Did you lose your AirPods?(alexyancey.com)
alexyancey.com
Did you lose your AirPods?
https://alexyancey.com/lost-airpods/
404 comments
Mine lose 20-30% sitting in their case overnight. It's very annoying. You ARE lucky!
That definitely isn’t normal. My guess is you need to clean the contacts in the AirPods. They might be in the case but it’s still pairing or trying to pair. Shouldn’t drain that much, especially overnight.
It's an iOS bug. It happens now and then for me, and when it happens it drains all the battery juice. Still no fix to this date.
My Apple Watch regularly gets burning hot and drains the battery. Sometimes overnight, sometimes during the day. Very annoying. Reset several times, Apple Care was of no help, no fix to this date either. Only way to alleviate is to reboot the Watch.
This is since the existence of software and is going to stay with us until most people is ok to have 1/3rd of the features for the same kind of money. This will never happen, so bugs are here to stay.
The fact that software is buggy is not the customer's fault any more than food poisoning is the fault of people who eat too much.
It’s not the individuals fault on their own, but the market absolutely reflects societies tolerance of bugs and crashes. Microsoft started boiling that frog decades ago.
If you restrict your diet & make sure to properly cook your food you can greatly reduce your frequency of food poisoning
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2804545
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2804545
That wasn’t their point and I’m hesitating to believe you actually think it was.
This is like blaming people for not locking their door after they’ve been robbed. Yeah, they should have locked their door. But the person who actually did wrong is the person who robbed them.
Blaming somebody for not taking extra steps to reduce the chances of something happening to them that is ultimately the fault of another party is not right.
This is like blaming people for not locking their door after they’ve been robbed. Yeah, they should have locked their door. But the person who actually did wrong is the person who robbed them.
Blaming somebody for not taking extra steps to reduce the chances of something happening to them that is ultimately the fault of another party is not right.
I don't agree with this at all. It is possible to both be in the wrong _and_ not be the villain. If I am dressed to the 9s, wearing expensive jewelry, carrying a lot of money.... and then I want down dark alleys.... and I get mugged; I am not the bad guy, the mugger is. But I'm also partially to blame, because I knowingly took actions that increased the likelihood of me being mugged.
Our society has elements that will harm us. It is up to us to take action to reduce the likelihood of that happening.
Our society has elements that will harm us. It is up to us to take action to reduce the likelihood of that happening.
Pointing out that there are ways to reduce risk of something bad happening does not excuse the fault of a perpetrator. Neither is it victim blaming. This is particularly true when having a bad thing happen to you could occur without any individual acting intentionally, such as is the case with food poisoning.
It's defective. They need to fix it or replace it.
I get this if I use a usb c extension
could you link the bugreport or sth pls. apple has such weird bugs. on my iphone if i set an alarm and late at night i decide to tell siri to put another alarm she deletes the first one. did miss some flights because of that. and sometimes it doesnt ring at all. have a analog alarm for that now.
Apple doesn’t do public bug reports
Apple officially doesn’t, but the community does…
http://www.openradar.me/
http://www.openradar.me/
> "It's an iOS bug"
How did you determine it's an iOS bug?
How did you determine it's an iOS bug?
Maybe the battery is failing?
Could be either/or. I long ago lost the brassiere that came with my AirPods Max (not really lost, I just can’t be arsed to dig it out of where I think it is) and they’ll drain themselves fairly quickly just trying to throw out stray connections to any of the five or so devices they can connect to unless I make a point of disconnecting them. AirPods Pro exhibit the same exact symptoms when the contact inside the case needs to be cleaned.
My airpods need a small piece of tissue in the top on one side or they don't charge. Could be a tolerance issue.
I can’t work this out. Is this an autocorrect?
There’s a magnetic contact that the “bra” case engages that turns off the headphones so the battery doesn’t needlessly drain. Bunch of companies make after market cases/covers, you should get one of them at least.
I am aware of how it works, that's why I front-loaded the part about the brassiere being MIA at the moment. I just don't care, and I don't take it outside except on the airplane. Next flight I have, I'll probably dig out the brassiere.
Also in my experience, the brassiere was never perfect about guaranteeing the AirPods Max were put perfectly into a sleep state. The same exact issue could sometimes occur, maybe an alignment issue. The AirPods Max sound fantastic, but there's a lot of little details about them where Apple just kind of dropped the ball.
Also in my experience, the brassiere was never perfect about guaranteeing the AirPods Max were put perfectly into a sleep state. The same exact issue could sometimes occur, maybe an alignment issue. The AirPods Max sound fantastic, but there's a lot of little details about them where Apple just kind of dropped the ball.
topato(1)
If Person A loses 1% over a week in standby, and person B loses 20% overnight, it's probably not the battery..
Unless Person B also tells you that in general their air pods only last 30 minutes playing music.
As stated, their percentage of power level fall vs person A is 2000% more being generous (person A said a week, not a night). If it was because of the battery, the air pods would also last way way way less playing music.
Unless Person B also tells you that in general their air pods only last 30 minutes playing music.
As stated, their percentage of power level fall vs person A is 2000% more being generous (person A said a week, not a night). If it was because of the battery, the air pods would also last way way way less playing music.
Except when lithium batteries get old they start to lose double digit percentages in a couple hours. My experience anyway.
Yet when you actually use them, they retain basic the same energy capacity???
You're right. Its definitely the Person.
I love the airpods but ah... they dont play well with any kind of metal work. If you do metal work with a file the shavings get everywhere and once they stick to the magnet its almost impossible to get them out. I guess this is a very unusual edge case though but thought id post it. lmao.
Iron age problems. Wasn’t a problem in the good ‘ol bronze age.
I use tape, or bluetack. Bluetack is easiest for the external connectors, but a wodge of tape, properly manipulated, can get the internal ones. Can be a bit of a pain, but it's never not worked.
Do you reckon a high psi stream of compressed air would remove the shavings? ie from an air compressor or similar
Probably would need to be careful not to damage the microphones.
Might I recommend something like IsoTunes? Far better product to use in a work environment where you might need to hear something going wrong.
Just chiming in to say I had the same problem and found a solution.
For some reason, my AirPods silently connect to my iPhone while they're in their case and both devices are asleep. Why they do this, I have no clue. Just quality 2020s Apple programming.
Anyways, there's an easy solution: go into the settings app (not the drop down menu) and turn off Bluetooth on your phone/ipad when you don't need it. Your AirPods will no longer randomly drain at night. Neither will your Apple Pencil, if you have one of those.
You'll find a lot of comments on Apple support forums/reddit/etc saying it's impossible for it to be Bluetooth and that you should never turn it off for any reason because it's crazy. People for some reason are very assertive about that. But they're wrong. I now make a habit of only turning Bluetooth on precisely when I need it and immediately turn it off afterwards and now nothing gets drained needlessly.
Now the only AirPods bug that drives me insane is the volume randomly shooting up halfway to max randomly sometimes when I connect to my computer, but I made a script to somewhat fix it.
For some reason, my AirPods silently connect to my iPhone while they're in their case and both devices are asleep. Why they do this, I have no clue. Just quality 2020s Apple programming.
Anyways, there's an easy solution: go into the settings app (not the drop down menu) and turn off Bluetooth on your phone/ipad when you don't need it. Your AirPods will no longer randomly drain at night. Neither will your Apple Pencil, if you have one of those.
You'll find a lot of comments on Apple support forums/reddit/etc saying it's impossible for it to be Bluetooth and that you should never turn it off for any reason because it's crazy. People for some reason are very assertive about that. But they're wrong. I now make a habit of only turning Bluetooth on precisely when I need it and immediately turn it off afterwards and now nothing gets drained needlessly.
Now the only AirPods bug that drives me insane is the volume randomly shooting up halfway to max randomly sometimes when I connect to my computer, but I made a script to somewhat fix it.
Can’t you just turn off Bluetooth easily via Control Center? Top left Bluetooth symbol
That doesn't turn Bluetooth off. It's deceptive. It simply "disconnects" it, but it'll still connect at a random point in the future. It also doesn't really disconnect it since it'll still detect devices and burn away your battery life. And I experimented with it countless times over a couple years.
That's why I said you need to do it through settings directly. Otherwise it won't do anything.
That's why I said you need to do it through settings directly. Otherwise it won't do anything.
Yes it does. Once you tap that button Bluetooth will remain off.
It absolutely does not. I've tried it countless times and my AirPods still drain overnight if I use the drop down disable. I've also disabled it that way and seen an "AirPods detected" message minutes later.
Apple themselves even says if you want to turn off Bluetooth, you need to do it through settings: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102412
Apple themselves even says if you want to turn off Bluetooth, you need to do it through settings: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102412
Yes, but only until the next day.
This is accurate.
It is not. Apple themselves say you need to go to settings to turn it off: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102412
Otherwise it's merely a temporary disconnect.
Otherwise it's merely a temporary disconnect.
That is a lot, but I wonder if GP’s only decreased by 1% because their phone wasn’t close by. AirPods and their iPhones probably keep pinging each other to maintain the Bluetooth connection, which must have an effect on the battery.
Only when you pull them out of the case. Otherwise they just stay asleep. When I replaced my Powerbeats Pro (same fundamental tech as any AirPods) with AirPods Pro, I went about a year or so without touching the Powerbeats Pro and they just sat in one spot not too far from anything they could connect to since I never unpaired them from anything. I pulled them out a year later, and the Beats themselves were still fully charged and I think the case was still about 70%. Couldn’t tell you what I had left the case at though.
Mine sometimes don't charge in the case, and can either end up with the case fully charged and the airpods fully drained, or if they charge/discharge through the night with the airpods at a random charge and the case somewhat drained.
I seem to be the only person this happens to, but the won't-charge-in-the-case problem was so bad with my original airpods pro that Apple ended up replacing the case, then the airpods pro and the case, over a very frustrating several months of back and forth. My new airpods pro were fine for maybe eight months, but the problem has started again. So far it's only once every few weeks, which I can live with.
I seem to be the only person this happens to, but the won't-charge-in-the-case problem was so bad with my original airpods pro that Apple ended up replacing the case, then the airpods pro and the case, over a very frustrating several months of back and forth. My new airpods pro were fine for maybe eight months, but the problem has started again. So far it's only once every few weeks, which I can live with.
If you don’t know, make sure the light blinks when you drop each AirPod in. That will show it hit the contacts correctly. My APP 1s also had this issue way more often than my second gens.
Thanks! In my case (pun intended) the AirPods will sometimes just refuse to charge. I have spent several hours holding the case open and wedging one AirPod up… slightly… to get it to charge, and another several hours trying to replicate that delicate configuration with small shims of various design.
Yours are broken somehow. That's insane.
Not normal. Case takes months to deplete without usage for me.
Same here, occasionally I find both the case and the ear pieces with empty batteries while they haven’t been nowhere near empty when I left them, usually previous day or evening.
I find it funny that you consider a drastic difference like that a matter of luck. Clearly something isn’t right with your pods.
That is very strange and defective.
Try leaving them on the bedpost, c.f. Donegan, L (1959)
[deleted]
Something is wrong with them. I can use mine repeatedly over several days before finally needing to plug them in again. You should reach out to support.
I've googled it and tried all the recommended fixes.
This is a frequent problem - only for some people.
This is a frequent problem - only for some people.
The left earbud dying is a frequent problem. Sometimes I sometimes hear about the right, but usually the left. Even more rarely, both die frequently, which isn’t the real issue…they drain the case, right? (if not ignore the rest of this)
Want me to blow your mind? The REASON for this is the case. Everyone always suggests cleaning, but that won’t help for the long term. I know because I have tried.
I took a pair of tweezers and bent the metal contacts in the case outward. That was a year ago. I have not had a single issue since. Not one. I am willing to bet Apple brushed a manufacturing defect under the rug. YMMV and if your airpods are under warranty, consider that first, but after having the issue with first gen and second gen, I wasn’t about to deal with nonsense.
Want me to blow your mind? The REASON for this is the case. Everyone always suggests cleaning, but that won’t help for the long term. I know because I have tried.
I took a pair of tweezers and bent the metal contacts in the case outward. That was a year ago. I have not had a single issue since. Not one. I am willing to bet Apple brushed a manufacturing defect under the rug. YMMV and if your airpods are under warranty, consider that first, but after having the issue with first gen and second gen, I wasn’t about to deal with nonsense.
> I am willing to bet Apple brushed a manufacturing defect under the rug.
What? that doesn't sound like Apple at all. They would never do that. I get butterflies just thinking that.
What? that doesn't sound like Apple at all. They would never do that. I get butterflies just thinking that.
The butterfly keyboard was a _design_ defect, and these are very different things. Apple went to great lengths (because telling Jony Ive 'no' was not an option) to try and tweak the design to function correctly in the real world, and failed.
But they came out of the box functioning perfectly, and stayed that way until tiny specks of dust inevitably entered the picture. The entire saga was extremely boneheaded and after I took mine in for a replacement (which, I must say, was out of warranty and only cost me time) I vowed to never buy another MacBook which had that absurd keyboard. Fortunately I didn't have to, they went back to the proven design which is a true beast and just keeps chugging along for years without a single missed or repeated keystroke.
But this is very different from shipping products with known _manufacturing_ defects, and then 'brushing it under the rug', presumably by not issuing a recall. I can't recall even the former happening with post-iPod era Apple products, let alone the latter.
In this particular case, the most likely culprit is pushing the AirPod into the charging slot with enough force to bend down the contact. There isn't a way to manufacture a spring contact which isn't vulnerable to this, and the fix is easy if you have thin enough tweezers. If Apple shipped an edition of AirPods cases with bad contacts, which didn't charge out of the box, it's a safe bet that there would be press about it. Maybe there was, but if so, I missed the 635 comment HN thread about it.
