to use those feature outside of some locked ecosystem.
E.g.: Bose, Sony, etc don't include any documentation for any non-basic features, and the only way to even enable them is via the proprietary app which run on limited environments (notably: not Linux).
I don't defend the practice at all, but no matter which hardware they picked, the practices are still the same.
PUpuszczyk23 小时前
i don’t know the devs motivation, but i own airpods and iphone
every few years or so i consider jumping ship to android, but i don’t want to buy another set of headphones for that — projects like this make the migration path easier before fully committing
DADANmode1 天前
0. For the love of the game
1. Additional freedom for used purchasers, gifted purchasers, purchasers from a past era, whatever
Thanks! Macroexpanded:
AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45941596 - Nov 2025 (462 comments)
TAtaimurshasan1 天前
This project is great. Hopefully one day AirDrop is liberated too. https://github.com/seemoo-lab/opendrop looked promising, but it seems stale. maybe one day.
MAmapontosevenths1 天前
This was solved a little while ago.
https://www.android.com/quick-share/
FOforsalebypwner1 天前
For a very limited subset of Android devices
https://support.google.com/android/answer/9286773#zippy=%2Cf....
MRmrguyorama16 小时前
The only limit I see there is Android OS 6+. That's not exactly a significant limit.
FOforsalebypwner13 小时前
Here are the relevant passages: https://i.imgur.com/cIMIyao.png
TEtentacleuno23 小时前
Is that implementation open-source? I'm sure it's bundled as part of Google Play, not AOSP.
MAmapontosevenths20 小时前
Looks like you're right. They built it in rust and embedded it in Google Play services. Booo.
https://blog.google/security/android-quick-share-support-for...
RKrkn721 小时前
If you don't mind installing an app for it, LocalSend or LANDrop are great for this.
WHWhyNotHugo21 小时前
People mention these tools each time AirDrop comes out, and they're not at all compatible.
AirDrop allows two devices to find each other and establish a temporary network to exchange data.
LocalSend and all similar tools require that you first set up a network, have both devices join it, _and then_ handles the final portion of the exchange. The key aspect of AirDrop is that it automates all the overhead.
The open/standard equivalent for AirDrop is Wi-Fi Aware (aka: Neighbor Awareness Networking), which still lacks software support.
NENemi13 小时前
So beware, i setup my APP3 on my daughters ipad and had hearing aids set with a hearing test. This way when connecting to my Pixel it would still apply the hearing aid adjustments, but I would not have other things like auto-pause when removing the airpod.
Well, I installed this and now my hearing settings have been removed from the airpods. And I guess you could say that this would be obvious because librepods doesn't support the hearing aids, what is not obvious is that installing it takes a set of APP3 that has been already setup and basically wipes them. Good to know for the future
CTctippett1 天前
I've owned several pairs of AirPods over the years and this is the first I'm learning about some of their features. I almost found myself wanting there to be a third column for indicating Apple support (of course I'm being facetious).
TCtclancy22 小时前
Yes, I recently upgraded to the Pro 3 and it’s a sign of how old I am getting: I disabled a lot of the defaults (the head gestures to control music playback were awful when doing any serious yard work) promising myself I would investigate all the features in time. A few months later, I have a rough idea of how to play, pause and adjust volume with the weird (to me) stalk massaging.
WHWhyNotHugo21 小时前
I'm really curious why some features are tagged "Will not be implemented" for Linux, but "Planned" for Android.
ITitsnoone18 小时前
The dev here- there are exactly 2 features- Head Gestures and heart rate monitoring. Both have no use on Linux. On Android head gestures is to answer calls and heart rate will be provided to Health Platform.
edit: there's just one that's not planned for Linux and planned for Andorid- HRM. Head gestures is already implemented on Android.
KIKirby6413 小时前
Is there a reason head gestures couldn't be mapped to functions in Linux? I see little reason why you couldn't have it used to play/pause or something. Heart rate monitoring less-so... but even that exposure could be useful for something if given the right API.
FUfunctionmouse20 小时前
because android has users
NAnailer19 小时前
Non-Android Linux does have users, but people don't use Airpods on their gaming PCs.
BRbrynnbee18 小时前
I do, on my Linux gaming build :) So this project is perfect for me
DRdrnick11 天前
It would be useful to explain to people who don't currently own AirPods and don't really follow Apple stuff much what features are lost when AirPods are paired with a non-Apple device.
JRJrProgrammer1 天前
There is a feature compatibility list…
UNunknown1 天前
[deleted]
DAdaft_pink1 天前
I feel the main useful feature that I’m looking for is the ability to use the unlimited multipoint on other devices. The 2 points that most other devices gives you is terrible. It would be nice to be able to quickly connect to my voip deskphone at work from time to time.
