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If what you want is wired earbuds that connect directly to a jack on the phone, nothing has changed. Such earbuds still ship with iPhones today. If you want to

If what you want is wired earbuds that connect directly to a jack on the phone, nothing has changed. Such earbuds still ship with iPhones today. If you want to use wired headphones, the $9 adapter works well. Wireless headphones are also widely available and have batteries that last all day. I realise the above doesn’t perfectly cater to all customers, but anecdotally it seems to cater well enough to enough of them.

p1necone 6y ago
The main issue for me personally is not being able to charge and listen to audio at the same time. The main use case for headphones on my phone for me is watching streaming video in bed and that drains the battery pretty fast. I know there's a (kind of bulky) dongle for charging + headphones, but I'd rather buy a device that has the ports I need already. The $9 adapter is cool though. Afaik it's pretty much the best budget usb dac around.
- doubleunplussed 6y ago
  I bought one of those adaptors, and whilst it worked with my charger at home, when I really needed it on a plane, my phone thought it was supposed to charge the plane :/. I've pre-ordered the pixel 4A. My phone was dying anyway, but I'm going to like having a headphone jack again.
- sjwright 6y ago
  I understand the earbud+charging dilemma; my wife had the exact same bedtime use case issue. I bought her an Anker PowerPort Wireless 5 stand which holds the phone vertically. Its non-rapid charging speed is not an issue when the phone is charged overnight. (In fact the slow speed is probably good for battery longevity.) As for myself, I bought Bose QC35's prior to upgrading to my first jackless iPhone so I was never affected by its absence. I almost never use earbuds.
  - p1necone 6y ago
    No combination of extra dongles and devices is going to be more convenient or cheaper than just plugging in wired headphones to me.
sjwright 6y ago
It’s hilarious how many people have downvoted my comment without actually replying. I can’t imagine how anything I said could be construed as controversial or disagreeable, as opposed to representing a perspective.
- ck425 6y ago
  I'll bite. As others have said you can't charge and listen to music on phones without a jack. On the point about affordable wireless headphones, many of us have spent a lot of time and money finding a great wired headphone setup. I don't want to go spend another £300 and 20-30 hours of my time finding an equivalent setup, all because some industrial designer wants his design another millimeter thinner. Lastly bluetooth still sucks, particularly if you change devices a lot. I've yet to see a BT setup that allows me to easily change my headphones between my laptop, my phone and my ps4 in under 2 seconds.
  - sjwright 6y ago
    Thanks for the reply. As I replied elsewhere, the combination of earbuds and wireless charging was a perfect solution for my wife. Personally I don’t know anyone who routinely charges their phone anytime other than when in bed. And personally I don’t know anyone who has an issue with all day battery life. I’ve no doubt these are still issues for some people but again, wireless charging pads are cheap. I agree multi device Bluetooth sucks. But that’s not your only option. My QC35 are great for two-device use cases. In your scenario I’d use a wired connection for one of the three devices and your instant switching criteria is solved. (I’m assuming you’re fine with one wired connection given that you’re criticising the removal of headphone jacks.)

p1necone 6y ago

The main issue for me personally is not being able to charge and listen to audio at the same time. The main use case for headphones on my phone for me is watching streaming video in bed and that drains the battery pretty fast. I know there's a (kind of bulky) dongle for charging + headphones, but I'd rather buy a device that has the ports I need already. The $9 adapter is cool though. Afaik it's pretty much the best budget usb dac around.

doubleunplussed 6y ago
I bought one of those adaptors, and whilst it worked with my charger at home, when I really needed it on a plane, my phone thought it was supposed to charge the plane :/. I've pre-ordered the pixel 4A. My phone was dying anyway, but I'm going to like having a headphone jack again.
sjwright 6y ago
I understand the earbud+charging dilemma; my wife had the exact same bedtime use case issue. I bought her an Anker PowerPort Wireless 5 stand which holds the phone vertically. Its non-rapid charging speed is not an issue when the phone is charged overnight. (In fact the slow speed is probably good for battery longevity.) As for myself, I bought Bose QC35's prior to upgrading to my first jackless iPhone so I was never affected by its absence. I almost never use earbuds.
- p1necone 6y ago
  No combination of extra dongles and devices is going to be more convenient or cheaper than just plugging in wired headphones to me.

sjwright 6y ago

It’s hilarious how many people have downvoted my comment without actually replying. I can’t imagine how anything I said could be construed as controversial or disagreeable, as opposed to representing a perspective.

ck425 6y ago
I'll bite. As others have said you can't charge and listen to music on phones without a jack. On the point about affordable wireless headphones, many of us have spent a lot of time and money finding a great wired headphone setup. I don't want to go spend another £300 and 20-30 hours of my time finding an equivalent setup, all because some industrial designer wants his design another millimeter thinner. Lastly bluetooth still sucks, particularly if you change devices a lot. I've yet to see a BT setup that allows me to easily change my headphones between my laptop, my phone and my ps4 in under 2 seconds.
- sjwright 6y ago
  Thanks for the reply. As I replied elsewhere, the combination of earbuds and wireless charging was a perfect solution for my wife. Personally I don’t know anyone who routinely charges their phone anytime other than when in bed. And personally I don’t know anyone who has an issue with all day battery life. I’ve no doubt these are still issues for some people but again, wireless charging pads are cheap. I agree multi device Bluetooth sucks. But that’s not your only option. My QC35 are great for two-device use cases. In your scenario I’d use a wired connection for one of the three devices and your instant switching criteria is solved. (I’m assuming you’re fine with one wired connection given that you’re criticising the removal of headphone jacks.)