Have you used the Radio feature in Play Music much? When I first signed up with GPM I uploaded my collection, and when Radio (or it’s early equivalent) first came out, it seemed to heavily favor tracks in my collection when auto-generating playlists. I use Radio for discovery or listening to stuff I don’t hear frequently, so it was kind of the opposite of what I wanted.
On topic, I use my 3.5mm headphones everyday, typically to watch video. I also use a 3.5mm cord weekly to plug into an amp/speaker system. While I’m not surprised that Apple had the “courage” to remove the jack, I am really concerned that Android manufacturers are going to follow suit, and will start to drop the jack too. I’ve noticed when shopping for laptops a few times over the last year, that some models dropped (infrequent) or combined (becoming much more common) the analog jacks, so it’s likely inevitable, but disappointing. When my bluetooth speaker dies, I can at least hook it up to power and use it. But when I’m going to do yard work or other work where I’m on the move, if my wireless headphones are dead, there’s nothing I can do about it but go without.
I’ll also agree with the sentiment that if Apple was going to drop the jack, there might have been at least slightly less gnashing of teeth if they’d gone with something that wasn’t proprietary to replace it. The last thing anyone wants to do is buy several pairs of headphones with different connectors (Lightning, USB-C, etc.). Bluetooth should be the answer here, but as many have already mentioned, it has its own set of issues.
The space freed up by excising the 3.5mm jack is mostly taken up by the new ‘taptic’ home button.
Making a button not a button and instead creating a large and costly device to simulate it being a button = courage. But hey, no more home buttons breaking because apparently that’s a thing?
Any particular models? Through our 3G / 4 / 4S / 5S / 6+ over the years we’ve never had any warranty issues, and of my friends, they’ve all been screen or battery replacements.
That’s one of the reasons why I firmly believe Apple make the best smartphones in the world.
How about exercise equipment that allows one to plug in their mobile device to listen to music. I have a walking elliptical that I use all the time in this fashion. I prefer it over headphones that get sweaty when I am walking.
I don’t use Radio much, and I’ve heard it’s not as strong as Spotify’s Discovery service, which is apparently very top-notch.
More or less, forums/reddit/“bands like this” are my primary music rec engines, and I like to dig a little deeper into new artists than just happening to catch 'em for 2 minutes as I step back to my desk after a hallway walk-n-talk. Just doesn’t fit my use case very well.
But when I do use it, it seems to produce pleasant, if not altogether surprising, songs regularly. “I’m Feeling Lucky,” which seems to be based off my entire uploaded library, is a real riot, given the breadth of the ~32k songs I uploaded years ago.
I just find the internet rage both off-putting and interesting.
I read a post where the guy (its always a guy) said that the included earbuds with his wife’s iPhone are so crappy that he threw them in the garbage without listening to them once, or letting her.
Then I read a post where the guy said he uses nine different 3.5mm audio plugs every single day, and what is he supposed to do, buy nine adapters?
So many examples. I guess I don’t begrudge people and there passions whatever it is, even if it is Apple hatred, but geez we seem to have a lot of first world problems these days.
You really should try this sometime, assuming you use Spotify and it’s learned your preferences. It’s very good.
I’ve also had 2 break on me over the past few years.
Agreed. The phone will be released, people will buy it, most people will forget about this “crisis,” and the world will move on. Remember the outrage when Steve Jobs announced the name of the iPad? so many people declaring it DOA because of the name, etc.
I really hate this dismissal. I’m not specifically digging at you, Scott, but I truly dislike how “first world problem” has become this easy rebuttal on the internet.
Yes, it’s a first world problem. But so what? If we were discussing deforestation in the South Pacific and I came in complaining about how ecological efforts were hampering my enjoyment of Pier One Imports wicker chairs, then fine. Hit me with the first world problems bat. When we’re discussing the iPhone 7, let’s all agree that the conversation is inherently not concerned with anything beyond the core element.
I did use Spotify for a time, before transitioning to Play Music because the added bonus of adding in my entire (ludicrously oversized) collection of music was just too good of an offer to pass up. I liked it alright (particularly, having a real desktop program that could respond to media keys was a true blessing compared to the browser-tab-hunts I have to go on in order to pause Play Music. . . ), but never really dinkered with Discovery for the reasons outlined above re: Play Radio.
I’d try to claim that I just already know all the music I like, but having discovered what’s now my second favorite genre of all time by clicking a reddit link by chance about 6 months ago, I know that’s wrong :-D
Kinda gotta go in with Telefrog here, not to pile on. When we’re discussing the featureset of a $800 cellphone, any concerns, legit or otherwise, are gonna be first-world problems. And the omission of the headphone jack is an issue for a lot of people, and not just because they have a baker’s dozen aux cords hanging at eye level at every desk they sit at during the day. I think several of us in this very thread have outlined legitimate concerns raised by the move. . . while I still haven’t seen anyone address specifically how the move actively makes something better. The Home button rejigger comes closest, but let’s be fair here: broken Home buttons bricking iPhones wasn’t really an issue that should have existed in the first place :-/
True and I think I’ll use that the next time someone gives me the first-world retort too :). But you also have to admit that a significant amount of Apple criticism has little to do with the actual product or subject being discussed.
I personally switched to Android but don’t have any specific objection to Apple. In fact I see their phones as having superior camera output, slightly snappier performance, a bit more support and longevity, and a superior app network (though apps are becoming less important over time). All marginal pluses at a significant cost, which is in dollars plus the need to be “all in” in terms of the Apple ecosystem. I don’t like either cost, but many are ok with it.
This really sums it up for me. This move isn’t about making anything appreciably better, at least for me. It’s not thinner. I don’t care about being water resistant and other companies have done it without removing the port. The battery is only a little better and not enough that when I would have needed a battery case before I wouldn’t now.
I’m a HUGE Apple fanboy, but this is a bad move. I think they will regret this decision for years, and hope they reverse it. It’s probably too late for next year’s iPhone.
It seems minor, but this could be Apple’s Windows 8 moment. Remember when Microsoft forced everyone to use Windows the way they wanted and not the way people wanted to use it?
Apple has explained why they removed it and what they did with that space in a Buzzfed article that has been posted twice in this thread. Yes, it’s Buzzfeed, but it is an interesting article and worth of read if anyone cares. While I have no doubts they did it so they could make more money, they did have legitimate reasons as well.
off topic but how does this work? I just moved over from Apple Music to Spotify. I don’t seem to see a “heart” or “like” button in Spotify, so how does it know what is my preferred music?
I’m not entirely sure, but it probably learns from a combo of what you listen to and what you’ve added to playlists. You can also click the + to “Save to your music.” Behind the scenes, there’s some network analysis going on to generate the weekly suggestions. A few years ago, Spotify acquired Seed Scientific, an awesome boutique analytics firm, and set them to working on the Discover Weekly suggestions, if I remember correctly.