But they came out of the box functioning perfectly, and stayed that way until tiny specks of dust inevitably entered the picture. The entire saga was extremely boneheaded and after I took mine in for a replacement (which, I must say, was out of warranty and only cost me time) I vowed to never buy another MacBook which had that absurd keyboard. Fortunately I didn't have to, they went back to the proven design which is a true beast and just keeps chugging along for years without a single missed or repeated keystroke.
But this is very different from shipping products with known _manufacturing_ defects, and then 'brushing it under the rug', presumably by not issuing a recall. I can't recall even the former happening with post-iPod era Apple products, let alone the latter.
In this particular case, the most likely culprit is pushing the AirPod into the charging slot with enough force to bend down the contact. There isn't a way to manufacture a spring contact which isn't vulnerable to this, and the fix is easy if you have thin enough tweezers. If Apple shipped an edition of AirPods cases with bad contacts, which didn't charge out of the box, it's a safe bet that there would be press about it. Maybe there was, but if so, I missed the 635 comment HN thread about it.
> butterflies
I see what you did there.
I see what you did there.
Mine last not even 10 minutes after one year of use. Apple did nothing. So no more AirPods ever for me anymore
Have you actually talked to Apple? They might just replace them. Is this the only pair that’s demonstrated this behavior, or has it been multiple units?
I lost two sets in the snow at my mom's house. Where she lives the snow sticks around for 4 or 5 months. They would have been near the top of a few feet of snow where we were making snow angels and generally frolicking, and then covered up by additional snowfall. We found them once it melted. They both work fine.
I accidentally put mine through the washing machine. The aftermarket case I had them in died but the Airpods themselves survived just fine. That was 2 years ago and I still use them every day.
My AirPods went thru the washer and dryer in their case. No damage whatsoever!
My first gen pros didn’t survive. They still work, but have a high pitched wine. They were already out of warranty so I had to buy a new pair.
I did not and will not complain. I have owned over a hundred pairs of headphones/earbuds in my lifetime and these things are the best, by FAR.
However, don’t wash them.
I did not and will not complain. I have owned over a hundred pairs of headphones/earbuds in my lifetime and these things are the best, by FAR.
However, don’t wash them.
> They were already out of warranty so I had to buy a new pair.
You realize that this is not a warranty issue, right?
You realize that this is not a warranty issue, right?
They may have meant AppleCare+ which covers accidental damage
https://www.apple.com/support/products/headphones/
https://www.apple.com/support/products/headphones/
And petre may have meant that them being unrepairable isn't a warranty issue.
Holy crap, hundreds of pairs? What do you do with them? Run them through the washer just for fun? :)
I probably haven't had hundreds yet, but probably more than one hundred.
So many things used to come with cheap earbuds or headphones. A pocket radio. A portable CD player. A cheap MP3 player. A laptop. I've even had some small TVs come with headphones out of the box. So there's like 40+ sets I didn't even ask for over the years. Pretty much all immediate trash.
Then there are the ones I bought in a pinch. Go on a trip, realize I didn't bring my headphones, swing by the store and get a cheap pair. Being a cheap pair, they often didn't last long. There's another dozen sets.
Now the ones I actually wanted. Not all have replaceable cups or pads, so they'd often wear out after a few years. Or they were USB, and the circuitry started freaking out after a few years. On top of that I probably have different sets for different use cases. A pair for on the go. A pair for the computer. A pair for the HiFi system. A pair for the office.
So many things used to come with cheap earbuds or headphones. A pocket radio. A portable CD player. A cheap MP3 player. A laptop. I've even had some small TVs come with headphones out of the box. So there's like 40+ sets I didn't even ask for over the years. Pretty much all immediate trash.
Then there are the ones I bought in a pinch. Go on a trip, realize I didn't bring my headphones, swing by the store and get a cheap pair. Being a cheap pair, they often didn't last long. There's another dozen sets.
Now the ones I actually wanted. Not all have replaceable cups or pads, so they'd often wear out after a few years. Or they were USB, and the circuitry started freaking out after a few years. On top of that I probably have different sets for different use cases. A pair for on the go. A pair for the computer. A pair for the HiFi system. A pair for the office.
Same here. They sounded "off" for a while, but returned to normal after a day of drying outside of the case. (I'm guessing that perhaps some water was blocking the microphones used for noise cancellation.)
I sometimes wear my airpods in the shower. Have gotten water in them often, but this never caused them to fail or be permanently damaged.
Out of curiosity – why do you wear them in the shower? Are they meant to withstand that?
The first few times were by accident, but once I realized they are durable enough I started wearing them sometimes while showering if I've got a good audiobook or YT video that I don't want to put down.
I think they're supposed to withstand some degree of moisture, but I don't believe they're designed specifically to be submerged. However, one of mine (gen 2 airpods) got fully submerged for maybe 3 seconds in the bathtub but it managed to start working again when I let it dry out.
I'm not saying I recommend others treat their AirPods as if they're water resistant but, in my experience, all the generations of AirPods can take a bit of a water beating. The only ones I've never done this with are any of the Pro models.
I think they're supposed to withstand some degree of moisture, but I don't believe they're designed specifically to be submerged. However, one of mine (gen 2 airpods) got fully submerged for maybe 3 seconds in the bathtub but it managed to start working again when I let it dry out.
I'm not saying I recommend others treat their AirPods as if they're water resistant but, in my experience, all the generations of AirPods can take a bit of a water beating. The only ones I've never done this with are any of the Pro models.
My airpods pro were totally destroyed in the washer/dryer, no idea why.
Maybe it was because it was quite a lengthy washing cycle?
Maybe it was because it was quite a lengthy washing cycle?
You forgot to set the washing machine to "Whites"
Yea my brother has ruined 2 pairs of airpods in the washing machine.
I wonder what the difference is? One (admittedly uninformed) hypothesis is that there might have been more detergent, and the failure was caused by detergent residue. If this was true, they could be (possibly) repaired by rinsing with fresh water to remove said residue and leaving to dry. (Lots of other possible hypotheses and confounding factors)
Mine too. I tried them on and they played a loud, high pitch noise and haven’t dared touch them since.
Heh. I wasn’t so lucky, and it was the morning of a flight. Never had more of a reason to pull the forget on the $15 2-hour delivery Apple offers in my area.
Find my is really a killer feature. When AirTags were first released, there was a bunch of media on potential use by stalkers and it seems like Apple hasn’t advertised how airtags (and findmy with devices) work at all since then. Most people think they just work locally until I show them an AirTag halfway around the world that just updated its location.
I bought one for my luggage, and when boarding a train in Paris, I was informed that I left my luggage behind. Went back to grab my luggage, boarded my train and then bought more AirTags at the first opportunity. I’ve used them multiple times to prove my lost luggage is in the airport, countless times to track shipping of high-value goods and countless times to find my keys.
I bought one for my luggage, and when boarding a train in Paris, I was informed that I left my luggage behind. Went back to grab my luggage, boarded my train and then bought more AirTags at the first opportunity. I’ve used them multiple times to prove my lost luggage is in the airport, countless times to track shipping of high-value goods and countless times to find my keys.
I used to bike from SF to Apple in Cupertino once a week. One week, I dropped my AirPods case on the ride and only when I got to work did I realize I was missing an AirPod. The next week, I stopped right around where I dropped the case and I found it, working just fine.
I love that when you drop the case, the AirPods scatter into the farthest reaches of wherever you are – favorite feature
I love that when you drop the case, the AirPods scatter into the farthest reaches of wherever you are – favorite feature
I saw someone on Twitter that left hers in a seatback on a flight. They'd show up on Find My every day for almost two months before they died. She talked to the airline multiple times about someone checking her seatback and several times they insisted they weren't there. Doubtful they ever checked at all but impressive battery life.
Wow 1 percent in a week. I use mine every couple of days but they drain much faster. Perhaps yours decided, he, see no iPhone for a couple of hours let’s do some deep sleep.
I’d love to have more control over then charge cycle like that.
I’d love to have more control over then charge cycle like that.
I washed my Airpods in a washing machine once and they continued working normally for 6 months until the noise cancelling started to fail on one side.
What would happen if you lost only one?
Slight chance of finding it if you notice it's missing fast enough.
FindMy only finds the charger, not the headphones out of charger, but you can make it play a sound.
You can buy a replacement for about 50% of the price of a new set (complete with charger case).
You can buy a replacement for about 50% of the price of a new set (complete with charger case).
That’s not correct.
One night I dropped my case as I crossed the street to my building. I grabbed it off the ground without paying attention, both buds had fallen out.
In the morning, I picked up the case and noticed that it felt light. Find My reported both buds as having been seen outside on the sidewalk, one last seen four hours ago, the other six. I ran downstairs and outside to find them both smashed by car traffic.
Another time a bud popped out of the case while passing through the TSA X-rays (yes, I have lousy luck with these). I was able to pinpoint the direction with the app and make it plays sounds, but the agents were unable to dig under the rollers and get it out.
One night I dropped my case as I crossed the street to my building. I grabbed it off the ground without paying attention, both buds had fallen out.
In the morning, I picked up the case and noticed that it felt light. Find My reported both buds as having been seen outside on the sidewalk, one last seen four hours ago, the other six. I ran downstairs and outside to find them both smashed by car traffic.
Another time a bud popped out of the case while passing through the TSA X-rays (yes, I have lousy luck with these). I was able to pinpoint the direction with the app and make it plays sounds, but the agents were unable to dig under the rollers and get it out.
In my case I only own cheap aukey earbuds and so far I couldn't find any information about buying a single earbud
It’s rare to hear (for my ears) such a perfect outcome when it comes to lost tech
(in germany) Friend took multiple trains, Ubahn, Bus. 5 Seconds after leaving the bus, he realized he had forgotten his backpack with id, laptop, etc.
We were "hunting" busses for 2h but couldn't find it. He didn't have Find My set up on the mac. Filed police report etc. A week later he got mail saying the bag was found in a train in Augsburg. Which was the 2nd of 4 legs of the trips or something, and he was completely off where he lost it :D
We were "hunting" busses for 2h but couldn't find it. He didn't have Find My set up on the mac. Filed police report etc. A week later he got mail saying the bag was found in a train in Augsburg. Which was the 2nd of 4 legs of the trips or something, and he was completely off where he lost it :D
So you scripted sending the message to 84 different numbers, was that from your own personal iMessage account?
I would be terrified of doing something like that, I imagine the account could get flagged for spam, and hearing the various tech horror stories, I wouldn’t be surprised if it could end up suspending your iCloud account with everything on it, blacklisting hardware devices linked to it, and who knows what else.
I would be terrified of doing something like that, I imagine the account could get flagged for spam, and hearing the various tech horror stories, I wouldn’t be surprised if it could end up suspending your iCloud account with everything on it, blacklisting hardware devices linked to it, and who knows what else.
This once happened to somebody I know! Their Apple ID somehow got banned from specifically, and only, iMessage and FaceTime; all other services like iCloud and the app store were working as usual.
No idea why it happened, but Apple support was able to reset it on a phone call.
My theory is that they'd kept a non-active SIM in their phone for a long time, and the phone had tried to repeatedly verify/link that phone number to their Apple ID (via challenge SMS, I believe), thereby exceeding some rate limit.
Gotta love that such rate limits exist and do occasionally hit legitimate users, but at the same time, there are paid lookup-as-a-service APIs out there as mentioned in TFA...
No idea why it happened, but Apple support was able to reset it on a phone call.
My theory is that they'd kept a non-active SIM in their phone for a long time, and the phone had tried to repeatedly verify/link that phone number to their Apple ID (via challenge SMS, I believe), thereby exceeding some rate limit.
Gotta love that such rate limits exist and do occasionally hit legitimate users, but at the same time, there are paid lookup-as-a-service APIs out there as mentioned in TFA...
> specifically, and only, iMessage and FaceTime; all other services like iCloud and the app store were working as usual
Google should take note.
Google should take note.
> Apple support was able to reset it on a phone call.
That too.
That too.
Apple's phone support is insane, at least where I used it.
High audio quality, no rush and no signs of them being an underpaid call center operator, always going the extra mile to help me.
High audio quality, no rush and no signs of them being an underpaid call center operator, always going the extra mile to help me.
must be location dependent. i've only ever had the standard 3rd world country script support employees, but they do tend to eventually transfer me to an irish guy who is allowed to speak freely after enough going around in circles.
I never used the support in an english-speaking country, so that might indeed explain my experience.
I had to use support for some purchases on the iTunes music store, and if I remember correctly, the support options offered on the homepage varied depending on which language I had set. I think the "write a message describing your problem" option for example was only available in English, and you had to play around a little with the possible options of categorising your problem to get it to appear.
But past that hurdle, at least my actual problems got resolved satisfactorily.
But past that hurdle, at least my actual problems got resolved satisfactorily.
Yep, we had to contact Apple support maybe three times since we switched to Apple products in 2007. It was easy to get hold of them every time and they were very pleasant.
The last time there was an issue with an Apple Care payment. I was forwarded to someone who I believe was actually in Apple’s Dutch accounting department (certainly not a help desk drone). They called me back to follow up and even after everything was sorted out to check if everything was looking good on my end.
The last time there was an issue with an Apple Care payment. I was forwarded to someone who I believe was actually in Apple’s Dutch accounting department (certainly not a help desk drone). They called me back to follow up and even after everything was sorted out to check if everything was looking good on my end.
Well you're paying for it, the app store fees alone make it worth while for Apple. I do wonder, with the changes slowly trickling down the pipe, will Apple's fees over then next few years slowly diminish? And if so, what of their support quality (which is financed via funds from app store fees)?
