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As someone who has lost three pairs of AirPods (including the newer pros) I’ve never understood why Apple allows another device to pair with headphones that are

As someone who has lost three pairs of AirPods (including the newer pros) I’ve never understood why Apple allows another device to pair with headphones that are already paired to an iCloud account. Once my girlfriend saw my AirPod maxs lying around and wanted to try them. She put them on her head, tapped “continue” or whatever it said under “not your AirPods” and was listening to music in 15 seconds. Obviously they weren’t stolen in this case but I was shocked at how easily someone could use AirPods they just found. I feel like Apple could “just” give you the option to disable pairing and discourage people from stealing them, but I don’t know why they haven’t

rkangel 3y ago
There are lots of good product reasons why you don't want to do this, but there's also a good chance that they're just not allowed to. Airpods are Bluetooth. Their is a load of IP behind Bluetooth, and they will happily licence that IP for free to qualified Bluetooth devices. So you can't just pick and choose which bits of Bluetooth you like, you have to implement enough of it to meet the standards (you can do stuff on top though if you want). It is possible that a device that refuses to pair/connect under some circumstances to a certified Bluetooth device (e.g. my Android phone, or an iPhone) would fail to meet the specification. There may be a spec lawyer way around it, or there might not be. If there isn't then they just can't do that.
obituary_latte 3y ago
I'm totally guessing, but could it be actual corporate strategy? If they are easy to steal, AppleCare+ becomes more appealing and/or having to replace them increases sales. It's certainly an easy problem to solve. Can anyone think of any other legitimate reason not to?
- praseodym 3y ago
  AppleCare+ doesn't cover theft, there is AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss for iPhone in the US but afaik it is not available for AirPods.
- bee_rider 3y ago
  Ease of use and they didn’t think of it? Most headphones don’t have a lockout feature.
  - edude03 3y ago
    They have such a lock out feature on all their other portables and desktops too in fact (activation lock) so I’m mostly surprised it didn’t “naturally” carry over
  - obituary_latte 3y ago
    How would locking them to the owner make them harder to use? They're smart enough and have designed enough software where they could trivially allow the user to share them if desired- that is the only "inconvenience" I can image it would cause. I doubt they either didn't think of it or that it wasn't suggested frequently.r
elbigbad 3y ago
I lost some new model Pros and learned a lot of the same lessons. It’s weird that anyone would be able to use them? This is the case with the iPhone I believe, where the iPhone is completely useless (except for parts) if it’s connected to someone else’s account. In my case at least my AirPods ended up in lost and found. I was able to go back to where I lost them with find my, then assist the person working there in finding them by continually playing the sound with a button on my phone.
SketchySeaBeast 3y ago
> As someone who has lost three pairs of AirPods (including the newer pros) I’ve never understood why Apple allows another device to pair with headphones that are already paired to an iCloud account. Seems kind of user hostile to me. I lose my Apple account I lose my headphones too.
- schwartzworld 3y ago
  I agree. I have several old iOS devices that are basically bricked because there's no way to factory reset them without first unlocking the device.
  - mercutio2 3y ago
    You can DFU any old iPhone and erase install any appropriately signed version of iOS on it. What you can’t do is finish activation without a network connection and the last signed in AppleID account password. Are you saying you don’t have the password for the last signed in AppleID?
    - schwartzworld 3y ago
      Correct.
- edude03 3y ago
  I don't think it's user hostile to give users the option to do this. Also, realistically, you're more likely to have your headphones lost/stolen than your apple account and for most(?) apple users, I imagine being locked out of their apple account would be worse than losing access to their headphones considering they would also lose their files, photos, messages, subscriptions etc.
- bee_rider 3y ago
  It could default to on, but be optional. (Thus providing a “herd immunity” of sorts while still allowing you to do it your way).
- JCharante 3y ago
labcomputer 3y ago
> I’ve never understood why Apple allows another device to pair with headphones that are already paired to an iCloud account. Because then you can't use your personal AirPods with your work computer. Plus, AirPods work with non-Apple devices anyway. How does Apple know what iCloud account belongs to my car's stereo? > I feel like Apple could “just” give you the option to disable pairing and discourage people from stealing them, but I don’t know why they haven’t Something like that would be neat, provided that 1) it's optional; and 2) the user can authorize a small number of "guest" iCloud accounts.