OSOsrsNeedsf2P1 天前
Dang, was hoping this would let me use Airpods as both speaker and headset at the same time on Linux
NOnotsylver1 天前
There is a PR for that https://github.com/librepods-org/librepods/pull/655
I tried it out, it seems to work well. Hopefully it's not blocked by patents
DADANmode1 天前
You can use your AirPods as both a speaker (playback) and a headset (microphone) at the same time on Linux,
but you must switch the Bluetooth profile to HFP (Hands-Free Profile) or HSP (Headset Profile).
Note that this is the default for better quality (Bluetooth spec, not Linux).
CLcl3misch1 天前
> Note that this is the default for better quality (Bluetooth spec, not Linux).
Yeah, I have the impression most people assume Apple magically solved sound/mic quality in bidirectional mode. Or they just don't care. In any case, I'm unhappy about how much Airpods are used for meetings. They sounds so much worse than any wired mic! Or your laptop's mic, as long as you're not using the speakers.
ORornornor1 天前
I kinda assumed apple had a magic sauce way to have higher sound quality on the iPhone rather than using the BT spec HFP, isn’t that the case?
ITitsnoone17 小时前
They do, and that's what is coming to Linux with PR #655. surprisingly, last I checked, even macOS doesn't support this!
CLcl3misch1 天前
They use hardware tricks (beamshaping) and software tricks (audio processing) to get as much out of them as possible, and they do sound better than generic cheap Bluetooth earbuds, but the Bluetooth connection is still the bottleneck.
They did announce a special "high quality recording mode" for Airpods in iOS 26 (which I didn't know, so thanks) but I couldn't find much except their developer announcement. It's not documented and I don't have the feeling it's being used.
ATatanasi1 天前
Airpods use AAC-ELD for better microphone quality. While the codec is an open standard, activating it with Airpods is proprietary.
JAjackhalford1 天前
> The aacp.rs and the att.rs files were translated from Kotlin to Rust with AI. Some parts of the media_controller.rs file, mainly the pulse integration, was also AI-generated.
The future is now.
TEteravor1 天前
that's nothing.
you can grab a proprietary binary, open it up in IDA Pro (with MCP), spend some 10 minutes crafting a good prompt and after a few million (mainly input/cached) GLM 5.2 tokens you have a python script fluently speaking the proprietary protocol.
FRFrinkleFrankle1 天前
Sounds cool. Do you have a link or more info to share?
TEteravor1 天前
aside from https://github.com/mrexodia/ida-pro-mcp (which isn't mine) i have nothing i can publicly share. it's amusing how glm 5.2 jailbreaks itself, you ask it to quite literally break someone's software and it talks itself into it being a capture the flag competition.
JIjitl1 天前
I uploaded two binary save files from a game on my Steam Deck to ChatGPT, it diffed them and spat out a script to edit various values. The bots are really good at this sort of thing.
REretired1 天前
This is why the Steam Machine costs $1049
USuserbinator1 天前
Not surprised at all; AI has dramatically lowered the bar to people wanting to create software they wouldn't otherwise have the time nor motivation to. Quality remains to be seen but IMHO it can only get better.
HIhimata41131 天前
Related: https://github.com/can1357/kAirPods
1212345hn67891 天前
FYI android 17 fixes the bugs in the Bluetooth stack that previously required root to fix. But, this app still charges $5 for using features your air pods have. I'll be spending my afternoon forking and enabling them.
ITitsnoone1 天前
Hi! The developer here. The app requires a purchase only when you install it from Play Store. The FOSS version available on GitHub takes you to my GH Sponsors page where you can wait for a few seconds and return back to the app. Or you can also just click the Restore Purchases button. There's no need for a fork :)
SPSpill42881 天前
I get the idea behind wanting to fork and improve it, I truely do. I also get the idea behind wanting to see how the innards work.
However I'm a developer and I gladly paid the $5 so I can support the original dev for all the work that they have already done, and also for open sourcing it. I really don't want to maintain my own fork, sync it, build apks etc
DEdewey20 小时前
That’s why selling anything to developers is no fun, they don’t know how to value their time.
THtheanimeshs1 天前
amazing project, is the experience as seamless as native Apple devices?
COcommandersaki1 天前
Looking at the comments from the previous thread at least on Android looks like you need to root the device. I'm not sure that is still required.
SOSoundlyQuiet1 天前
It looks like the issue has been fixed in Android 17 and root is no longer required if you have it.