Yep, you are paying for it. But with Google Android you pay with your privacy and time. And you get terrible support in return.
I've been trying to get a paid game the past days for my kids, a game where you try use bolts to remove wooden planks. It only exists with IAP and/or ads. The ads are terrible and not tailored to children. Nor are all the dark patterns. And you can get rid of the ads. By paying you get rid of them!!.. for 24 hours.
I'd rather pay via App Store or Google Play Store or Steam or whatever. Even a subscription for a month would've been better.
I've been trying to get a paid game the past days for my kids, a game where you try use bolts to remove wooden planks. It only exists with IAP and/or ads. The ads are terrible and not tailored to children. Nor are all the dark patterns. And you can get rid of the ads. By paying you get rid of them!!.. for 24 hours.
I'd rather pay via App Store or Google Play Store or Steam or whatever. Even a subscription for a month would've been better.
FWIW there is the Google Play Pass which gets you 1000+ games without any ads or the need for additional in-app purchases. It can be shared with 5 family members too.
Don't the Play Store and the App Store take exactly the same cut in most cases?
I don't think I have bought an App in the AppStore in years, so the only money they're getting for me was from the device I buy every 5 years or so.
Phone support for devices usually ends a couple of months after the purchase date as far as I know, or has that changed?
I never had to give serial numbers or anything when calling, so I don't think they know/care?
Even at the Apple Store, they help with out-of-warranty items all the time. I recently gave away an iPhone 8 and they helped my friend setup.
A nice woman there gave me new rubber-thingies for my AirPods and it's been out of warranty for the longest time. I mean they never checked or anything.
Even at the Apple Store, they help with out-of-warranty items all the time. I recently gave away an iPhone 8 and they helped my friend setup.
A nice woman there gave me new rubber-thingies for my AirPods and it's been out of warranty for the longest time. I mean they never checked or anything.
It's been a long while, but I scripted iMessage a bit, and Apple has a pretty casual slide into unworking.
They don't just block your account in one fell swoop, first indicators and messaging will stop working for a few hours. And you can hit that at least a few times without a ban. After a few times of that it was clear it wouldn't be worth running what I had, so I stopped before any sort of permanent banning.
They don't just block your account in one fell swoop, first indicators and messaging will stop working for a few hours. And you can hit that at least a few times without a ban. After a few times of that it was clear it wouldn't be worth running what I had, so I stopped before any sort of permanent banning.
Is 84 so high? I imagine there are people sending party invites and “lost my phone, new number” messages to more than that.
I think more than sending 84 messages, getting reported on handful of them can be more concerning. While you’ll rarely get reported for a party invite.
Yeah, exactly. I’m not sure what happens after I click “Delete and Report Junk” on every spammy-looking sms and iMessage I get, but I imagine the iMessage reports go into some ML blackbox and hopefully contribute to banning the spammer.
I understand the op was trying to do a good deed, but if I saw an unexpected message like that I would definitely hit “Delete and Report Junk” instead of just “Delete”.
I understand the op was trying to do a good deed, but if I saw an unexpected message like that I would definitely hit “Delete and Report Junk” instead of just “Delete”.
Why would you consider the text spammy? No links or requests were included. So just delete seems fine to me.
Maybe I’m just jaded/untrusting, but the message reminded me of the initial opening text from various wrongnumber/pig-butchering scams.
https://maxread.substack.com/p/whats-the-deal-with-all-those...
Discussion of above - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31949731
https://maxread.substack.com/p/whats-the-deal-with-all-those...
Discussion of above - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31949731
I'm not the author but my guess is that the API returns whether the number is registered with iMessage or not- like if you type in a number in a new text message it shows whether the message you're sending will be an iMessage or a text message. Don't think the author was spamming random numbers.
The author said that they scripted sending the messages to those numbers on their Mac rather than using something like Twilio.
That’s after screening to see if the number was linked to iMessage —- ie a valid iPhone attached to the number. That’s what that lookup service did. Then they scripted messaging the numbers that worked.
Yes, and after screening they had 84 recipients to contact.
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iMessage has an AppleScript API that makes it easy. I ran a game in school with something like 50 teams and I had a script to generate different objectives for each team and send them out by text automatically.
Yeah, I definitely should’ve thought it through more. I was just a little too caffeinated and excited.
So much for end to end encryption that is unreadable by Apple.
I do believe apple’s e2e encryption promises on iMessage content, and don’t think it should interfere with their ability to control for spam / bad actors.
But I also expect them to know the sender/receiver, and I imagine if I click “Delete and Report Junk” button, that I would probably submit the unencrypted contents of that whole conversation to Apple. And they should have also have metrics of total sends vs reported sends.
But I also expect them to know the sender/receiver, and I imagine if I click “Delete and Report Junk” button, that I would probably submit the unencrypted contents of that whole conversation to Apple. And they should have also have metrics of total sends vs reported sends.
The vast majority of iMessages (99%+), including normal/unreported ones, are readable by Apple because either the iMessages themselves or the iMessage cross-device sync keys are escrowed to Apple in the non-e2ee iCloud Backup. In the latter case the messages are readable in realtime.
This is documented (not the 99% figure, but the situation) by Apple in knowledge base articles on the apple.com website.
The e2ee in iMessage is effectively irrelevant, as for most people, most of the time, it functions just like Telegram (which is not e2ee).
This is documented (not the 99% figure, but the situation) by Apple in knowledge base articles on the apple.com website.
The e2ee in iMessage is effectively irrelevant, as for most people, most of the time, it functions just like Telegram (which is not e2ee).
Fair enough, though this is probably useful people for most non tech people, who might forget their passwords / lose keys, and don’t want to lose all access and data.
Personally, a few months ago I enabled Advanced Data Protection (ADP) which afaik does make iCloud backups (including messages), Photos, iCloud Drive and few other things inaccessible to Apple.
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/102651 - https://support.apple.com/guide/security/advanced-data-prote...
Whether you trust that Apple actually did throw away their keys after enabling the feature is a different story, but it’s good enough for me.
When enabling ADP there’s multiple warnings about how you’ll end up completely locked out if you lose all your devices / lose recovery keys / lose all hardware authenticators. Iirc I was also forced to register at least 2 yubikeys. For anyone tech savvy you should enable ADP.
Personally, a few months ago I enabled Advanced Data Protection (ADP) which afaik does make iCloud backups (including messages), Photos, iCloud Drive and few other things inaccessible to Apple.
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/102651 - https://support.apple.com/guide/security/advanced-data-prote...
Whether you trust that Apple actually did throw away their keys after enabling the feature is a different story, but it’s good enough for me.
When enabling ADP there’s multiple warnings about how you’ll end up completely locked out if you lose all your devices / lose recovery keys / lose all hardware authenticators. Iirc I was also forced to register at least 2 yubikeys. For anyone tech savvy you should enable ADP.
In other apps like whatsapp reporting a message usually sends contents/history to mods explicitly. No need to break e2ee for that
I lost a pair of AirTags on an international flight (in cargo), fortunately I only lost the AirTags, and not the actual bags they were attached to!
One of the AirTags actually flew around internationally for a week or so (London, Amsterdam, back to the US a few times!) but sadly after about a week there were no more updates.
Someone must have found the AirTag in whatever baggage container it was stuck in and removed the battery.
I still have the AirTag in FindMy, one day I suppose I'll delete it but I sometimes wonder what happened to it.
Did the person who found it just throw it out? Do recovered AirTags go back to Apple to be recycled and resold? Does the CEO of American Airlines, Robert Isom, have a scrooge-mc-duck-esque pool of lost AirPods he swims around in? Sometimes I wonder.
One of the AirTags actually flew around internationally for a week or so (London, Amsterdam, back to the US a few times!) but sadly after about a week there were no more updates.
Someone must have found the AirTag in whatever baggage container it was stuck in and removed the battery.
I still have the AirTag in FindMy, one day I suppose I'll delete it but I sometimes wonder what happened to it.
Did the person who found it just throw it out? Do recovered AirTags go back to Apple to be recycled and resold? Does the CEO of American Airlines, Robert Isom, have a scrooge-mc-duck-esque pool of lost AirPods he swims around in? Sometimes I wonder.
My first paired AirTag was somehow removed from my findNow list when I paired my phone with my MacBook (I suspect it had something to do with encryption).
I went back to my Apple Store and explained the problem. After demonstrating that a reset didn’t fix the problem, they gave me a new AirTag and kept the old one.
When I paired the new AirTag, the old one suddenly reappeared in my list! It spent some three weeks at the Apple Store, then about two weeks in Poland and now it’s been in a Dutch warehouse for about three months - last seen 17 hours ago.
I don’t know why it’s spending so much time in a Dutch warehouse - perhaps it’s Apples junkyard in Europe.
I went back to my Apple Store and explained the problem. After demonstrating that a reset didn’t fix the problem, they gave me a new AirTag and kept the old one.
When I paired the new AirTag, the old one suddenly reappeared in my list! It spent some three weeks at the Apple Store, then about two weeks in Poland and now it’s been in a Dutch warehouse for about three months - last seen 17 hours ago.
I don’t know why it’s spending so much time in a Dutch warehouse - perhaps it’s Apples junkyard in Europe.
Some naughty folk could do this trick to identify worthy treasure to plunder
Wow, could you imagine? A warehouse full of maybe-broken Apple products. What a fun place to check out!!
You may be sarcastic but it'd really be fun for me. Or, profitable for the more naughty ones.
Why not put the airtag inside the bag?
My lost tag is (presumably) attached to my keys at the bottom of a lake. I refuse to delete it from findmy.
My lost tag is (presumably) attached to my keys at the bottom of a lake. I refuse to delete it from findmy.
Yes this was my reaction too, I can't see any reason to have the airtag on the outside at all.
Kindred spirit! My old Apple Watch is at the bottom of the Colorado River near Moab. Still paired in Find My.
I was in moab last november and took a dip in the colorado for my "bath". Good lord that was cold. lol
It was a pair of scuba tanks in a custom bag which was too small for the tanks, so there was no really secure inside.
But, it was attached to the handles with one of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B34Y5YZS
There are people who dive down and find lost stuff on the bottom of lakes, and people who go magnet fishing, they still might find your keys!
But, it was attached to the handles with one of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B34Y5YZS
There are people who dive down and find lost stuff on the bottom of lakes, and people who go magnet fishing, they still might find your keys!
It must have been both amusing and frustrating to watch your lost AirTag go on its own international adventure
TIL American cellphone numbers use an area code that represents the actual location. Do you get a new number if you move and then change to a different provider?
In Germany the cellphone area code is just out of a range your provider has registered and if you move to a different provider, you typically move over your number.
In Germany the cellphone area code is just out of a range your provider has registered and if you move to a different provider, you typically move over your number.
They stay with you if you choose. What's kind of sentimental and nice is that the area code stays with you as marker of where you're originally from no matter where you go. It says "this is where I was from as a teenager when I was first allowed a cell phone."
I don't know if this coincided with trend of getting an area code tattoo to signify where you're from, but that also is something that is done by some.
I don't know if this coincided with trend of getting an area code tattoo to signify where you're from, but that also is something that is done by some.
I remember the happy days when a telephone number (also an email) was a ephemeral, changeable thing. Not a permanent unchanging form of ID.
Alas, if you move out of the country for a period of time, it is a challenge to maintain the host country phone service. So there are no guarantees that you can hold on to that signifier of "this is where I was the last time I wanted to get a new phone subscription".
So the tattoo might be the better choice.
Alas, if you move out of the country for a period of time, it is a challenge to maintain the host country phone service. So there are no guarantees that you can hold on to that signifier of "this is where I was the last time I wanted to get a new phone subscription".
So the tattoo might be the better choice.
When was that? My parent’s landline number stayed unchanged for 20 years. Through moves, too (with the caveat they stayed in the service area of the CO.)
Just get a prepaid sim and transfer your number to it, that does the trick for you!
Same in Netherlands, France and UK as far as I know. Landlines have an area code, mobile numbers are all in a specific range that isn't linked to any location.
First time I got a cell phone in the US I was surprised I had to tell T-mobile my postal code and got a "local" number.
First time I got a cell phone in the US I was surprised I had to tell T-mobile my postal code and got a "local" number.
Yup, from NL, have moved everywhere and and changed provider a dozen times and have the same cellphone number since my first phone in 1999 or something.
Yes, in the UK all mobile numbers start with "07". Landlines start with a geographical area code - e.g. London numbers start with "020".
I grew up in a small town in the US before cell phones were ubiquitous.
When we started getting cell phones, the numbers all had the same first six digits. The last four were assigned in order of provisioning.
My friend and I got our phones at nearly the same time, so our numbers were like 555-555-1004 and 555-555-1008.
This came in handy when I was going to visit him years later, and my phone died on the plane. I didn’t have anyone’s cell number memorized other than my parents (555-555-1013) and his thanks to the numeric similarity. (We kept the same phone numbers when we moved away from home.)
In this town, landline phones also all shared the same first six digits. Before cell phones got into the mix in the late 1990s, people could (and did) use 5 digits to represent phone numbers: 3-XXXX where the 3 referred to the first digit of the “exchange code”. The next town was 8-XXXX, etc.
When we started getting cell phones, the numbers all had the same first six digits. The last four were assigned in order of provisioning.
My friend and I got our phones at nearly the same time, so our numbers were like 555-555-1004 and 555-555-1008.
This came in handy when I was going to visit him years later, and my phone died on the plane. I didn’t have anyone’s cell number memorized other than my parents (555-555-1013) and his thanks to the numeric similarity. (We kept the same phone numbers when we moved away from home.)