- e40 3y ago
  Seems like there could be some sort of verification via your main iPhone, like "you are trying to pair XXX with YYY, allow?"
Reubachi 3y ago
I could not imagine a worse solution to a user-error. Imagine this same comment but about wired headphones, for example. Since the dawn of time people have stolen and misplaced things. Please don't give Apple any bright ideas about monetizing human clumsiness.
- vel0city 3y ago
  Ugh imagine having wired headphones which were somehow physically keyed to specific devices, sounds like a nightmare.
- edude03 3y ago
  Imagine this same comment but with your car. People can’t just walk up to your car and drive it away specifically because there is a key that allows the key holder to verify they are authorized to drive (yes obviously someone can steal your keys but that’s the idea anyway) No one accuses car manufacturers of monetizing human clumsiness and generally speaking the system works pretty well.
CoffeeOnWrite 3y ago
One thing that strikes me about the story- I guess not everyone is queasy about putting things in their ears that have spent a lot of time in another person’s ears? (I wouldn’t think they would be attractive theft targets, because of hygiene/stigma)
- crazygringo 3y ago
  Just use an alcohol wipe and you're good to go. Cleaned and disinfected, don't know what else would bother you?
  - Scoundreller 3y ago
    Alcohol isn’t sterilizing. E.g. Not very effective against non-enveloped viruses, for example. I’d leave ‘em in the sun personally. But putting it random stuff at the edge of your ear is probably low risk when it comes to activities people do on the regular.
    - Fnoord 3y ago
      Not sure I like that given there's a battery in them. There's also a device which bombards small device like earphones with UV for a couple of minutes. Got it at work. My over ear headphones don't fit, but my Sony in-ear with noise cancelling do. Oh, and they still work afterwards, of course.
      - Scoundreller 3y ago
        I mean, they’re often half in the sun anyway. UV can do its work without getting things hot.
  - CoffeeOnWrite 3y ago
    > don't know what else would bother you? Like I said, it’s queasiness/stigma about hygiene, not a reasoned thought. This is a common sentiment in the US- we like to buy our sex toys new, for another example, even though they’re usually made of materials that lend themselves to cleaning/sterilization.
liminalsunset 3y ago
This feature actually appears to have been implemented at some point. It's called Pairing Lock. The only problem is I'm not sure if it has been silently removed, since on my phone and AirPods the same location in the screenshot no longer says Pairing Lock. https://old.reddit.com/r/airpods/comments/q29h40/we_can_finally_lock_our_airpods/ https://old.reddit.com/r/airpods/comments/q29h40/we_can_fina...
- edude03 3y ago
  Nice! I was unaware of this. I also don't see this options though, so I assume it's been removed
buro9 3y ago
I'd need "find my" to be perfect before I trust it at all again. I set up a MacBook Pro with Find My, I changed the email on my Apple ID and no longer had access to the old email... time passes... I discover Find My does not recognise the Apple ID (same one, but changed email) and that I've effectively now lost ownership in Find My. This took weeks to resolve with Apple involved and multiple wipes of the laptop and proof of purchase and ownership. I'm burned, I now run my MacBook with location services disabled, Find My disabled. It's encrypted and insured, if I lose it or it gets stolen then I'll get another. This is less stress than Find My.
TexanFeller 3y ago
> I’ve never understood why Apple allows another device to pair with headphones that are already paired to an iCloud account I want the ability to work cross account smoothly because I keep my work MBP signed into a work-only account but during the day I want to quickly switch to using them on my iPhone signed into my personal account.
StrictDabbler 3y ago
You answered your own question. They allow this because often members of a group want to share their headphones without fully setting up a "Family Sharing" account. You can only make changes to your "Family Sharing" account once a year due to demands from the music industry. They were worried about the revenue loss from friend groups registering as families and required that it be difficult to form a family group. Everything about sharing Apple devices between family members is awkward because the RIAA dictated the structure of Apple IDs when they were first being designed. Let alone my Apple watch that can only pair with one of my phones at a time...
arrakeen 3y ago
> I’ve never understood why Apple allows another device to pair with headphones that are already paired to an iCloud account. even folks who spend >$5k on headphones would find this suggestion obscene.

