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Comment by vm | Hacker News Reader

They're doomed by the slow UX for uploading: 1) record w/o really knowing how the content is coming out (it's like stepping back into the Kodak age after using an iPhone for 10 years), 2) open Snap app, 3) reconnect the Bluetooth for 1-2 min because the connection is crap from the glasses to my phone, 4) upload all the videos from my glasses which takes another 1-2 min, 5) select specific video snips to share, 6) select people to share / upload to story, etc.

Seemed to take 5 min when I did it. Enough to kill the moment. Sharp contrast to how fast Snap is on iOS.

Plus the glasses are uncomfortable and have large blind spots, so I can't wear them all the time (i.e. not good for driving)

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There's no UX that bluetooth can't ruin.

And yet there's really no replacement. I mean if MS uses Bluetooth for their surface pens, when they completely control the hardware at both ends, then there's really no hope for getting rid of it.

Bluetooth working great for Apple AirPods. I think Snapchat is having a software problem.

I agree that it's a software problem, but most vendors aren't in apple's position of controlling every single link of the chain.

I do think it'll get better over time. NFC/tap pairing will eventually replace Menu + Manual Madness, show-stopping bugs will get fixed, capability sets will stabilize, conventions will develop to smooth over variation in UI choices, "worse is better" decisions will be unwound, and eventually it'll be a smooth experience and people will wonder how they ever lived with wires. If my own experiences are typical of even a tiny minority of users, however, that day is still disappointingly far off.

Apple will probably do the Bluetooth equivalent to what they did with earphones: they switched the mic and ground wire, forcing earphone manufacturers to either support iOS or TRRS on the built-in remotes. I love my Macbook Pro and iPhone, but Apple can be a truly infuriating company.

You must definitely add investor pressure in all of this, and if history is of any indication, that pressure can and will kill any creative efforts. It's all about being first to market, making a big buck and having a lucrative exit nowadays.

Nobody is interested in the tech becoming more comfortable.

I think the problem is that in this case Bluetooth is just not fast enough to transfer large amounts of video data. What they should do is use BT to negotiate details of an ad-hoc Wi-Fi network and use that larger pipe to send the actual data.

You basically just described Bluetooth 3.0 + HS[1]. The Bluetooth connection is used to establish an 802.11 link, over which data is transferred. It's only (up to) 24 Mbit/s, so it's still slower than some (direct) Wi-Fi alternatives, but it's much faster than normal Bluetooth connections.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth#Bluetooth_3.0_.2B_HS

That is exactly how the Spectacles work. Bluetooth is only used for transfer as a fallback mechanism.

Yup. This is how Wifi Direct and Apple's Airdrop work.

This random thing I found claims about 1-1.5MB/s possible at least using the multipeerconnectivity libraries. ~ 0.1MB/s for bluetooth-only.

https://github.com/thaliproject/Thali_CordovaPlugin/issues/1...

FWIW I recently bought a $30 waterproof bluetooth speaker that goes on my bike. Paired it once on first power up, it Just Works (tm) since.

I just bought $40 bluetooth earbuds that required RTFMing to pair, don't hold the pair between workouts, take a minute to perform the ritual, and use friction to anchor themselves to my ear so thy fall off the moment I start sweating. Oh, and they need to be recharged.

I have similar stories for every single bluetooth device that I have ever tried, which amounts to probably a dozen peripherals and half that many hosts. I've had fleeting moments of "it's magic" to punctuate the sea of crap so I'm fully on board with the potential of the technology, but it has continued to mature at an obnoxiously slow rate.

Try AirPods. I've been every happy with them!

Your bluetooth speaker setup works great for precisely your scenario - the speaker is paired with one only device.

It gets wonky if that single speaker has paired with multiple devices before. For example in a home, where you've paired it with your laptop, phone, iPad, etc. Try it out. Audio will cut off sometimes suddenly when it decides to switch pairing partners as another paired device appears in range.

I have a Sony bluetooth headset and it's amazing. It was around €65, lasts 40 hours of use (so charge once a week- every 2-3 weeks depending on usage), pairs with 3 devices and does it very well. I often move to another floor while having them on (construction work) or go out to the shed while the iPhone is in the bedroom on a charger, and it still works 10 meters in the yard. Best thing I've ever purchased, so there are good Bluetooth solutions.