MIMistletoe1 天前
I’m going to be honest I fell for the AirPods Pro 3 hype about it being the best noise cancelling of all time and I bought a pair. I found the noise cancelling worse than my $30 Anker Soundcore P30i, I could never get the hearing test on the AirPods to pass no matter what depths of a quiet room I went to, and the sound quality on music was worse than my Ankers. Don’t fall for the hype or at least order from Amazon like I did so you can return them. I could hear my AC running with the AirPods, with the Anker I had to ask my girlfriend if it was on.
FLfloydnoel1 天前
I had the original AirPods Pro and they were really great until Apple nerfed them. Apparently the noise cancelling was too strong in some cases so they worsened everybody's. After that they started making ear-piercing squelching noises, rendering them useless. I guess they make a good paperweight and reminder to never buy noise-cancelling products from Apple.
ZFzf000021 天前
There was some problem with the first gen that you would hear static, Apple replaced those if you contacted support. Happened to me just before end of 1 yr warranty and kinda funny but they had me mail in my airpods to be replaced and lost them. So they ended up sending me a new pair and iirc $100 gift card for the trouble.
WIwileydragonfly1 天前
I missed the replacement window by three weeks and they offered to “repair” them for $180. Was not impressed. Judging by resale prices on eBay, it’s always the right ear bud that goes bad on gen1 pros
FLfloydnoel11 小时前
I also missed the window, Apple didn't send any communication about it. I saw it mentioned in a comment online and when I contacted support they told me to pound sand.
JOjonhohle1 天前
I’m glad the Anker’s worked out for you, but the Soundcore brand almost completely turned me off from Anker. After two weeks the Soundcore buds I had stopped charging.
I have limited experience with noise canceling headphones (some circa 2008 active Sony earbuds, and some not-that-great Beats Studio Buds+. On a whim I bought AirPods 4 ANC and I’ve found them way better than I expected. Good enough for airplane noise canceling without the seal of most ear buds. They feel smaller than the beats buds, even with the stem. They seamlessly switch from my phone to iPad to Mac. I haven’t sat down to compare their quality to any of my other headphones, but I don’t really care. Nothing comes close to matching the convenience and the sound isn’t so bad that I each for something else. I did not expect to like them as much as I do.
Maybe it’s hype, maybe I don’t know what better noise canceling sounds like. These aren’t the Pros, so maybe there’s a difference.
_K_kulang1 天前
Sounds like you either had a fake or more likely, couldn’t fit them properly
SMsmokey50001 天前
"you're holding it wrong"
ASasimovDev1 天前
in-ear monitors rely on you having a good seal in the ear to sound good. I wouldn't be surprised if ANC works worse if the tips didn't seal well
EMemdash1 天前
I have yet to try a pair of earbuds with better active noise canceling than the airpod pro 2.
COcosmic_cheese1 天前
My Pro 2’s get so much use it’s ridiculous. Great cancellation and they’re always on my person thanks to the case perfectly fitting that tiny right pocket most mens’ jeans have (vestigial watch pocket?) and not taking up any primary pocket space.
QUquinndexter1 天前
Coin pocket.
CEcednore1 天前
I recommend Bose QuiteComfort Ultra 2. That's way better in terms of ANC and sound quality than AirPods or Powerbeats or any other products from same line.
MImicromacrofoot1 天前
did you try different tips? I have heard this makes a big difference for some
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To clarify because this is confusing: The AirPods work as regular old BlueTooth earbuds on other devices already. This is an implementation of some of the extra features and interfaces that are integrated into Apple products.
How is it confusing? The top of the README explains it. > LibrePods allows you to use AirPods features that are exclusive to Apple devices. It implements the proprietary protocol used to exchange data between AirPods and Apple devices And then has a table listing the features.
I wasn't aware they operated as baseline Bluetooth headphones by default on other devices, so even having read the readme it wasn't obvious.
How else did you think they worked
I assumed, like Apple's Airtags (which use Bluetooth LE), that they used some proprietary pairing that's incompatible with non-Apple devices.
> How is it confusing? Judging by all of the other comments that assumed otherwise, a lot of people either weren’t reading the README or weren’t parsing what it was saying.
:sigh: There's very little point having a discussion about something where other people can't even be bothered to properly read the link that was submitted - and even more frustrating when that link was literally a README file.
I didn’t follow that either from the README and I read the README before coming to the comments. I have only used AirPods on iPhone and didn’t realize there were special features. Therefore like most I had zero context.
_A lot of times_ people comment based on the title alone. I think it’s more common than one would imagine.
So far most of the "discussion" on this thread is why did he post this. He just posted what he thought others missed, if people find it useless it will further down the page. TLDR, I find the comments under that thread questioning why he posted even more pointless.