rkangel 3y ago

There are lots of good product reasons why you don't want to do this, but there's also a good chance that they're just not allowed to. Airpods are Bluetooth. Their is a load of IP behind Bluetooth, and they will happily licence that IP for free to qualified Bluetooth devices. So you can't just pick and choose which bits of Bluetooth you like, you have to implement enough of it to meet the standards (you can do stuff on top though if you want). It is possible that a device that refuses to pair/connect under some circumstances to a certified Bluetooth device (e.g. my Android phone, or an iPhone) would fail to meet the specification. There may be a spec lawyer way around it, or there might not be. If there isn't then they just can't do that.

obituary_latte 3y ago

I'm totally guessing, but could it be actual corporate strategy? If they are easy to steal, AppleCare+ becomes more appealing and/or having to replace them increases sales. It's certainly an easy problem to solve. Can anyone think of any other legitimate reason not to?

praseodym 3y ago
AppleCare+ doesn't cover theft, there is AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss for iPhone in the US but afaik it is not available for AirPods.
bee_rider 3y ago
Ease of use and they didn’t think of it? Most headphones don’t have a lockout feature.
- edude03 3y ago
  They have such a lock out feature on all their other portables and desktops too in fact (activation lock) so I’m mostly surprised it didn’t “naturally” carry over
- obituary_latte 3y ago
  How would locking them to the owner make them harder to use? They're smart enough and have designed enough software where they could trivially allow the user to share them if desired- that is the only "inconvenience" I can image it would cause. I doubt they either didn't think of it or that it wasn't suggested frequently.r

elbigbad 3y ago

I lost some new model Pros and learned a lot of the same lessons. It’s weird that anyone would be able to use them? This is the case with the iPhone I believe, where the iPhone is completely useless (except for parts) if it’s connected to someone else’s account. In my case at least my AirPods ended up in lost and found. I was able to go back to where I lost them with find my, then assist the person working there in finding them by continually playing the sound with a button on my phone.

SketchySeaBeast 3y ago

> As someone who has lost three pairs of AirPods (including the newer pros) I’ve never understood why Apple allows another device to pair with headphones that are already paired to an iCloud account. Seems kind of user hostile to me. I lose my Apple account I lose my headphones too.

schwartzworld 3y ago
I agree. I have several old iOS devices that are basically bricked because there's no way to factory reset them without first unlocking the device.
- mercutio2 3y ago
  You can DFU any old iPhone and erase install any appropriately signed version of iOS on it. What you can’t do is finish activation without a network connection and the last signed in AppleID account password. Are you saying you don’t have the password for the last signed in AppleID?
  - schwartzworld 3y ago
    Correct.
edude03 3y ago
I don't think it's user hostile to give users the option to do this. Also, realistically, you're more likely to have your headphones lost/stolen than your apple account and for most(?) apple users, I imagine being locked out of their apple account would be worse than losing access to their headphones considering they would also lose their files, photos, messages, subscriptions etc.
bee_rider 3y ago
It could default to on, but be optional. (Thus providing a “herd immunity” of sorts while still allowing you to do it your way).
JCharante 3y ago

labcomputer 3y ago

> I’ve never understood why Apple allows another device to pair with headphones that are already paired to an iCloud account. Because then you can't use your personal AirPods with your work computer. Plus, AirPods work with non-Apple devices anyway. How does Apple know what iCloud account belongs to my car's stereo? > I feel like Apple could “just” give you the option to disable pairing and discourage people from stealing them, but I don’t know why they haven’t Something like that would be neat, provided that 1) it's optional; and 2) the user can authorize a small number of "guest" iCloud accounts.

e40 3y ago
Seems like there could be some sort of verification via your main iPhone, like "you are trying to pair XXX with YYY, allow?"