In this town, landline phones also all shared the same first six digits. Before cell phones got into the mix in the late 1990s, people could (and did) use 5 digits to represent phone numbers: 3-XXXX where the 3 referred to the first digit of the “exchange code”. The next town was 8-XXXX, etc.
My Dad got a family plan of cell phones for my two brothers and I in ~2003-04 from a fairly small midwestern town.
I have no idea if he was given an option but our numbers were sequential. X, X+1, and X+2.
I have no idea if he was given an option but our numbers were sequential. X, X+1, and X+2.
Phone numbers are initially assigned geographically but people generally take their phone number with them as they move.
So the author of the article was lucky it wasn’t someone who moved to Portland. I wonder what the ratio of people who have the area code of their actual location as a phone number is.
I was thinking the same thing; the city I'm in isn't even that large (approx 450k pop.) but I could probably go through my list of contacts that live in-town and rattle off at least two-dozen area codes that aren't native to the area (on top of the dozen or so that are), with at least half of those being out-of-province. The slow death of long-distance billing, which also finds itself competing with the likes of FaceTime et. al., coupled with the highly-mobile nature of cell phones, have just made it a hassle to go through the process of changing your phone number for anything other than moving to another country (or a wicked discount).
> or a wicked discount
Isn't that regulated? In many places the operators are required to let you take the number with you when you change provider to obtain a better/ cheaper service. Everybody's numbers in practice go via some LUT that's mapping a human "telephone number" which people dial to an actual service endpoint which might move (after all, cell phones already move, so this indirection was necessary to make that work) and so the rule only needs to say that there's some means by which company A gets to change the LUT for your phone instead of company B.
Isn't that regulated? In many places the operators are required to let you take the number with you when you change provider to obtain a better/ cheaper service. Everybody's numbers in practice go via some LUT that's mapping a human "telephone number" which people dial to an actual service endpoint which might move (after all, cell phones already move, so this indirection was necessary to make that work) and so the rule only needs to say that there's some means by which company A gets to change the LUT for your phone instead of company B.
[deleted]
This is the same in Canada. It isn't possible to distinguish landlines from cell phones by looking at the number. All numbers issued in an area have the same area code.
The North American numberig plan looks like +1-AAA-BBB-CCCC Where AAA is the area code and BBB-CCCC is mostly meaningless. There are a few special area codes like 8xx for toll-free calls (the classic 1-800 numbers that businesses often use) but no prefix dedicated to mobile.
When I moved to Ireland I thought it was weird that mobile numbers were identifiable. Especially since I had a Google voice number which looked like a landline which really confused people and websites. "Trust me, just text it. It is fine."
> Do you get a new number if you move
I don't know about the US but this used to be common in Canada. Many providers would consider calls to different cities long distance and charge extra. So if you moved it was "polite" to get a new number so that people could call you for local rates. For example I went to university in Ottawa and changed my Toronto number so that people didn't have to pay long distance to call (even though it is the same province, about a 5h drive).
However this isn't really the case anymore. In the US and mostly in Canada country-wide calling us pretty standard so most people's mobile number will reflect where they grew up, and they will carry that around for the rest of their lives.
> and then change to a different provider?
Usually not. You can ask your provider for a new number in a different city and they will issue it. Most Canadian providers are country-wide so you don't need to switch provide if you don't want to.
The North American numberig plan looks like +1-AAA-BBB-CCCC Where AAA is the area code and BBB-CCCC is mostly meaningless. There are a few special area codes like 8xx for toll-free calls (the classic 1-800 numbers that businesses often use) but no prefix dedicated to mobile.
When I moved to Ireland I thought it was weird that mobile numbers were identifiable. Especially since I had a Google voice number which looked like a landline which really confused people and websites. "Trust me, just text it. It is fine."
> Do you get a new number if you move
I don't know about the US but this used to be common in Canada. Many providers would consider calls to different cities long distance and charge extra. So if you moved it was "polite" to get a new number so that people could call you for local rates. For example I went to university in Ottawa and changed my Toronto number so that people didn't have to pay long distance to call (even though it is the same province, about a 5h drive).
However this isn't really the case anymore. In the US and mostly in Canada country-wide calling us pretty standard so most people's mobile number will reflect where they grew up, and they will carry that around for the rest of their lives.
> and then change to a different provider?
Usually not. You can ask your provider for a new number in a different city and they will issue it. Most Canadian providers are country-wide so you don't need to switch provide if you don't want to.
> Canada. It isn't possible to distinguish landlines from cell phones by looking at the number.
Atlantic Canada is small enough that there was a single area code for Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia up until a few years ago.
Cellphones in the region tend to have their own CO code (first three digits of the phone number), so you can usually infer if it’s a number you can text or not.
This is also the case for different regions of NS and PEI, so seeing a 902 number where the CO number is different from what you’re used to makes it seem “exotic”. This was also handy back in the day to know whether it was long distance or not.
This is slowly eroding as numbers get ported out, and landlines get disconnected.
Atlantic Canada is small enough that there was a single area code for Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia up until a few years ago.
Cellphones in the region tend to have their own CO code (first three digits of the phone number), so you can usually infer if it’s a number you can text or not.
This is also the case for different regions of NS and PEI, so seeing a 902 number where the CO number is different from what you’re used to makes it seem “exotic”. This was also handy back in the day to know whether it was long distance or not.
This is slowly eroding as numbers get ported out, and landlines get disconnected.
> Usually not. You can ask your provider for a new number in a different city and they will issue it. Most Canadian providers are country-wide so you don't need to switch provide if you don't want to.
There's a way around this that I've done a few times. You port the number to VOIP (I use voip.ms) and then you set up that number to forward to whatever the new number you get given. Dialing out you still get your new number, but people dialing you can use the old number.
This was super handy when I had to move my mom from a retirement home in one city to another city a province away.
There's a way around this that I've done a few times. You port the number to VOIP (I use voip.ms) and then you set up that number to forward to whatever the new number you get given. Dialing out you still get your new number, but people dialing you can use the old number.
This was super handy when I had to move my mom from a retirement home in one city to another city a province away.
Practically forcing people to change mobile phone numbers when moving from one place to another is a level of evil I didn't not expect to exist in Canada.
Any idea if the premium was due to technical limitations or just to milk the customers?
Any idea if the premium was due to technical limitations or just to milk the customers?
You'd probably have to ask someone who worked in the phone industry at the time. I suspect that long-distance calls were legitimately quite expensive to provide at some point in the past, and the industry was happy to keep charging extra even as they reduced internal costs.
Luckily this is mostly behind us, almost all providers offer Canada-wide as a standard feature. Canada+US is becoming the common default.
Of course the problem with this system is that you need to worry about what plan the caller has. So if you want to be very sure that locals can call without paying long-distance rates it is still best to get a local number. But I think that in almost all cases the need for this has passed.
Luckily this is mostly behind us, almost all providers offer Canada-wide as a standard feature. Canada+US is becoming the common default.
Of course the problem with this system is that you need to worry about what plan the caller has. So if you want to be very sure that locals can call without paying long-distance rates it is still best to get a local number. But I think that in almost all cases the need for this has passed.
> I suspect that long-distance calls were legitimately quite expensive to provide at some point in the past
From the outset, what actually costs money is the (telephone) network. But people were often reluctant to pay the true cost of access to the network at first - so for a long period the providers charged for calls. After all if the average person receives 100+ minutes of incoming calls per month, but is only willing to pay you $15 for the network access which you want $25 for, you can take their $15 and then charge 10 cents per minute for calls to get the same net revenue...
In the US in particular the government regulators allowed operating companies to significantly overcharge for long distance in order to subsidise local calls. This creates market distortion which was judged worth it to facilitate widespread rollout of telephony. They probably should have reined it in much earlier, but hey, the basic idea worked.
From the outset, what actually costs money is the (telephone) network. But people were often reluctant to pay the true cost of access to the network at first - so for a long period the providers charged for calls. After all if the average person receives 100+ minutes of incoming calls per month, but is only willing to pay you $15 for the network access which you want $25 for, you can take their $15 and then charge 10 cents per minute for calls to get the same net revenue...
In the US in particular the government regulators allowed operating companies to significantly overcharge for long distance in order to subsidise local calls. This creates market distortion which was judged worth it to facilitate widespread rollout of telephony. They probably should have reined it in much earlier, but hey, the basic idea worked.
Area Code 810 is the Thumb of Michigan, including some of central Michigan, so it's not all 8XX. Unsure how they draw the line, but 800 and 888 are the two that I see businesses use for toll free calling.
8XX where X = X
> In Germany the cellphone area code is just out of a range your provider has registered and if you move to a different provider, you typically move over your number.
Same in Poland.
Same in Poland.
Why would moving require a new provider/number? Are plans/numbers not portable in Europe?
In the USA, the number reflects the area it was issued. So my phone number matches suburban DC. If I move to California, everybody would know I lived in DC in the past. Kind of odd, I guess, but is a leftover from when cell homes didn’t exist and then when numbers weren’t portable across providers.
In the USA, the number reflects the area it was issued. So my phone number matches suburban DC. If I move to California, everybody would know I lived in DC in the past. Kind of odd, I guess, but is a leftover from when cell homes didn’t exist and then when numbers weren’t portable across providers.
> Why would moving require a new provider/number? Are plans/numbers not portable in Europe?
They are portable in Europe (I said that in the second part of my comment), but it seemed like they weren’t in the US, because otherwise, the post is a bit strange. The author just tried every number from his area code to find the owner, when it is possible/likely that the owner has a completely different area code. That’s why I thought it might be that the current number always reflects the actual area code.
They are portable in Europe (I said that in the second part of my comment), but it seemed like they weren’t in the US, because otherwise, the post is a bit strange. The author just tried every number from his area code to find the owner, when it is possible/likely that the owner has a completely different area code. That’s why I thought it might be that the current number always reflects the actual area code.
You're not misunderstanding anything, it was just a bit lucky that the person had their phone number issued in that city. If they moved, they'd take the number with them and this story wouldn't have worked out.
I think it's just an increased odds thing. Most likely the number was from oregon and he proved his guess by finding the person.
I have an old utah number that I've taken around to several states and I always get fun conversations when people ask what I did there.
I have an old utah number that I've taken around to several states and I always get fun conversations when people ask what I did there.
Ah, Americans don’t move around much. At least not any more. Can’t find the figure right now, but an astonishing % live within 10 minutes or so of wherever they grew up.
But that's exactly what they are saying. Numbers are just ported over to a different provider, so there's literally no certainty you can even pinpoint the provider they are using from a number. The prefix belonged to a provider, but you can move numbers as you move providers.
When I first got my plan / phone on the US east coast I was given the option to pick a number from anywhere in the country. I went with a fulsom county CA number and its come in really handy. I know to screen incoming calls that have the fulsom area code (always spam) and numbers that have the local area code where I live are actually legit.
In the UK cell numbers start with 07 and landline numbers start with 01. And there is no region encoded in a cell number, but landline numbers begin with an area code.
Not all the landline numbers start with 01, all the big cities and urban areas got moved into 02 to make space decades ago when there was concern we might run out of space.
Also, 03 is guaranteed to cost the same as 02 but has no specific geographic link, so it's often used for helplines, customer service, that sort of thing, and for people who want to have a landline (or multiple landlines) but do not want to reveal their location.
04, 05 and 06 are part of that roped off space we reserved in expectation of a need that's now unlikely to ever materialise, oh well. In the era when it was conceived people thought "Internet shopping" was a ludicrous idea and still imagined "Video calls" would be a thing you'd do as a telephone call somewhow - so what did they know.
07 as you said is where non-geographic mobiles live, as well as some other services at similar price points
08 is "free" or sometimes revenue sharing prefixes and the 09 prefix is where "premium" services live, you know "Chat live now to singles in your area".
Also, 03 is guaranteed to cost the same as 02 but has no specific geographic link, so it's often used for helplines, customer service, that sort of thing, and for people who want to have a landline (or multiple landlines) but do not want to reveal their location.
04, 05 and 06 are part of that roped off space we reserved in expectation of a need that's now unlikely to ever materialise, oh well. In the era when it was conceived people thought "Internet shopping" was a ludicrous idea and still imagined "Video calls" would be a thing you'd do as a telephone call somewhow - so what did they know.
07 as you said is where non-geographic mobiles live, as well as some other services at similar price points
08 is "free" or sometimes revenue sharing prefixes and the 09 prefix is where "premium" services live, you know "Chat live now to singles in your area".
In the olden days, if your cell number had a different area code from the place you were physically in, you'd get long-distance charges when calling a local number, but not when calling a number matching your area code.
In modern times however, the area code is largely irrelevant. You get assigned a number with the area code of the place you first opened your account, and then you can just keep that number forever if you want. I've had the same number for almost 20 years and I've had four different providers in that time. Porting a number between carriers has been a standardized process for a very long time.
In modern times however, the area code is largely irrelevant. You get assigned a number with the area code of the place you first opened your account, and then you can just keep that number forever if you want. I've had the same number for almost 20 years and I've had four different providers in that time. Porting a number between carriers has been a standardized process for a very long time.
You can, and some do, but a lot don’t. I live in NYC and you’ll see area codes from all over the country.
I think NYC is likely to be an extreme outlier in this regard. A lot of people move there from all around the country (and outside it).
Intuitively, I'd agree. But I looked it up and NYC doesn't even rank in the top 10 cities by geographic diversity.
What's interesting is Colorado Springs ranks #2. I'm guessing that's because the Air Force Academy is there, which would make sense because it draws people from all over the country.