That's not why one buys the AirPods. These things go with me from the iPhone to Apple TV, to my MBP, to the Mini. There is better sound available for less, but the sound is the least of the story.
Unfortunately, somehow AirPods also at random go from my wife's iPhone to my iPad. And then when she "steals" them back switch to my Mac a minute later. Doesn't matter that they are linked to her iCloud account/Apple ID and my devices are linked to mine. Apple "it just works" smarts are very nice, until it doesn't just work anymore and you have no way to disable them. It's the reason I switched to JBL earbuds with a touch screen case, where I can explicitly tell them what device to connect to.
I disable Bluetooth on iPhone when I'm ready to go running using Apple Watch with AirPods Pro. Otherwise it's a big pain in the butt with the phone insisting of me doing stuff when all I wanted to do was check AirPods Pro battery level....
I bought Airpods second hand because I got a good deal on them. I don't use Apple devices. This mod is useful to me.
The very first paragraph of TFA adequately explains this.
I know. That’s why I wrote the comment. I wasn’t responding to the repo, I was leaving some info for all of the other commenters who were confused about this.
If I remember right, there have been several Android applications that show the battery level of AirPods since at least 2021. For essential features in addition to being connected as an ordinary Bluetooth audio output and audio input device.
I've wondered since inception why AirPods case doesn't at least show a color indicator — red/yellow/green — for AirPods battery level.
The case inside does show a color if the airpods are inserted. You have to open it to check, which is a bit annoying.
I cannot see my AirPods in my Linux Bluetooth device list, ever.
You have to put them in pairing mode first: For airpod pros: Open the lid, keep the earbuds in the case, double tap your finger on the case just below the green led, The led should start to flash white and the airpods now appear in the device list in linux so that you can pair with them. Non-pro have an physical button on the rear IIRC.
If I wasn't certain Apple will do their best to patch every avenue to this working in the future it might be motivation to buy AirPods.
Why would they try to make the AirPods a worse purchase? Apple is happy to let you run whatever operating system on your Mac -- they aren't actively hostile there, but they don't help the community either. Still, I would recommend the Sony WF-1000XM6 if you're not an Apple computer or phone user already. The UX is reportedly worse and a bit buggy, but the sound should be better.
> Apple is happy to let you run whatever operating system on your Mac -- they aren't actively hostile there Weird to praise Apple for the one line of devices they let you install your own operating system on and ignore that every other device doesn't.
Even that is a lie. It allows other OSs, but they know quite well, that without drivers, it’s an empty promise. I can’t run anything else on my Mini for example.
I'm expecting them to lock down future devices because of this. Asahi can't keep up so the feature is basically unused.
> Even that is a lie. > It allows other OSs So it's not a lie?
This is the same Apple that sued people making "Hackintosh" machines...
> Why would they try to make the AirPods a worse purchase? Why assume this is what they're doing? Apple can only QA so much. To open up proprietary tacked-on features to a hardware ecosystem they can't control, opens up AirPods to be perceived as buggy on those devices, which isn't going to help the perception of quality of Apple products for non-iPhone/iPad users.
You can configure them to pause them when you take them out of your ear, except when it is not an Apple device. They will refuse to do so, even though they clearly detect the event since you can no longer use the stem as a pause button when you do so. Clearly they make it worse just because you didn't get an Apple device, so yeah idk what you're smoking but give me some.
yeah the fact that many things start working if you change the host ID to apple device is very sus. i retract.
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The AirPods already work outside of the Apple ecosystem. This is just someone building out interfaces for their extra features that are already integrated into Apple operating systems.
Be wary - I do not have an iPhone, and I once connected my AirPods to my wifes MacBook. They now chirp at me loudly every time I pick them up, automatically try to connect to her phone etc, and I cannot unregister them from her account. I want to add them to Find My - I cannot add them to Find My from my MacBook, I 'need' an iPhone or iPad to do that...
I had the same problem but for me resetting them fixed that quickly. Then I was able to add them on my Macbook so they don't do that anymore when connecting to other peoples apple devices.
Yeah I understand. But there are plenty of good headphones that work with Android and include most of the features. That's kind of the point of Librepods right? To bring AirPods up to par for non-Apple devices and make them a viable option for Android and/or non-Mac users. So "this working" means those features.
Still a useful project for those of us with a foot in both the iOS and Android camps. (And who use Linux as well as macOS)
Yeah no criticism of the devs here, it's a great project. I meant to point at Apple. Though I'm a customer and like many of their products. I do hate their rigid clearly profit driven walled garden.
Since the AirPods are an offline device, if you buy a pair now they should work indefinitely. But perhaps it would be better to reward manufacturers that don't make you jump through such hoops to use the hardware that you bought.