Reubachi 3y ago

I could not imagine a worse solution to a user-error. Imagine this same comment but about wired headphones, for example. Since the dawn of time people have stolen and misplaced things. Please don't give Apple any bright ideas about monetizing human clumsiness.

vel0city 3y ago
Ugh imagine having wired headphones which were somehow physically keyed to specific devices, sounds like a nightmare.
edude03 3y ago
Imagine this same comment but with your car. People can’t just walk up to your car and drive it away specifically because there is a key that allows the key holder to verify they are authorized to drive (yes obviously someone can steal your keys but that’s the idea anyway) No one accuses car manufacturers of monetizing human clumsiness and generally speaking the system works pretty well.

CoffeeOnWrite 3y ago

One thing that strikes me about the story- I guess not everyone is queasy about putting things in their ears that have spent a lot of time in another person’s ears? (I wouldn’t think they would be attractive theft targets, because of hygiene/stigma)

crazygringo 3y ago
Just use an alcohol wipe and you're good to go. Cleaned and disinfected, don't know what else would bother you?
- Scoundreller 3y ago
  Alcohol isn’t sterilizing. E.g. Not very effective against non-enveloped viruses, for example. I’d leave ‘em in the sun personally. But putting it random stuff at the edge of your ear is probably low risk when it comes to activities people do on the regular.
  - Fnoord 3y ago
    Not sure I like that given there's a battery in them. There's also a device which bombards small device like earphones with UV for a couple of minutes. Got it at work. My over ear headphones don't fit, but my Sony in-ear with noise cancelling do. Oh, and they still work afterwards, of course.
    - Scoundreller 3y ago
      I mean, they’re often half in the sun anyway. UV can do its work without getting things hot.
- CoffeeOnWrite 3y ago
  > don't know what else would bother you? Like I said, it’s queasiness/stigma about hygiene, not a reasoned thought. This is a common sentiment in the US- we like to buy our sex toys new, for another example, even though they’re usually made of materials that lend themselves to cleaning/sterilization.

liminalsunset 3y ago

This feature actually appears to have been implemented at some point. It's called Pairing Lock. The only problem is I'm not sure if it has been silently removed, since on my phone and AirPods the same location in the screenshot no longer says Pairing Lock. https://old.reddit.com/r/airpods/comments/q29h40/we_can_finally_lock_our_airpods/ https://old.reddit.com/r/airpods/comments/q29h40/we_can_fina...

edude03 3y ago
Nice! I was unaware of this. I also don't see this options though, so I assume it's been removed

buro9 3y ago

I'd need "find my" to be perfect before I trust it at all again. I set up a MacBook Pro with Find My, I changed the email on my Apple ID and no longer had access to the old email... time passes... I discover Find My does not recognise the Apple ID (same one, but changed email) and that I've effectively now lost ownership in Find My. This took weeks to resolve with Apple involved and multiple wipes of the laptop and proof of purchase and ownership. I'm burned, I now run my MacBook with location services disabled, Find My disabled. It's encrypted and insured, if I lose it or it gets stolen then I'll get another. This is less stress than Find My.

TexanFeller 3y ago

> I’ve never understood why Apple allows another device to pair with headphones that are already paired to an iCloud account I want the ability to work cross account smoothly because I keep my work MBP signed into a work-only account but during the day I want to quickly switch to using them on my iPhone signed into my personal account.

StrictDabbler 3y ago

You answered your own question. They allow this because often members of a group want to share their headphones without fully setting up a "Family Sharing" account. You can only make changes to your "Family Sharing" account once a year due to demands from the music industry. They were worried about the revenue loss from friend groups registering as families and required that it be difficult to form a family group. Everything about sharing Apple devices between family members is awkward because the RIAA dictated the structure of Apple IDs when they were first being designed. Let alone my Apple watch that can only pair with one of my phones at a time...

arrakeen 3y ago

> I’ve never understood why Apple allows another device to pair with headphones that are already paired to an iCloud account. even folks who spend >$5k on headphones would find this suggestion obscene.