Rank. City / % Born in state / Geo diversity index
01. Las Vegas / 25.3% / 82.7
02. Colorado Springs / 33.8% / 80.1
03. Seattle / 38.1% / 79.3
04. Washington, D.C. / 36.2% / 78.8
05. Denver / 41.1% / 77.4
06. Portland / 39.1% / 77.3
07. Mesa / 38.8% / 77.2
08. Phoenix / 40.6% / 77.2
09. Virginia Beach / 39.8% / 77.0
10. San Francisco / 40.1% / 76.8
11. Charlotte / 41.3% / 76.4
12. Boston / 43.7% / 76.1
13. San Diego / 45.5% / 74.8
14. Tucson / 45.8% / 74.2
15. Raleigh / 47.2% / 72.5
16. Oakland / 48.2% / 72.1
17. Los Angeles / 45.6% / 71.8
18. New York / 48.4% / 71.1
19. San Jose / 47.3% / 69.8
20. Jacksonville / 50.6% / 69.8
21. Nashville / 51.8% / 68.8
22. Austin / 53.3% / 68.3
23. Minneapolis / 51.9% / 68.0
24. Atlanta / 51.3% / 67.7
25. Houston / 51.9% / 67.7
26. Albuquerque / 53.4% / 67.6
27. Tulsa / 54.5% / 66.2
28. Dallas / 55.0% / 64.9
29. Kansas City / 54.4% / 64.8
30. Oklahoma City / 56.8% / 64.3
31. Fort Worth / 57.5% / 63.8
32. Long Beach / 56.9% / 63.6
33. Chicago / 59.5% / 61.9
34. Sacramento / 59.5% / 61.9
35. El Paso / 61.9% / 61.9
36. Miami / 29.8% / 61.2
37. Omaha / 59.3% / 61.1
38. Wichita / 63.7% / 57.0
39. Columbus / 64.5% / 56.5
40. San Antonio / 65.5% / 54.9
41. Milwaukee / 65.7% / 54.5
42. Fresno / 66.2% / 53.6
43. Indianapolis / 66.5% / 53.6
44. Memphis / 65.9% / 52.8
45. Philadelphia / 67.9% / 52.3
46. Baltimore / 67.6% / 52.1
47. Louisville / 70.4% / 48.8
48. New Orleans / 70.9% / 47.8
49. Cleveland / 73.1% / 45.0
50. Detroit / 74.5% / 42.4
Source: scraped from https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/seattle-ranks... (from 2016, but probably still about the same)
What's interesting is Colorado Springs ranks #2. I'm guessing that's because the Air Force Academy is there, which would make sense because it draws people from all over the country.
Rank. City / % Born in state / Geo diversity index
01. Las Vegas / 25.3% / 82.7
02. Colorado Springs / 33.8% / 80.1
03. Seattle / 38.1% / 79.3
04. Washington, D.C. / 36.2% / 78.8
05. Denver / 41.1% / 77.4
06. Portland / 39.1% / 77.3
07. Mesa / 38.8% / 77.2
08. Phoenix / 40.6% / 77.2
09. Virginia Beach / 39.8% / 77.0
10. San Francisco / 40.1% / 76.8
11. Charlotte / 41.3% / 76.4
12. Boston / 43.7% / 76.1
13. San Diego / 45.5% / 74.8
14. Tucson / 45.8% / 74.2
15. Raleigh / 47.2% / 72.5
16. Oakland / 48.2% / 72.1
17. Los Angeles / 45.6% / 71.8
18. New York / 48.4% / 71.1
19. San Jose / 47.3% / 69.8
20. Jacksonville / 50.6% / 69.8
21. Nashville / 51.8% / 68.8
22. Austin / 53.3% / 68.3
23. Minneapolis / 51.9% / 68.0
24. Atlanta / 51.3% / 67.7
25. Houston / 51.9% / 67.7
26. Albuquerque / 53.4% / 67.6
27. Tulsa / 54.5% / 66.2
28. Dallas / 55.0% / 64.9
29. Kansas City / 54.4% / 64.8
30. Oklahoma City / 56.8% / 64.3
31. Fort Worth / 57.5% / 63.8
32. Long Beach / 56.9% / 63.6
33. Chicago / 59.5% / 61.9
34. Sacramento / 59.5% / 61.9
35. El Paso / 61.9% / 61.9
36. Miami / 29.8% / 61.2
37. Omaha / 59.3% / 61.1
38. Wichita / 63.7% / 57.0
39. Columbus / 64.5% / 56.5
40. San Antonio / 65.5% / 54.9
41. Milwaukee / 65.7% / 54.5
42. Fresno / 66.2% / 53.6
43. Indianapolis / 66.5% / 53.6
44. Memphis / 65.9% / 52.8
45. Philadelphia / 67.9% / 52.3
46. Baltimore / 67.6% / 52.1
47. Louisville / 70.4% / 48.8
48. New Orleans / 70.9% / 47.8
49. Cleveland / 73.1% / 45.0
50. Detroit / 74.5% / 42.4
Source: scraped from https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/seattle-ranks... (from 2016, but probably still about the same)
Here in India, on iPhones, it displays the city when you get a call from an unknown number.
Not sure how it’s done. Maybe there’s a code system.
Also for the biggest service provider, it always displays Ahmedabad as the city for some reason.
Not sure how it’s done. Maybe there’s a code system.
Also for the biggest service provider, it always displays Ahmedabad as the city for some reason.
There's also some social signaling here, like 415 is the original San Francisco area code – but if you got a number in the last few years it might be 628 which was added as 415 reached capacity.
This social signal predates cell phones. There was a bit about it in an episode of Seinfeld, “The Maid” (1998)
> The episode also featured the New York area code 646. When the 212 area code ran out of numbers, 646 was created. Elaine gets a new number with the 646 area code. She is not happy with the new number because she believes the area code makes it too long to dial. She is proved correct when attempting to give her number to a man in the park. Initially eager, he reads the number, asks if it is in New Jersey. Her response is, "No, it's just like 212 except they multiplied every number by 3…and added 1 to the middle number." He says he is already in a relationship and walks off.
> The episode also featured the New York area code 646. When the 212 area code ran out of numbers, 646 was created. Elaine gets a new number with the 646 area code. She is not happy with the new number because she believes the area code makes it too long to dial. She is proved correct when attempting to give her number to a man in the park. Initially eager, he reads the number, asks if it is in New Jersey. Her response is, "No, it's just like 212 except they multiplied every number by 3…and added 1 to the middle number." He says he is already in a relationship and walks off.
Yeah some people put a lot of value on area codes. My wife was so proud when she got her first iPhone years ago because it was a 214 number (Dallas proper). There use to be posters around town saying “keep 972 out of 214” since 972 was associated with the smaller suburban areas just North of Dallas. I had an 817 number which was ft worth and basically an untouchable haha.
Was going to post the same thing. People forget that prior to cell phone number portability between carriers in late 2003, you basically got a new phone number when you moved or changed carriers. Hence much more of the “new phone, who dis?”
Now the comic is more like “where you lived in 2005 or when you first got a cell phone”.
Now that I have kids it’s an interesting signaling mechanism seeing which parents have local area codes and which ones have them from other parts of the country.
Now the comic is more like “where you lived in 2005 or when you first got a cell phone”.
Now that I have kids it’s an interesting signaling mechanism seeing which parents have local area codes and which ones have them from other parts of the country.
I have some distant family who moved from California to Idaho as part of a wider Conservative exodus. Some Idahoans aren't too keen, they see Californians as migrants who are driving up house prices etc. I don't believe there's any sense of irony on either side.
Anyway, they had to get new cellphone numbers because they'd get awful/no customer service if, say, they dropped their truck off for repairs and left a California number.
Anyway, they had to get new cellphone numbers because they'd get awful/no customer service if, say, they dropped their truck off for repairs and left a California number.
The US and Germany both made number portability a thing in 1998. In the US you can port numbers between land lines and mobile. In Germany you cannot.
You can keep your number if you move. My number is from another state.
Also nowadays when you get a new line you can pick any area code, so they have become somewhat meaningless.
I wouldn't go that far. Area codes don't mean as much as they used to, but they are still a very strong association to the actual area. I would say that the majority of people I interact with in my area have a mobile number from the area code. And of those who don't, all of them are from out of state.
On a recent holiday I'd just checked in to my hotel, went to unpack a bit and couldn't find my AirPods.
I went to look at Find My to see where they were, but unfortunately I was in South Korea, and little did I know the location function in Find My doesn't work there.
I thought it must have fallen out of my pocket while I was in the taxi, as I remembered having them as I got off the plane, and I have a bit of history with my earphones falling out of my pockets.
I took a taxi from the taxi rank at the airport, so there was no record of who drove me like with Uber, but luckily I paid by card, and I could see what taxi company I used.
I asked the staff at the hotel if they could help me call the taxi company to see if they could find out which driver dropped me off. They somehow managed to contact the driver, but he had not seen my AirPods.
I went about the rest of my day while trying to convince myself that I didn't need a new pair. But while the location doesn't work with Find My, I could still play a sound through the case. So I would randomly hit it a few times hoping it was actually hidden away in my things.
After losing all hope, later when I returned to my hotel room I found a note had been left for me saying the taxi driver had found my AirPods and turned them in to a local police station!
Feeling excited I wouldn't have to go on the rest of my holiday without earphones, I happily made an hour long trip across the city to collect my AirPods, arriving just as the station was closing.
I went to look at Find My to see where they were, but unfortunately I was in South Korea, and little did I know the location function in Find My doesn't work there.
I thought it must have fallen out of my pocket while I was in the taxi, as I remembered having them as I got off the plane, and I have a bit of history with my earphones falling out of my pockets.
I took a taxi from the taxi rank at the airport, so there was no record of who drove me like with Uber, but luckily I paid by card, and I could see what taxi company I used.
I asked the staff at the hotel if they could help me call the taxi company to see if they could find out which driver dropped me off. They somehow managed to contact the driver, but he had not seen my AirPods.
I went about the rest of my day while trying to convince myself that I didn't need a new pair. But while the location doesn't work with Find My, I could still play a sound through the case. So I would randomly hit it a few times hoping it was actually hidden away in my things.
After losing all hope, later when I returned to my hotel room I found a note had been left for me saying the taxi driver had found my AirPods and turned them in to a local police station!
Feeling excited I wouldn't have to go on the rest of my holiday without earphones, I happily made an hour long trip across the city to collect my AirPods, arriving just as the station was closing.
Cool story
I found some AirPods on a remote trail awhile back, case and all. Batteries were completely dead. Once charged they paired to my iphone with no indication of a previous owner, besides the device name of John’s AirPods or whatever.
I tried briefly (not as hard as the author) to figure out who they belonged to but had no luck.
I called Apple support and gave the serial number, but they told me there wasn’t anything they could do if the owner did not mark them as lost via the Bluetooth settings page. Even though at that point Apple presumably had all the information necessary to contact the original owner…
So I cleaned the AirPods and have been using them since. Is there any way for me to find the owner if I have no info about the owners area code like the author did?
I tried briefly (not as hard as the author) to figure out who they belonged to but had no luck.
I called Apple support and gave the serial number, but they told me there wasn’t anything they could do if the owner did not mark them as lost via the Bluetooth settings page. Even though at that point Apple presumably had all the information necessary to contact the original owner…
So I cleaned the AirPods and have been using them since. Is there any way for me to find the owner if I have no info about the owners area code like the author did?
AirPods are a bit pricey but cheap enough that I wouldn’t even bother reporting them lost to the local park authority. I doubt there’s much you can do besides a sign at the trailheads.
Aren’t they like $160? That’s not cheap.
Valuing your time at $20 an hour, that's 8 hours worth of time for them. If the remote hiking spot is ~2 hours away, and it takes roughly an hour to deal with the park authorities, that's already 5 hours, plus transport.
Add in the inconvenience of not having them for somewhere between a few days and forever, and I'd also say they aren't really cheap but still it probably isn't worth the effort in that situation.
Add in the inconvenience of not having them for somewhere between a few days and forever, and I'd also say they aren't really cheap but still it probably isn't worth the effort in that situation.
On the other hand, if someone makes 15 $/hr, but 50% of that goes to rent and other essentials, and they save a little, say 20%, for retirement, that leaves 30% or about 5 $/hr for discressionary spending, so the airpods come closer to 32 hr or 4 days of pay.
I wouldn’t necessarily have worked these 8 hours for 160$ after tax, I’d have gone to pick them up.
If I was certain that I would find them when I went back to look for them I would do it. It’s worth the time, but if the chance of finding them is only like 50% not worth the time, new one’s are probably better and have better battery life anyway. sour grapes perhaps yes
"Cheap" is a relative term. I'm sure lots of HN-reading US-based software engineers make enough money that $160 isn't a big deal.
Yeah but he said "cheap enough" and I agree. If the owner didn't bother to mark it as lost in the Find My app, there's nothing you or Apple can do about it.
I guess Apple didn’t bother to connect with the original owner since lot many people do not buy for themselves and as gifts or for parents. So unless AirPods were paired with a device, Apple wouldn’t like to get involved much.
They're also impossible to register without an iOS device. I have a pair that I won, but have no iPhone or iPad. They work great with my Macs, and pretty well with Android, but there is no way for me to register them with Find My, which is pretty annoying. There's no logical reason they couldn't do this on a Mac.
Never tried it myself but this article as well as a couple of posts mentions it should be possible on a Mac if Find My is active on the Mac.
https://www.soundguys.com/how-to-set-up-find-my-airpods-6213...
No, that only works if they're already added via an iOS device.
They don’t get involved even if you find an iphone that has John doe still logged on. No clue why they wouldn’t at least send an email to the account owner. I tried to surrender the iphone at the store but they wouldn’t take it.
"Accidentally" leave it at the store, or say, "Hey, this was sitting on the bench in the mall outside your Apple Store" and set it down and walk away before they can say anything.