> an offline device Until you or someone else pairs them with an iPhone and leave them sitting overnight. The iPhone will send them the latest firmware.
Sure. But on the other hand it makes sense to reward manufactures that make good hardware. And AirPods are very good hardware for me so I'm perfectly ok rewarding them for it.
By "reward manufacturers that make good hardware" do you mean "purchase their hardware" or do you mean some other long term commitment to them? Or is this a jab at the person who suggested you not buy their "good hardware" for other reasons? Personally, I will use whatever gear is good as long as there's no risk of it becoming a paperweight because the manufacturer aggressively gets in the way of using it with other operating systems. I'm not "all in" on Apple and never will be. I love certain apple hardware but I'll likely never buy an M series Macbook because one day they'll stop supporting it even though it still works perfectly, and it doesn't support Linux.
AirPods update while charging in their case and paired with an xOS device. You'll need to make sure that they never connect with an Apple product to "version pin" them.
I wouldn't. Most uncomfortable earbuds in the market at any price.
I realize your statement is subjective, but AirPods are made up of variants with plastic buds and variants that come with literally 5 sizes of squishy tips in the box. So you have a total of 6 different fits to choose from. Plus the fact that there are surely dozens of third party tip options available for the Pro models. The idea that anything with that many fit options can be considered the most uncomfortable earbuds on the market is not really possible in concept. That idea is as meaningless as saying that a size 9 Converse All Star is the most uncomfortable shoe on the market. We are many generations removed from the original one size fits all product which was much different.
There really aren't very many different tip types available for airpods, since they use a special clip attachment method that means you can't use any standard existing tips. I've been looking for aftermarket tips for my pro 3s and there's maybe 5 actually different tips available (crappy foam, decent foam, bad hybrid, basic sticky silicone, basic bad rubber). They're distinctly lacking in good quality tips with different textures (can help with comfort and keeping them in your ears) or different bore sizes (comfort and changes the sound signature). TRI clarion, Tangzu Tang Sancai, Penon Liqueur, JVC Spiral Dot are a few different standard tips that would likely be way more comfortable than the standard airpods tips if you could actually use them. Shoes are actually a great analogy here, because the companies all use different lasts, so it doesn't matter that eg. Adidas has thousands of different shoes in over a dozen sizes, none of them actually comfortably fit my feet because the heel is always too wide and the forefoot too narrow. Also, they only come with 5 tip sizes (4+1 on the buds) and use an oval shape which I personally find less comfortable than circular tips+stems.
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I'm not sure how Apple could disable this for existing Airpods. Maybe future Airpod models won't be compatible with this version of the mod, but they could update the mod.
I would be surprised if they could. Linux on Macs is still a thing. In fact, Linux on Mac is why I keep all the Macs we have in the house from the mid to late 2000s because they still turn on and work, if I choose to install Linux on any of them they are still usable.
> I would be surprised if they could. They can. Require a valid signature from the mac's secure cryptoprocessor in order to interoperate. There's nothing we can do. Remember when we used to use cryptography to protect ourselves from government and corporation espionage? Good times. Now cryptography is used by governments and corporations to protect themselves from us. One day we'll need such hardware attestations to even get an internet connection.
> Now cryptography is used by governments and corporations to protect themselves from us. Just in case you're not kidding, I'll remind you it was always thus. The Nazi Enigma machines were not created by libertarian anarcho-punks to distribute The Whole Earth Catalog.
I was referencing the time period that saw the invention of the personal computer which democratized access to strong cryptography, leading to the crypto wars as the US government attempted to restrict civilian use.
Linux on older Macs, currently. I'd love to install Linux on my M5 (or even ARM Windows 11) but it's not possible due to Apple's lack of documentation and some other issues.
Apple is still selling Macs with M3 and M4 chips. Regarding M5 support, seems like a matter of time. https://github.com/AsahiLinux/m1n1/pull/578
I am pretty sure Apple doesn't care
Basically all the annoying shit I have to handle with my AirPods is made up by how good of a product they are. I have nice headphones, speakers, studio and other microphones, etc for a bunch of use cases. AirPods are my workhorse. I haven't found anything as comfortable with as good a battery life and as good fidelity and as good price. The active noise cancelling is also very good. And I'm an apple hater, in general.
Would you recommend those for someone with no Apple devices? I'm thinking of gifting them to someone. But they are Android/Linux user.
I've liked Sony, myself, at least before they shit the bed with firmware. They stayed on better, and had better noise canceling. The transparency was a bit metallic. AirPods in comparison rely a ton on a tight fit for noise canceling, but the transparency is magic. Sadly, I'm more of a noise canceling user.
