Comment by CharlesColeman | Hacker News Reader

Comment by CharlesColeman | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

> As much as I love Raymond I have completely run out of time for people who buy unnecessary "smart" devices then complain about them. 6 years ago I would understand, but by now we all know this stuff is junk. Yes, all of it.

I disagree. Yes, a lot of this stuff is junk, but it's also getting harder to avoid. Lots of products have had many of their perfectly-fine controls removed and replaced by "app-based control." Even if you can avoid it, sometimes you have to buy a lower-end item to do so, and miss out other features you'd otherwise like.

For instance: it appears all recent Roomba models require Wifi [1] and an app [2] to set cleaning schedules, while older models accomplished exactly the same configuration with a button cluster and 7-segment display [3]. I personally had to hunt around quite a bit to find a discontinued old model to avoid all the connected garbage.

[1] https://homesupport.irobot.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/17734...

[2] https://homesupport.irobot.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9029/....

[3] https://homesupport.irobot.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/490/~...

It is never made clear that an app is required either. Often devices have an app but you don't need it at all since it was just slapped on as a feature checkbox.

I recently got a pair of Bose QC 35 headphones and out of the box they are non functional until connected to the app. I had to borrow a phone to connect them to the app to set up and then thankfully they started working on my own devices with bt and wired without needing an app.

Headphones should just work out of the box. The only useful function the app provides is firmware updates and a way to map the button to NC level.

Bose QC35 headphones should be 100% functional over BLE without needing an app (I pair them with my iPhone as a normal BLE headset, and they pair with my Mac and Windows Desktop as well, no app installed).

Also, they include a physical audio cable which works all the time... I'm curious what could have caused your headset to not function normally, as I deal with many, many, many QC35s (my company gives one to each hired employee) and have never heard of (or experienced myself!) the app being a pre-req.

My mum got a pair and they just worked out of the box. Then a few months later I got a pair and when I turned them on they just kept saying to connect them to the app and refuse to pair to bluetooth. I then knew someone who got a pair after that and also had to connect them to the app.

Once paired to the app the first time it doesn't require it again and you can use them as regular bluetooth headphones. I'm guessing some product manager decided that not enough people were installing the app and had a change made so you were forced to use it at least once.

The physical cable probably did work. Initially I thought it wasn't working until I looked it up and found out you have to push it in harder before it clicks a second time

I think I'd return them. I hope enough of their actual customers do so for that product manager to need to find a new job.

> it appears all recent Roomba models require Wifi

Yeah, I ran into this problem when I bought a second Roomba. Fortunately, I found a retailer who was selling older models (at a discount, too). If that had not been an option, and if I couldn't find any reasonable used units, then I would have just not purchased one at all.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com