If the device it was connected to last is available, it will reconnect to that.

To connect to a different one, hold the button longer and press connect on the other device.

I use it on my iPhone, Android tablet and Windows 10 PC

what do you mean by "pairs with 3 devices and does it very well"

So I have an iPad, macbook, and iPhone in my room all turned on at the same time. All with bluetooth on. All have been paired with the speaker.

I now turn on the bluetooth speaker.

How does it decide which device to connect to? Amazingly, it is always the wrong one. Every single time.

airpods aren't transmitting video, not a fair comparison at all.

I'm very impressed with Garmin's bluetooth implementation on the Forerunner series.

Yes. My Garmin Fenix 3 HR isn't perfect but it consistently connects via Bluetooth faster than any other device I own. It has an "indistinguishable from magic" feel to it.

I have a Forerunner 235. I didn't buy the watch for notifications or anything like that, but it's really cool to get a Slack notification when you are halfway across the house.

The GPS also connects to satellites in a fraction of the time my Suunto watch did. It sucks when you're standing in the parking lot waiting to establish signal before your run.

Edge 820 here. The Bluetooth connection to my iPhone just works every time. I'd basically given up on BT as a useful thing years ago, but now I never have to think about it, and only have to plug the device in to charge after a few rides.

Mini review: the GPS is also super quick to acquire compared to my (now bricked) 800 - but the touchscreen is awful.

I'd echo that experience - my time with a Fitbit lead me to assume it was normal for notifications to show up long after they arrived on the phone. It's clearly just something that only some manufacturers can get right.

Mouse? Keyboard? Earbuds?

I think your issue 1 is actually this way by design. Spectacles are meant for recording without worrying too much about how the content is coming out. The idea is to let you concentrate on living the moment rather than how to frame it. That's how I interpreted it, anyway.

The upload takes place in the background, so usually it would be completed by the time you're done with whatever activity and go into the app.

I don't think your the target audience. Snapchat UX is amazing and an entire generation uses for all communication purposes. Facebook of OUR time.

I disagree - there is no "target audience" for shit UX. Their "target audience" uses Snap despite its awful UX, not because of it. Those users wouldn't suddenly run away if the UX did actually improve.

Perhaps I'm just used to it, but I find SC's UI/UX to be quite nice to use. I would be disappointed if Snapchat's UI changed to be more like Instagram's; IG's UI may be more discoverable, but it just doesn't feel as smooth.

I liked the UI of early Snapchat (2013) when there was only a recent Snaps list and a camera view and you could swipe between them. It all went downhill from there, but the biggest blow for me was the stupid thing that you have to pull down when in the camera view to get access to your contacts. I wish the "designer" that had this stupid idea would be sentenced to several years of reading all text in nothing but Comic Sans.

The UX might be good but I've heard nothing but complaints about the app quality from teenagers and that's on iOS. They are starting to straddle snap and Instagram.

Teenager here chiming in, Snapchat is great but kind of slow on my (Android) phone -- It takes like 5 seconds for it to even load who has new stories, and I used to be able to swipe up to show my stats and snap code but now it's a bunch of related/nearby content ("top stories") I don't care about. Ads between stories are kind of annoying but I understand they need to monetize somehow.

It's great for sharing photos and quick texts but no one uses snap maps, the sponsored content is cringe, and I have yet to see spectacles in real life because unsurprisingly, we don't have the money to buy $100+ camera glasses.

I should also add that a lot of my friends do use Instagram stories, but a lot of the time it's just a picture with the text "AMOS: {sc_username}" (AMOS means "add me on Snapchat") so take from that what you will.

Same thing I've noticed, and even beyond that people still seem to feel the need to put a final layer of effort into their insta stories relative to Snap stories, I'd say Snap still has a definite role

It's been pretty great on android for me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What I mostly notice about Snapchat is the ads on the right side are obnoxiously sexual or celebrity driven. Not so amazing experience there, it's like the checkout aisle at Safeway.

(ever noticed that magazine where the cover is always "how to lose 30 pounds in a day" and then a chocolate cake?)

I meant the upload time for Spectacles, not sure if we're talking about the same thing? The UX for the Snap app is great. I was the most active Snap user I knew up until recently (hence why I have Spectacles)

> Facebook of OUR TIME

Facebook and Snap are 7 years apart, calm down.

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