No. Although I do use them on my Linux desktop I wouldn't recommend anyone use bluetooth on Linux regularly.
But AirPods are the only wireless headphones with which you can use the mic without having to suffer from horrible audio playback and microphone quality because of Headset/Handsfree.
I respect the work/hack involved. However why support a company (by buying airpods) that is this hostile. i.e. I wouldn't be surprised to see a patch to stop this.
It's less hostile and more lazy. The Airpods use standard bluetooth for everything that bluetooth has. The stuff that doesn't work on non apple platforms is the configuration, changing what the squeeze actions do and loading firmware updates. There is no way to do this with standard bluetooth, you have to have a custom app for it. Apple just didn't build a custom app for other platforms but there is no reason they would care about someone else investing the resources in to building it. They still win because you bought the airpods and someone else spent the resources on making the app.
The fact that simple VendorID spoofing makes features available tells otherwise.
This is my big conundrum with Apple. Their hardware is absolutely brilliant, but their combative nature against the users freedom on their hardware means I will never use it. Even if you can hack around it, it is the culture that treats the users as someone to be controlled and coddled that bothers me.
Out of curiosity, what makes their hardware 'brilliant'? I often hear this but never actually looked into why. What is your take on that?
Aside from repairability, the MacBooks are the best laptops in every other respect: battery life, keyboards, screens, performance (especially performance per watt) and overall build quality. They're even competitively priced in the current market. Watches have some of the best sensors in their category. iPhones have the best performance and cameras. I can't say much about the AirPods since I've never used them, but people I know report they work very well.
Not parent. I believe (I don't own their new M-5) their Macbook Pro are very well regarded in terms of trackpad, battery and screen as one (if not the) best out there.
What's so hostile about it? They can't _add_ features on top of regular Bluetooth connectivity, that they choose to only offer on platforms they're able to fully control and QA ? Is even just making a feature exclusive really that 'hostile'? A company can't offer benefits for going with several of their products? Or you mean they _are_ hostile because you're _assuming_ they will try to patch this?
They did not release any documents about their data model that is used to control their headphones. TBF almost every company does that, but unlike Apple, almost all of them have app on both platform(IOS/Android) to manage their devices so there is little reason to reverse engineer at first place.
In regards to Apple hostility. There's obviously the whole app store shenanigans where devs often feel that they have arbitrary rules. DHH has talked about it as has Tim Sweeney. I listened to Mark Zuck on Rogan about his experience with Apple connecting his Ray Bands to the AirPods. [0] In that interview, he suggests they won't help with the integration (for stupid reasons) and that he expects that'll come out with a competing product. I think being a dev and working with the Apple eco (outside of 'normal') is a pita. Yes it's subjective. I'm hesitant to even purchase Apple's excellent hardware for this reason. [0]: https://youtu.be/7k1ehaE0bdU?si=HB-ZcXNRtB1ox6dx&t=8463
You're commenting on different Apple practices that could labeled as 'hostile'. I'm strictly talking about Apple tacking on extra AirPods features on iOS devices that they're able to control and QA. And fuck Zuck.
Sure on first point. However Zuck is directly addressing Apple hostility regarding Airpods, irrespective of how you feel about him/meta.
Realistically, there's not any other company selling wireless noise-cancelling earbuds with these features _and_ including documentation for folks to use those feature outside of some locked ecosystem. E.g.: Bose, Sony, etc don't include any documentation for any non-basic features, and the only way to even enable them is via the proprietary app which run on limited environments (notably: not Linux). I don't defend the practice at all, but no matter which hardware they picked, the practices are still the same.
i don’t know the devs motivation, but i own airpods and iphone every few years or so i consider jumping ship to android, but i don’t want to buy another set of headphones for that — projects like this make the migration path easier before fully committing
0. For the love of the game 1. Additional freedom for used purchasers, gifted purchasers, purchasers from a past era, whatever
Previous discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45941596
Thanks! Macroexpanded: AirPods libreated from Apple's ecosystem - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45941596 - Nov 2025 (462 comments)
This project is great. Hopefully one day AirDrop is liberated too. https://github.com/seemoo-lab/opendrop looked promising, but it seems stale. maybe one day.
This was solved a little while ago. https://www.android.com/quick-share/
For a very limited subset of Android devices https://support.google.com/android/answer/9286773#zippy=%2Cf....
The only limit I see there is Android OS 6+. That's not exactly a significant limit.
Here are the relevant passages: https://i.imgur.com/cIMIyao.png
Is that implementation open-source? I'm sure it's bundled as part of Google Play, not AOSP.
Looks like you're right. They built it in rust and embedded it in Google Play services. Booo. https://blog.google/security/android-quick-share-support-for...