I think they may not have used activation lock until later generations cannot confirm though
I mean, even if Apple knows the address of the people who bought it, it might have been re-sold since then - so it makes sense they don’t give out any info.
Random late night story, my iPhone was lifted while being unattended. Using findmy, I was able to circle in on an apartment complex.
After bugging the police for weeks, they finally met with me to look at my evidence. We met directly outside of the apartment. They didn’t leave their SUV.
A week later I got the phone back , because you can place a message on the lock screen remotely. The janitor of the apartment called me because I offered ( and paid ) a 100 dollar reward and a number they could reach me at.
Not sure if there is a lesson here, except the feature of remotely changing a Lock Screen message is a great feature.
After bugging the police for weeks, they finally met with me to look at my evidence. We met directly outside of the apartment. They didn’t leave their SUV.
A week later I got the phone back , because you can place a message on the lock screen remotely. The janitor of the apartment called me because I offered ( and paid ) a 100 dollar reward and a number they could reach me at.
Not sure if there is a lesson here, except the feature of remotely changing a Lock Screen message is a great feature.
Huh. Where I am, janitor is used exclusively for more of an overall maintenance person of the entire building. And in such scenarios, due to rental laws, the janitor cannot enter an apartment without prior notice... unless of course it is an emergency.
(An emergency has to be a real emergency, not "it's urgent to the landlord")
So why I find this weird is, did the thief just leave a stolen phone, charged, in their apartment laying around for anyone to see? And if so, how would the janitor even see the lockscreen, wouldn't they have to hit the power button to see it (I presume the screen is off by default?). And why was the janitor even in the apartment? And presumably without the thief in their apartment?
And worse, why would the janitor effectively steal a phone from a tenant, and go outside and sell it to you for $100, just because there was a message on the lockscreen. How did the janitor know you didn't somehow hack the owner's phone, and you were the thief?
NOTE: I'm sure the story is true, but I'm curious if it's just a stupid thief, or.. what.
Whatever I'm not understanding, good job on getting your phone back.
(An emergency has to be a real emergency, not "it's urgent to the landlord")
So why I find this weird is, did the thief just leave a stolen phone, charged, in their apartment laying around for anyone to see? And if so, how would the janitor even see the lockscreen, wouldn't they have to hit the power button to see it (I presume the screen is off by default?). And why was the janitor even in the apartment? And presumably without the thief in their apartment?
And worse, why would the janitor effectively steal a phone from a tenant, and go outside and sell it to you for $100, just because there was a message on the lockscreen. How did the janitor know you didn't somehow hack the owner's phone, and you were the thief?
NOTE: I'm sure the story is true, but I'm curious if it's just a stupid thief, or.. what.
Whatever I'm not understanding, good job on getting your phone back.
Maybe the thief and the janitor split the difference.
I assumed the janitor was the “thief.”
You paid the thief?
If the police can't help you this is the best you can do. I know lots of stories of people getting back their $1000+ gear only when they offer cash for the person to drop it and walk away or to anonymously return it.
$100 to guarantee your device back is a small price to pay apart from the insult of paying the thief.
$100 to guarantee your device back is a small price to pay apart from the insult of paying the thief.
A former boss had the idea of fence.io - a digital stolen goods fence service allowing thieves to anonymously sell back goods to their original owners.
It was a joke... mostly
It was a joke... mostly
A couple apartments ago I had to park on the street and without fail if I ever forgot to lock my car I would wake up the next morning and discover it had been rifled through with 50/50 chance my car charger and cables would be missing.
Day dreamed about a system where instead of spending 30 bucks to replace my fancy QC later PD car charger I could pay a bribe of 10 bucks to the homeless person to whom a car charger was completely useless anyway with essentially no resale value.
Day dreamed about a system where instead of spending 30 bucks to replace my fancy QC later PD car charger I could pay a bribe of 10 bucks to the homeless person to whom a car charger was completely useless anyway with essentially no resale value.
I forgot my iPhone in a taxi in China; managed to call it and talk to the driver who had found it. Had to pay him off to get it back though :/ But it was cheaper than buying a new phone.
Alright, so I have a project that is mostly abandoned right now due to various other obligations.
The main goal was to contact car owners without having to have their phone numbers and such. But i quickly saw the advantage of tagging all sort of things. So I have it on my keychain, wallet, or several other things I own. If I lose these items, any stranger can contact me without having any of my personal contacts.
What is it? It's a QR code. You scan it, and you can send some prewritten notifications to the owner. Once they reply, you can have a conversation. Scanning captures the gps location both for security measures and to help recover it.
https://web.ottomon.net/join
Landing page is totally misleading, I had big plans, but changing diapers took priority.
The main goal was to contact car owners without having to have their phone numbers and such. But i quickly saw the advantage of tagging all sort of things. So I have it on my keychain, wallet, or several other things I own. If I lose these items, any stranger can contact me without having any of my personal contacts.
What is it? It's a QR code. You scan it, and you can send some prewritten notifications to the owner. Once they reply, you can have a conversation. Scanning captures the gps location both for security measures and to help recover it.
https://web.ottomon.net/join
Landing page is totally misleading, I had big plans, but changing diapers took priority.
This seems brilliant.
No batteries to fail, etc. No tracking, no databases, simple. True hacker solution.
I assume we can print our own bar code on paper, and using clear tape, attach it to most things.
BitRip does this exactly:
https://www.bitrip.com/shop
https://www.bitrip.com/shop
Except they don't have the cutesy startupy mascot that I have.
Haha that’s awesome yes I agree
Wonder what the benefits of their format are. That and why their smallest model is so big (I think this might be related to the format?)
you need a special app to scan these
This is a great idea for losing stuff and you should finish and ship it.
How does the owner reply? Is the finder required to enter their phone number during the QR code process?
You can chat through the dashboard. Email only. Basically, the finder scans it, sends a message. The owner gets a notification through the app, or email, replies. The scanner can create an account to chat. No personal info is exchanged, unless they decide to do so via chat.
https://app.ngf132.com/
Long time ago I came across very similar concept in use in India. Not much, but visible usage. I also came to know by looking at a sticker on car windshield.
Long time ago I came across very similar concept in use in India. Not much, but visible usage. I also came to know by looking at a sticker on car windshield.
Some heroes don’t wear capes. They wield scripts, API calls, and a bit of luck.
100%
Speaking of AirPods, do people have bad experience with their quality? I have an AirPods Pro 1st Gen for about 3 years and the noise cancellation function has degraded to the point of unusable. The Apple store technician said the audio hardware has failed diagnostic and it couldn't be repaired. For a $250 equipment failed after 3 years of moderate usage is pretty disappointing.
I had this issue and I «solved» it by cleaning the tiny microphone at the bottom with a toothprush. It’s a small slit that can get stuffed with dust etc and it impacts how well it can do noise cancellations.
Yes, same thing happened to me. The hardware failed over time and now the noise-cancellation feature causes audio to be very scratchy, making them awful for listening to music. I think mine lasted a little over a year of occasional use.
I went to an Apple store to see if I could get them replaced since I knew there was a recall on one version. They refused since mine was the version that came out after the recalled version.
That soured me on AirPods. Luckily it was a work-issued pair, so they were free.
I went to an Apple store to see if I could get them replaced since I knew there was a recall on one version. They refused since mine was the version that came out after the recalled version.
That soured me on AirPods. Luckily it was a work-issued pair, so they were free.
A little over a year is exactly how long my previous 3 pairs lasted. It's almost like Apple designs them to only outlast the warranty...
I’ve ended up with a few pairs and found them quite unreliable after the first year.
I have one pair where the left bud doesn’t connect until I put it back in and take it out of the case a few times.
One where one bud doesn’t charge properly.
And one with declining noise cancellation.
They are great when they work properly, but I do think quality is slightly lacking for a relatively expensive product.
I have one pair where the left bud doesn’t connect until I put it back in and take it out of the case a few times.
One where one bud doesn’t charge properly.
And one with declining noise cancellation.
They are great when they work properly, but I do think quality is slightly lacking for a relatively expensive product.
In Vietnam, you can find people to do repairs like this super cheap and easy. Just had the back glass on my iPhone 13 promax replaced cause I dropped it and it cracked, $40. In the US, it is $200+.
I’d be very surprised if repairs on AirPods circuitry were possible or cost effective. Just swapping the battery requires basically soldering iron surgery and permanent damage/removal of all adhesive that keeps it together.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/AirPods+Pro+Battery+Replacement...
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/AirPods+Pro+Battery+Replacement...
You'd be surprised what they can do in Vietnam. Airpods are assembled there. If you have a local connection, You can find people who have worked in the factories.
Beyond that, the whole culture is to repair things because there isn't an official Apple store. They can also import parts from China and elsewhere.
Here is pricing to get parts from Singapore... most expensive repair is $100...
https://cares.vn/en/dich-vu-airpods/
Beyond that, the whole culture is to repair things because there isn't an official Apple store. They can also import parts from China and elsewhere.
Here is pricing to get parts from Singapore... most expensive repair is $100...
https://cares.vn/en/dich-vu-airpods/
That was a known issue with the 1st-gen AirPods Pro (Apple had a 3 year replacement program for them) but I've heard fewer issues with the 2nd-gen.
One of my AirPods is weirdly quiet. I know it still has the potential to be loud, as I’ve gotten it to be at the same level of noise as the other, but it’s hardly consistent. I’ve tried cleaning it and it didn’t seem to help, but I may just try again. Definitely a shame, but I got them for free so I won’t complain too much though. (If they were fully repairable this wouldn’t be a problem though.)
Similar thing happened with my airpods too. To compensate for the obviously diminished volume I was cranking the volume up. And even with that podcasts were barely audible when in anything but absolute silence. To add insult to injury the os was constantly “warning” me that I was “damaging” my hearing by listening things too loud. Of course in reality no such thing was happening.
After that terrible experience i couldn’t justify the expense of buying an other apple airpod.
After that terrible experience i couldn’t justify the expense of buying an other apple airpod.
I had an AirPod pro (2nd gen) become weirdly quiet. Still under warranty, Apple replaced it. It's some weird device failure.
I spent a few days wondering if I had just lost hearing in that ear, but no.
I spent a few days wondering if I had just lost hearing in that ear, but no.
I own a pair of AirPods and AirPod Pros; I bought the former in 2019, and was gifted the latter in 2020. The microphone on the AirPods died after about 18 months of use, but they otherwise still work perfectly (perhaps with slightly degraded, but still quite serviceable, battery life), and have survived a wide range of abuse (multiple trips through the washing machine, repeated drops onto pavement, in some cases from a bicycle moving at decent speed, etc).
The Pros, on the other hand, in spite of me generally being quite careful with them (in contrast to the basic AirPods) had their noise canceling crap out at about the 2 year mark, and currently are slightly louder in one ear than the other (but the microphone still works, so they remain in service).
So, overall, I think I’ve had a similar experience to you with the Pros, but have been quite impressed with the non-Pro model.
The Pros, on the other hand, in spite of me generally being quite careful with them (in contrast to the basic AirPods) had their noise canceling crap out at about the 2 year mark, and currently are slightly louder in one ear than the other (but the microphone still works, so they remain in service).
So, overall, I think I’ve had a similar experience to you with the Pros, but have been quite impressed with the non-Pro model.
I had the same thing happen to my Pros, with one being much louder than the other and the noise cancelling barely working, and it turns out they just needed cleaning. A couple years of gunk and dust getting in the vents and speaker grill and one of them was noticeably worse than the other. After cleaning it turns out both were quite degraded and are now much better with fully functioning noise cancellation. Worth a try if they're otherwise good and you want to keep using them.
Embarrassing really when you consider the wider market. I have a 10 year old set of mdr v6. Still reference quality sound today albeit with a few ear foam replacements in the years since. I think they cost $70 at the time.
Some crazy stuff in these replies. I am coming up on 5 years and while I do get a slight crackle in one from wind sometimes running, they’re still going strong. Guess I finally ended up on the up side of a distribution
My AidPods Pro became unusable after ~2 years. NC had some overcorrection issue I guess, created this loud crackling sound when it tried to cancel out a noise.
There was a recall for symptoms like this: https://support.apple.com/airpods-pro-service-program-sound-...
I remember some theories around 2021-2022 that Apple had modified the ANC in AirPods Pro/Max via a firmware update. If I recall, the thought was this was in response to some patent infringement.
Anecdotally, I think I noticed a difference, but I also chalked it up to prematurely-degrading hardware...
Anecdotally, I think I noticed a difference, but I also chalked it up to prematurely-degrading hardware...
I wore mine while riding a hardtail XC mountain bike (on safeish trail segments) and the transparency mode failed after 7 months. After that, the non-ANCed speaker and microphone worked fine. Weirdly durable for nonathletic purposed hardware.
Same AirPods, after a couple years the left one’s speaker sounds like it’s blown: any louder sounds played have a crackle and if I turn on the NC just brushing it with a finger makes it crackle like crazy.
Not relevant to parent's case but for anyone else who stumbles on this:
Use some blue tack to gently clean out the microphone grate(s) periodically. As it becomes obstructed noise cancellation suffers.
Use some blue tack to gently clean out the microphone grate(s) periodically. As it becomes obstructed noise cancellation suffers.
Yes, Airpods aren't very durable. I'm on my 4th pair of Airpod Pros. One pair I got replaced by Apple due to a known problem in the Pro 1st gen, the other two both failed right outside warranty.
The noise cancellation is the weak part. The microphone or related hardware breaks and then you get all kinds of plops and squeals unless you turn noise cancellation off. Somehow they tend to do that about 3 to 6 months after warranty...
The noise cancellation is the weak part. The microphone or related hardware breaks and then you get all kinds of plops and squeals unless you turn noise cancellation off. Somehow they tend to do that about 3 to 6 months after warranty...