If you don't mind installing an app for it, LocalSend or LANDrop are great for this.
People mention these tools each time AirDrop comes out, and they're not at all compatible. AirDrop allows two devices to find each other and establish a temporary network to exchange data. LocalSend and all similar tools require that you first set up a network, have both devices join it, _and then_ handles the final portion of the exchange. The key aspect of AirDrop is that it automates all the overhead. The open/standard equivalent for AirDrop is Wi-Fi Aware (aka: Neighbor Awareness Networking), which still lacks software support.
So beware, i setup my APP3 on my daughters ipad and had hearing aids set with a hearing test. This way when connecting to my Pixel it would still apply the hearing aid adjustments, but I would not have other things like auto-pause when removing the airpod. Well, I installed this and now my hearing settings have been removed from the airpods. And I guess you could say that this would be obvious because librepods doesn't support the hearing aids, what is not obvious is that installing it takes a set of APP3 that has been already setup and basically wipes them. Good to know for the future
I've owned several pairs of AirPods over the years and this is the first I'm learning about some of their features. I almost found myself wanting there to be a third column for indicating Apple support (of course I'm being facetious).
Yes, I recently upgraded to the Pro 3 and it’s a sign of how old I am getting: I disabled a lot of the defaults (the head gestures to control music playback were awful when doing any serious yard work) promising myself I would investigate all the features in time. A few months later, I have a rough idea of how to play, pause and adjust volume with the weird (to me) stalk massaging.
I'm really curious why some features are tagged "Will not be implemented" for Linux, but "Planned" for Android.
The dev here- there are exactly 2 features- Head Gestures and heart rate monitoring. Both have no use on Linux. On Android head gestures is to answer calls and heart rate will be provided to Health Platform. edit: there's just one that's not planned for Linux and planned for Andorid- HRM. Head gestures is already implemented on Android.
Is there a reason head gestures couldn't be mapped to functions in Linux? I see little reason why you couldn't have it used to play/pause or something. Heart rate monitoring less-so... but even that exposure could be useful for something if given the right API.
because android has users
Non-Android Linux does have users, but people don't use Airpods on their gaming PCs.
I do, on my Linux gaming build :) So this project is perfect for me
It would be useful to explain to people who don't currently own AirPods and don't really follow Apple stuff much what features are lost when AirPods are paired with a non-Apple device.
There is a feature compatibility list…
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I feel the main useful feature that I’m looking for is the ability to use the unlimited multipoint on other devices. The 2 points that most other devices gives you is terrible. It would be nice to be able to quickly connect to my voip deskphone at work from time to time.
Dang, was hoping this would let me use Airpods as both speaker and headset at the same time on Linux
There is a PR for that https://github.com/librepods-org/librepods/pull/655 I tried it out, it seems to work well. Hopefully it's not blocked by patents
You can use your AirPods as both a speaker (playback) and a headset (microphone) at the same time on Linux, but you must switch the Bluetooth profile to HFP (Hands-Free Profile) or HSP (Headset Profile). Note that this is the default for better quality (Bluetooth spec, not Linux).
> Note that this is the default for better quality (Bluetooth spec, not Linux). Yeah, I have the impression most people assume Apple magically solved sound/mic quality in bidirectional mode. Or they just don't care. In any case, I'm unhappy about how much Airpods are used for meetings. They sounds so much worse than any wired mic! Or your laptop's mic, as long as you're not using the speakers.
I kinda assumed apple had a magic sauce way to have higher sound quality on the iPhone rather than using the BT spec HFP, isn’t that the case?
They do, and that's what is coming to Linux with PR #655. surprisingly, last I checked, even macOS doesn't support this!
They use hardware tricks (beamshaping) and software tricks (audio processing) to get as much out of them as possible, and they do sound better than generic cheap Bluetooth earbuds, but the Bluetooth connection is still the bottleneck. They did announce a special "high quality recording mode" for Airpods in iOS 26 (which I didn't know, so thanks) but I couldn't find much except their developer announcement. It's not documented and I don't have the feeling it's being used.
Airpods use AAC-ELD for better microphone quality. While the codec is an open standard, activating it with Airpods is proprietary.
> The aacp.rs and the att.rs files were translated from Kotlin to Rust with AI. Some parts of the media_controller.rs file, mainly the pulse integration, was also AI-generated. The future is now.
that's nothing. you can grab a proprietary binary, open it up in IDA Pro (with MCP), spend some 10 minutes crafting a good prompt and after a few million (mainly input/cached) GLM 5.2 tokens you have a python script fluently speaking the proprietary protocol.