Fwiw, the batteries will degrade in that period. I’m not saying that’s okay, but you should prepare for airpods to have a 3 year lifecycle regardless.
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I have the Airpods Pro 2nd Gen, and after 2 years they are as good as useless. Both Noise control and Spatial sound are dead. There is a buzzing there. The battery is surprisingly good, though. They could still last 2/2.5 hours on a charge. But I don't think I'll be buying Apple pods again (even though when they functioned, they were actually pretty decent).
This, combined with how easier they are to lose, is why I didn't buy Airpods, but rather the $20 Chinese bluetooth earpods on Amazon.
I was surprised at the quality, and they've lasted a couple years already at almost daily use.
The nice part is, if I lose them, no big deal. I bought a 2nd pair as a backup.
I was surprised at the quality, and they've lasted a couple years already at almost daily use.
The nice part is, if I lose them, no big deal. I bought a 2nd pair as a backup.
Same. I bought mine in 2021 and now have to use it with noise cancellation off because otherwise there's a very persistent crackling noise. Meanwhile my Bose QCs are still operating like new after like 11-12 years of regular use.
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Even new, they had nowhere near the noise cancellation of my old Bose QC20i.
AirPods are disappointing, but convenient. I guess that's why we buy them.
AirPods are disappointing, but convenient. I guess that's why we buy them.
I’ve had some old Bose noise cancelling headphones for approaching 20 years which are still going well!
The engraving service on Apple’s website is great!
I engraved my entire phone number, including the +1, and I’ve had my AirPod returned to me twice now.
I engraved my entire phone number, including the +1, and I’ve had my AirPod returned to me twice now.
I did the same! Such an easy hack.
Also the 1 helps balance/center the phone number.
Also the 1 helps balance/center the phone number.
My favorite "what the hell are we doing?" moment was when I saw that they now sell lanyards for wireless earbuds because people keep losing them.
I will never get over how apple figured out how to resell headphones someone already owns for $100+. Brilliant psychologists in their employ I am sure.
You could argue that it's less likely to tug your phone off a cable when using a lanyard between headphones compared to a wire to the audio source.
There was a story of a hit and run in Florida recently where the teenager lost one earbud in the car that hit him. Using Find My they found the driver who hit them and arrested them for felony hit and run.
Found it. Quite amazing story:
NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/29/us/airpod-hit-and-run-flo...
Cache: https://archive.ph/sRHFV
NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/29/us/airpod-hit-and-run-flo...
Cache: https://archive.ph/sRHFV
I’m glad they caught the piece of shit. I’m also a victim of a hit and run.
I‘ve accidentally left my AirPods Pro in a safe in a hotel, and forgot about them. Over the next days I tried to get them back, but reception claimed that nobody has them.
Now the Find My app reports them in a small town near where I „lost“ them, ca 600km from my home, and clearly someone is using and charging them (with Android? Because otherwise the „Lost“ functionality would be nagging them constantly).
I won’t drive there (what would I even do if I found the person?), but this is quite maddening. I‘d rather not know where they are.
Now the Find My app reports them in a small town near where I „lost“ them, ca 600km from my home, and clearly someone is using and charging them (with Android? Because otherwise the „Lost“ functionality would be nagging them constantly).
I won’t drive there (what would I even do if I found the person?), but this is quite maddening. I‘d rather not know where they are.
About a year ago our cat went up the tree in our backyard and left his snap-off collar with an Airtag in a branch somewhere up there. We could ping it and hear it, but couldn't see it. So it got left up there for a year, rain, shine and hail. A couple of days ago I noticed it on the ground. Still working fine.
At least if somebody stole the tree, you'd be able to track it down easier than putting up lost tree signs all over the neighborhood.
Wish I had the courage to branch out into that kind of crime.
"my that is a handsome tree" -> do something bold. now wake up with that tree in your yard the next day and every day after.
that’s true freedom
why track it? if i woke up to discover a freethinking, freewheeling apex man of action took my tree, i would just admire them. and flattered this caliber of person thought i had anything worth seizing. i wouldn’t tell the police. (but if i could track it, i might go visit it to witness the man i wish i was)
if i was my girlfriend i might put a tracker into my finest tree, and leave me for any man that might ever take the tree. i couldn’t blame her. i would admire her
"my that is a handsome tree" -> do something bold. now wake up with that tree in your yard the next day and every day after.
that’s true freedom
why track it? if i woke up to discover a freethinking, freewheeling apex man of action took my tree, i would just admire them. and flattered this caliber of person thought i had anything worth seizing. i wouldn’t tell the police. (but if i could track it, i might go visit it to witness the man i wish i was)
if i was my girlfriend i might put a tracker into my finest tree, and leave me for any man that might ever take the tree. i couldn’t blame her. i would admire her
A while ago, I did something similar but with an AirTag. I found a few at a local thrift store, and whoever donated them still had them linked to their iCloud, so they were useless. But it was easier since the area code was known. I tried a few numbers, and luckily, one answered and removed them from their account.
My friend left them in a rental car. He spent more than a week seeing them coming on and offline in Find My and moving around in a university area. Assumed someone had stolen them. Finally called the rental company and got access to the car: they were in the glovebox.
My kids loose theirs all the time and I say use find my but apparently that does not work if they are in the case at least according to my kids.
I was surprised they didn't have any idea how to use Find My. That and their iCloud account was all kinds of messed up.
I think we take for granted how easily these things come to us as tech people.
I think we take for granted how easily these things come to us as tech people.
I'm more surprised that there's not a way to message the owner (or whomever has Find My registered for the airpods) without revealing their full information, but I guess that's a bridge too far, and they figure that Find My is good enough.
This is also someone who loses stuff...
How was their iCloud account all kinds of messed up?
Didn’t remember their password, may have been logged in with their mom’s account, etc.
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They aren’t completely wrong. You just can’t use the speaker feature to play a sound. But Find My will still work
Newer models, the case will make a ping sound when you tap on it.
That was true for the initial model(s), but at least the ones I have now can be found (and audibly pinged!) in the case as well.
It even works for the case without the AirPods in it. That part is definitely new, since the original cases didn't have any wireless hardware in them (and depended on at least one AirPod being in it to report their battery level, for example); the new ones have their own Bluetooth/UWB chain.
It even works for the case without the AirPods in it. That part is definitely new, since the original cases didn't have any wireless hardware in them (and depended on at least one AirPod being in it to report their battery level, for example); the new ones have their own Bluetooth/UWB chain.
That's weird, I use Find My for my AirPods case a lot and it does the "X feet away" thing as I get closer
Only recent generation AirPods have an AirTag embedded in the case. Older models were limited to trying to play a loud sound from the bud if they were out of the case, and IIRC nothing useful for the case itself.
It’s better with the newer AirPod models. The older ones are bad enough that I have an AirTag attached to my AirPods case.
Find nearby is a godsend.
Does this really only show the last four digits?!
I lost my AirPods Pro in an Uber back in January, and they’ve been in Lost Mode ever since, and I regularly see them moving around between three or so different places on the Find My map. Nobody ever reached out to me, but if it doesn’t even show your number I guess they wouldn’t be able to…
I lost my AirPods Pro in an Uber back in January, and they’ve been in Lost Mode ever since, and I regularly see them moving around between three or so different places on the Find My map. Nobody ever reached out to me, but if it doesn’t even show your number I guess they wouldn’t be able to…
I'm curious about the chances of the owner having the same area code as where the airpods were found. I think in many cases the mobile number is going to be from where you lived when you first got a mobile phone, which could have been (at least in my case) decades ago. But I'm glad you got lucky!
I found an airtag in a parking lot last year. It behaved a bit strangely even with a fresh battery and resetting it, and it still seemed the owner had not marked it lost. A friend who was an Apple rep told me it was probably defective and to just throw it away. I put it in the garage meaning to take it to the hazardous waste facility and forgot about it for about 8 months. Came across it again and just for grins and giggles I gave it one more try -- it seems the owner finally did mark it lost, and I was able to pair it to my iPad. So I have an extra airtag now...
I found an airtag in a parking lot last year. It behaved a bit strangely even with a fresh battery and resetting it, and it still seemed the owner had not marked it lost. A friend who was an Apple rep told me it was probably defective and to just throw it away. I put it in the garage meaning to take it to the hazardous waste facility and forgot about it for about 8 months. Came across it again and just for grins and giggles I gave it one more try -- it seems the owner finally did mark it lost, and I was able to pair it to my iPad. So I have an extra airtag now...
Kinda love this.
Some people would say it's creepy to do stuff like this, but creatively exercising your talents to reunite people with their lost stuff is a net win in my book.
Some people would say it's creepy to do stuff like this, but creatively exercising your talents to reunite people with their lost stuff is a net win in my book.
A month ago or so I helped a tourist rescue his iPad which was stolen and throw in a field of tall grass. I also found a pair of 1st Gen airpods who weren't his, and I guess they were stolen some time ago. The old models don't have this feature, and bringing them to the police won't do anything here, since someone should voluntarily go to the police and ask for a pair of lost airpods... I've looked for and there aren't alternative ways to localize them or to get back the owner, it sucks
Found them in under 10 attempts? That's wild. Great story!
Sort of find it interesting no one here questions whether or not he found the actual owner.
Blog post said he verified they belonged to the guy when his phone paired with them, which wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t the actual owner.
The article explicitly states that they verified the owner and how
This wouldn't work for me; my area code is from Los Angeles, but I haven't lived there for fifteen years.
I have lost my airpods, back in 2020 (it was the start of covid and I was taking off a mask in Thailand and flipped them out of my ears). I noticed they were missing twenty minutes later, used find my to get back to where I dropped them, had them make noise and found one of them.
I have lost my airpods, back in 2020 (it was the start of covid and I was taking off a mask in Thailand and flipped them out of my ears). I noticed they were missing twenty minutes later, used find my to get back to where I dropped them, had them make noise and found one of them.
Portlanders are the best! My brother was visiting us here and he lost his wallet at a major tourist attraction. He figured it was gone for good. Nope, someone turned it in with the $200 in cash still in it.
I think Portlanders are generally pretty nice, too. But as it turns out, leaving a bit of cash in your wallet works anywhere in the world.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/lost-wallets-are-more-li...
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/lost-wallets-are-more-li...
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I let my son take mine on a school trip to Japan. They’re still there only now it shows the left and right earbuds are about a block apart. Godspeed AirPod pro heh.
Love the methodology, although they did get lucky that the number (in addition to being local) was not ported from an originally landline-specific block :)
Allowing the lost and found parties to communicate securely (and pseudo-anonymously) through the find my app could be interesting too.
In some cases if it’s lost being able to put a reward message on the screen is valuable too beyond the price of the device.
Apple could also put an AirTag in the AirPod cases for then those go away. Phone relative tracking is nice until batteries die.
In some cases if it’s lost being able to put a reward message on the screen is valuable too beyond the price of the device.
Apple could also put an AirTag in the AirPod cases for then those go away. Phone relative tracking is nice until batteries die.
In the spirit of doing this all on an iPhone. Here is an iOS shortcut that is a workaround for the group text problem.
https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/49fb6b48ba104885a846ea4f6f2...
https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/49fb6b48ba104885a846ea4f6f2...
Wouldn’t it make sense for Apple to have a “send anonymous message to the owner” option on that info page?
At some point, during a meetup the person offering the item would demand a ransom leading to violence. Creators of this tech would much rather you use it only by yourself or with police, not to interact with strangers.
There may be liability for Apple when that is inevitably abused.
I wonder what they would do if you “lost” them in an Apple Store?
My iPhone lost the ability to track my AirPods. I replaced my phone, and they don’t show up anymore.
Fix is essentially to sign out/sign in to all devices. For me, that’s a real PITA. Apple magic is magic until it ain’t.
Fix is essentially to sign out/sign in to all devices. For me, that’s a real PITA. Apple magic is magic until it ain’t.
Taking them to an Apple Store might have worked too? Though not nearly as cool.
It feels like Apple could help solve this. Make it a feature that if you find a device you can bring it near your phone and it will automatically set up a two way anonymous iMessage session.
Lost on pont neuf while biking in Paris….
Found the case neatly put next to a mailbox.
Earbud one about 15m / 50 ft away. Earbud 2 appeared in the seine river.. I guess some threw it in the river.
Found the case neatly put next to a mailbox.
Earbud one about 15m / 50 ft away. Earbud 2 appeared in the seine river.. I guess some threw it in the river.
Wish kindles had any functionality like "Find My". I'm on my third Kindle, having forgotten one on a cab (I think) and another on a plane (I know for certain).
I lost AirPods with an AirTag attached to them in my (now former) apartment complex's parking structure. It was Austin and so APD refused to help recover them despite me telling them there was an AirTag on them and they were still in the area, but moved to a vacant building leased by Google. Still no help from APD. Then, I watched them migrate to a residential address in another nearby town. Again, zero help from the Austin Police Department. Calling the police department in the other city was also of no help.
tl;dr: Don't live in Austin. That Google building's security people were thieves.
Reasons: Nonviolent crimes aren't policed in ATX because they're short ~300 officers. And, it also isn't prosecuted because the DA has the same views as other big cities, leading to more crime and a city death spiral.
tl;dr: Don't live in Austin. That Google building's security people were thieves.
Reasons: Nonviolent crimes aren't policed in ATX because they're short ~300 officers. And, it also isn't prosecuted because the DA has the same views as other big cities, leading to more crime and a city death spiral.
It's interesting how we have become so paranoid about privacy that we don't even give full "if found please contact..." information anymore.
What technology does Airpods & AirTags use to allow them to be located when lost?