Sounds cool. Do you have a link or more info to share?
aside from https://github.com/mrexodia/ida-pro-mcp (which isn't mine) i have nothing i can publicly share. it's amusing how glm 5.2 jailbreaks itself, you ask it to quite literally break someone's software and it talks itself into it being a capture the flag competition.
I uploaded two binary save files from a game on my Steam Deck to ChatGPT, it diffed them and spat out a script to edit various values. The bots are really good at this sort of thing.
This is why the Steam Machine costs $1049
Not surprised at all; AI has dramatically lowered the bar to people wanting to create software they wouldn't otherwise have the time nor motivation to. Quality remains to be seen but IMHO it can only get better.
Related: https://github.com/can1357/kAirPods
FYI android 17 fixes the bugs in the Bluetooth stack that previously required root to fix. But, this app still charges $5 for using features your air pods have. I'll be spending my afternoon forking and enabling them.
Hi! The developer here. The app requires a purchase only when you install it from Play Store. The FOSS version available on GitHub takes you to my GH Sponsors page where you can wait for a few seconds and return back to the app. Or you can also just click the Restore Purchases button. There's no need for a fork :)
I get the idea behind wanting to fork and improve it, I truely do. I also get the idea behind wanting to see how the innards work. However I'm a developer and I gladly paid the $5 so I can support the original dev for all the work that they have already done, and also for open sourcing it. I really don't want to maintain my own fork, sync it, build apks etc
That’s why selling anything to developers is no fun, they don’t know how to value their time.
amazing project, is the experience as seamless as native Apple devices?
Looking at the comments from the previous thread at least on Android looks like you need to root the device. I'm not sure that is still required.
It looks like the issue has been fixed in Android 17 and root is no longer required if you have it.
I’m going to be honest I fell for the AirPods Pro 3 hype about it being the best noise cancelling of all time and I bought a pair. I found the noise cancelling worse than my $30 Anker Soundcore P30i, I could never get the hearing test on the AirPods to pass no matter what depths of a quiet room I went to, and the sound quality on music was worse than my Ankers. Don’t fall for the hype or at least order from Amazon like I did so you can return them. I could hear my AC running with the AirPods, with the Anker I had to ask my girlfriend if it was on.
I had the original AirPods Pro and they were really great until Apple nerfed them. Apparently the noise cancelling was too strong in some cases so they worsened everybody's. After that they started making ear-piercing squelching noises, rendering them useless. I guess they make a good paperweight and reminder to never buy noise-cancelling products from Apple.
There was some problem with the first gen that you would hear static, Apple replaced those if you contacted support. Happened to me just before end of 1 yr warranty and kinda funny but they had me mail in my airpods to be replaced and lost them. So they ended up sending me a new pair and iirc $100 gift card for the trouble.
I missed the replacement window by three weeks and they offered to “repair” them for $180. Was not impressed. Judging by resale prices on eBay, it’s always the right ear bud that goes bad on gen1 pros
I also missed the window, Apple didn't send any communication about it. I saw it mentioned in a comment online and when I contacted support they told me to pound sand.
I’m glad the Anker’s worked out for you, but the Soundcore brand almost completely turned me off from Anker. After two weeks the Soundcore buds I had stopped charging. I have limited experience with noise canceling headphones (some circa 2008 active Sony earbuds, and some not-that-great Beats Studio Buds+. On a whim I bought AirPods 4 ANC and I’ve found them way better than I expected. Good enough for airplane noise canceling without the seal of most ear buds. They feel smaller than the beats buds, even with the stem. They seamlessly switch from my phone to iPad to Mac. I haven’t sat down to compare their quality to any of my other headphones, but I don’t really care. Nothing comes close to matching the convenience and the sound isn’t so bad that I each for something else. I did not expect to like them as much as I do. Maybe it’s hype, maybe I don’t know what better noise canceling sounds like. These aren’t the Pros, so maybe there’s a difference.
Sounds like you either had a fake or more likely, couldn’t fit them properly
"you're holding it wrong"
in-ear monitors rely on you having a good seal in the ear to sound good. I wouldn't be surprised if ANC works worse if the tips didn't seal well
I have yet to try a pair of earbuds with better active noise canceling than the airpod pro 2.
My Pro 2’s get so much use it’s ridiculous. Great cancellation and they’re always on my person thanks to the case perfectly fitting that tiny right pocket most mens’ jeans have (vestigial watch pocket?) and not taking up any primary pocket space.
Coin pocket.
I recommend Bose QuiteComfort Ultra 2. That's way better in terms of ANC and sound quality than AirPods or Powerbeats or any other products from same line.
did you try different tips? I have heard this makes a big difference for some
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