They have no cellular reception hardware. How to they transmit their location to Apple?
They have no cellular reception hardware. How to they transmit their location to Apple?
I guess broadcasting beacons via Bluetooth to nearby iPhones, same principle like AirTags work
Is it some kind of proprietary P2P mesh network?
Yes, with a strong emphasis on the proprietary part. Apple and Google both have their own networks.
All the Apple devices (and now, rolling out, all the Google Play Services enabled devices) scan for nearby Bluetooth LE beacons (that use their protocol) and upload (with some cryptographic operation) the location of the device who found the beacon, together with the accuracy (signal strength) to a proprietary server (Google or Apple).
Then, with the respective apps, the key holder can retrieve the reports for a given key hash and decrypt them to get the previous location. Technically speaking, anyone with the key hash can fetch the encrypted location reports from Apple / Google servers, but they can't decrypt them. On top of that, the key is rotating every 15 minutes (AirTag in paired mode) and there is no way to know that two keys are connected... unless you own the main key that is used to derive the rolling keys (see "update" and "diversify" in the linked paper).
Now, all of this is fantastic, until you think of this as a monopoly. Apple and Google get an interesting tax on every device that gets built and joins this network (IIRC it's 4$ for partner devices in the Apple network).
My problem with this is that no-one else other than Google and Apple can build an "open" network - you'd have to find a way to push your code to everyone's devices.
I'm surprised no-one is investigating this unfair practice.
See: https://doi.org/10.2478/popets-2021-0045 and https://github.com/seemoo-lab/openhaystack
All the Apple devices (and now, rolling out, all the Google Play Services enabled devices) scan for nearby Bluetooth LE beacons (that use their protocol) and upload (with some cryptographic operation) the location of the device who found the beacon, together with the accuracy (signal strength) to a proprietary server (Google or Apple).
Then, with the respective apps, the key holder can retrieve the reports for a given key hash and decrypt them to get the previous location. Technically speaking, anyone with the key hash can fetch the encrypted location reports from Apple / Google servers, but they can't decrypt them. On top of that, the key is rotating every 15 minutes (AirTag in paired mode) and there is no way to know that two keys are connected... unless you own the main key that is used to derive the rolling keys (see "update" and "diversify" in the linked paper).
Now, all of this is fantastic, until you think of this as a monopoly. Apple and Google get an interesting tax on every device that gets built and joins this network (IIRC it's 4$ for partner devices in the Apple network).
My problem with this is that no-one else other than Google and Apple can build an "open" network - you'd have to find a way to push your code to everyone's devices.
I'm surprised no-one is investigating this unfair practice.
See: https://doi.org/10.2478/popets-2021-0045 and https://github.com/seemoo-lab/openhaystack
> My problem with this is that no-one else other than Google and Apple can build an "open" network - you'd have to find a way to push your code to everyone's devices.
If you want a non-Apple, non-Google solution, you go to the OG tracker tag -- Tile. You have to install their app, so the reach won't be nearly as extensive, but that is fine by me -- the last thing I want is a third party developer able to push code to my device without me explicitly installing it.
If you want a non-Apple, non-Google solution, you go to the OG tracker tag -- Tile. You have to install their app, so the reach won't be nearly as extensive, but that is fine by me -- the last thing I want is a third party developer able to push code to my device without me explicitly installing it.
Yes - but my point for that wasn't about allowing anyone to push anything on random devices. It was about the market penetration of those two companies.
Tile, as you mentioned, will never get any reach since users have to opt-in to start contributing to the location data, making their network incredibly smaller compared to Apple's or Google's own networks.
If you're Tile - you have no way to start such a network because you'd have to convince every single iPhone user (or Android user) to install your app, while Google / Apple can just do it with the push of a button (kind of!)
My point was about starting your own network with a similar coverage - it's nearly impossible. Thus competing with Apple or Google here is extremely difficult.
Tile, as you mentioned, will never get any reach since users have to opt-in to start contributing to the location data, making their network incredibly smaller compared to Apple's or Google's own networks.
If you're Tile - you have no way to start such a network because you'd have to convince every single iPhone user (or Android user) to install your app, while Google / Apple can just do it with the push of a button (kind of!)
My point was about starting your own network with a similar coverage - it's nearly impossible. Thus competing with Apple or Google here is extremely difficult.
What would the alternative be except for there to be no network at all? Regulation to force interoperability between all mobile operating systems?
A protocol that allows the beacon to define which endpoint is used to forward the encrypted location data.
Alternatively (since the adv data is limited), a "routing" endpoint that allows custom endpoints to be defined depending on the network ID.
There are plenty of possible implementations that would allow for a fair market in this regard, but I don't think Apple or Google would ever introduce them, unless forced to
Alternatively (since the adv data is limited), a "routing" endpoint that allows custom endpoints to be defined depending on the network ID.
There are plenty of possible implementations that would allow for a fair market in this regard, but I don't think Apple or Google would ever introduce them, unless forced to
You did a good deed. You should feel proud of yourself.
I love this kind of detective work. It blows my mind how easy it is to pinpoint someone with the smallest bits of identifying info.
What if they got 50 responses instead of 1?
I feels like detective mission! Loved that
I lost mine! Shat them out in the morning. Just in time for sprint planing, but not enough time to clean them out!
I've washed (and dried!) my AirPods twice. They're still alive and kicking. Pretty cool.
You’re a good man! Awesome story
Had no idea iMessage API exists
When you enter a number into the messages app, your phone needs to know whether to send an iMessage or SMS. They must have reverse-engineered that call and turned it into a paid service. I don't think it's something Apple provides.
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Wired earbuds: one hard to lose thing. AirPods: three easy to lose things.
So you gain a bit of protection against losing them, and lose a bunch of convenience. It is a trade-off. I have precisely zero desire to ever go back to corded headphones. Between the cord noise and catching it on things, wireless headphones have been a marked improvement in the quality of my listening experience.
Good use of Fermi reasoning
This seems genuine to me, but I'm sure some unscrupulous people would love a story like this hitting the front page of HN.
Props to the author for helping the user find their missing AirPods! I believe your story. If I see another story similar to this I may find it harder to believe.
Props to the author for helping the user find their missing AirPods! I believe your story. If I see another story similar to this I may find it harder to believe.
you are awesome
> I started with the assumption that the owner lived near me in the Portland metropolitan area. With that, I restricted the search to our local area code. Sure, they could be from out of town, but hey, let's give it a shot
They could also be local but with a non-Portland area code. Generally, at least if you are using a nationwide cell phone carrier, you can move to another area code and keep your number.
I wonder what percent of people do that?
They could also be local but with a non-Portland area code. Generally, at least if you are using a nationwide cell phone carrier, you can move to another area code and keep your number.
I wonder what percent of people do that?
This part of the story is even more surprising to me, as I'd never considered the possibility that mobile phone numbers could have area codes. The Portland metropolitan area has a population of just under three million according to Wikipedia[1]; my country has a population of just under seventy million and has only a single block of phone numbers allocated for cellular use.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_metropolitan_area,_Or...
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_metropolitan_area,_Or...
This is not the case in the U.S. (discussed elsewhere in this discussion). All phone numbers, landline or mobile, have an area code associated with a specific city/region. Since number portability became a thing in the early 2000s it’s much more common for cell phone users to just keep their number from decades ago, however, which will often not match the physical area they now live in.
The US is also somewhat unique (not the only country, but one of a few) in that we can port numbers between landline and mobile. Most places keep them separate.
I used this feature recently, after my mom passed. She had the same home number we grew up with, for fifty years. I ported it over as a second line on my mobile. Partly nostalgia (okay, mostly), partly because it was a pretty great number for memorization; it has an excellent number pattern.
I used this feature recently, after my mom passed. She had the same home number we grew up with, for fifty years. I ported it over as a second line on my mobile. Partly nostalgia (okay, mostly), partly because it was a pretty great number for memorization; it has an excellent number pattern.
Nobody has had to change their cell number while moving across the US for 30 years
I would say a high percentage of people do that, but portland may not have as many transplants as other cities
Yeah it was a weird assumption and I’m glad it worked
I would say a high percentage of people do that, but portland may not have as many transplants as other cities
Yeah it was a weird assumption and I’m glad it worked
[deleted]
I wonder if the non-matches replied and how.
Probably not a popular opinion but I prefer smart glasses (take calls, listen to audio, ask what you see in front of you like whats that mountain, take pics/videos and more) to Airpods. For me glasses are more comfortable and not as easy to lose, especially since you have to store and charge them in the hard case they come with.
"And in her ears the little Seashells, the thimble radios tamped tight, and an electronic ocean of sound, of music and talk and music and talk coming in, coming in on the shore of her unsleeping mind."I know a guy who lost his iPod...
[deleted]
and this folks is why I will never buy airpods. for $249, I can get 8 pairs of these:
https://electronics.sony.com/audio/headphones/in-ear/p/mdrex...
have purchased 4 already, happy with my decision
https://electronics.sony.com/audio/headphones/in-ear/p/mdrex...
have purchased 4 already, happy with my decision
And this is why I will never buy a pomegranate. I can get eight oranges instead
more like an orange versus a slightly better orange
Lucky for me I love oranges.
Why...why did you purchase 4 pairs of those?
For $249, I can get more than 10 pairs of Chi-Fi TWS.
Ha, I can one-up you again! For $249, I can get over fifty pairs of the Xiaomi J18 bluetooth earphones. Quite apart from the mind-boggling economies of scale with modern electronics, I can genuinely recommend these. They haven't particularly good audio quality compared to over-ear headphones, but they are still remarkably good for in-ear headphones.
I just looked these up, and for sub-$5 you get two earphones containing a driver, wireless IC, battery, and a charging case with its own circuitry and battery. And presumably they're still making a profit on that. I don't expect they'll be tuned to sound better than the wired equivalents which are closer to $1, but the fact that they can even make a working product of that complexity at that price point is mind-boggling indeed.
Indeed - there's of course still plenty of exploitation in the world market that puts a damper on the awe for me, but it's starting to feel like science fiction such as Star Trek is becoming reality ahead of schedule. At this moment, I have around fifty distinct objects near me, each with at least one pin-prick-sized computer inside them, and I could probably purchase all of them again with no more than a days wage.
As for audio quality, should anyone be interested: I had also bought a pair of those wired, ~$1 ones, and I'd say that the Xioami J18 have slightly better audio quality, but that's cancelled out by the occasional bluetooth glitches, and the deafening "CONNECTED" message when you turn them on. They also have better audio quality than the ~$25 Sony on-ear headphones by a considerable margin, but that completely pales in comparison with my Audio-Technica ATH-M40x over-ear headphones, which are like having a hi-fi strapped to your head!
As for audio quality, should anyone be interested: I had also bought a pair of those wired, ~$1 ones, and I'd say that the Xioami J18 have slightly better audio quality, but that's cancelled out by the occasional bluetooth glitches, and the deafening "CONNECTED" message when you turn them on. They also have better audio quality than the ~$25 Sony on-ear headphones by a considerable margin, but that completely pales in comparison with my Audio-Technica ATH-M40x over-ear headphones, which are like having a hi-fi strapped to your head!
I feel like you should've been more careful with your question, unlawful people might answer that they lost AirPods although they didn't.
Unless you have a way to verify they're truthful owners, I would ask something like "I have something that might belong to you, did you lose anything in the past few days?"
EDIT: I missed the part about verification, my bad.
Unless you have a way to verify they're truthful owners, I would ask something like "I have something that might belong to you, did you lose anything in the past few days?"
EDIT: I missed the part about verification, my bad.
I disagree. The suggested message is so generic, that it looks like spam, even to the person who lost the airpod. Also, the author said they verified that the airpods could pair with the owner's device
Totally good point. I wanted the question to be direct without coming off mysterious or creepy. I knew people might lie, but I took a chance and figured the amount of liars would be manageable.
If I hadn’t gotten lucky in finding them in <10 texts, I may have abandoned the idea. Only one other person tried to claim they were the owner.
If I hadn’t gotten lucky in finding them in <10 texts, I may have abandoned the idea. Only one other person tried to claim they were the owner.
> I feel like you should've been more careful with your question, unlawful people might answer that they lost AirPods although they didn't.
All it helps is remove a bit of spam. As the author writes, they checked pairing, but before that you can simply ask "Where do you think you lost them?"
All it helps is remove a bit of spam. As the author writes, they checked pairing, but before that you can simply ask "Where do you think you lost them?"
That's exactly what I asked the one other person who said yes and they stopped responding immediately after that
This framing of the question sounds like an implicit threat, and would scare the hell out of me if i received it from an unknown number.
I’m definitely not replying to it.
I’m definitely not replying to it.
It looks like this was done through pairing. I think the AirPods need the case to pair so it seems like a reasonable test.
> We confirmed that the AirPods paired, which wouldn't be possible if they didn't belong to them.
> We confirmed that the AirPods paired, which wouldn't be possible if they didn't belong to them.
I mean, he said right in the article that they verified they paired.
Also, despite all the press hysteria, "unlawful people" aren't so common that a bunch of 80 messages will automatically bring them out of the woodwork. Most people are decent.
Also, despite all the press hysteria, "unlawful people" aren't so common that a bunch of 80 messages will automatically bring them out of the woodwork. Most people are decent.
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> "We confirmed that the AirPods paired, which wouldn't be possible if they didn't belong to them."
A week later, I got a Find My notification that they had been spotted – at the same sports field. I figured what the hell, put on a podcast and drove the hour to see if I could find them. Worst case scenario, a couple of hours of driving.
Using Find My and the directional feature points you in the right direction to within feet, I found them in the tall grass.
The case had been perfectly watertight, and they'd barely lost a percent of power in a week. Remarkable really all round.