Unhappy w Airpods/Beats Inter-Device- Connectivity

[gnirkatto]

I had the current Airpods Pro (and some older models) and gave them away because they didn't fit my ears. Then I bought the Powerbeats Pro and gave them away as the Beats Fit pro arrived.
The feature I've always been most keen on was the (H1 chip powered) connection and switching between Apple devices, as I have the iPhone, a Macbook and an iPad.
Pairing and 'remote pairing' via iCloud worked flawlessly. Paired on the iPhone, and they showed on all other devices, almost instantly.
But here comes the issue - as experienced on all pods/beats that I ever owned.

Advertising claims (and still does, imho), that they are so smart to connect to the very device that I'm using, whenever making a call or listening to music or watching a video, without me having to intervene manually.

However, this is incredibly unreliable.

Taking a phone call with the pods/beats takes forever, when they were/are connected to a different device - even though nothing about video/audio is happening there. Sometimes it doesn't even switch over at all, so that I have to pick up a call manually, and use the iPhone speaker.
And vice versa. I sat in a coffee shop today, had my Beats plugged in (to my ears), and watched a video, and they did not switch over from the iPhone. It was embarrassing, as the video started playing loud, 6 or 7 times, until the beats decided to move over to the iPad.

And this is NOT depending on the Wifi quality. It is equally flawed when I'm at home, right next to a wifi router with strong & fast connection.

It is SO incredibly unreliable that I don't see a point in all this excitement about these pods/beats - yes sound quality, some other features, but these and the fact that they show on all devices once paired on the first, I could easily do without (the pairing only happens once, so no big deal to do that manually on all devices) - but this annoying delay in device switching, and sometimes refusing to switch at all - not liked.
For me, this world famous H1 chip (or whatever else handles this handover process) does not live up to its alleged capabilities.

 

[Ed7789]

I have the same feeling about that feature. I simply gave up on it, and I do a manual transfer between devices.

 

[Up_And_Away]

The H1 chip is a great feature add. It is unfortunate that it has not worked out for you. I have a fairly wide Apple eco so I use my AirPods Pro a lot with ATV, Mac, IPhone, IPad. Auto switching can only be used if you have a understanding rhythm. Watching ATV but need a quick look at the iPhone and it switches. Without the rhythm using auto is no good, go with ‘AirPods Nearby’ (I prefer this option).
Audio Sharing is a sweet feature I use frequently with the GF.

You mentioned giving away AirPods Pro because they didn’t fit? AirPods Pro are changeable tips based on size. Inexpensive third party options even have ‘medium small’ and ‘medium large’ - silicone to mix to foam. That’s 5 different size options with fit variationsX3 due to different materials. That not one of those scenarios fit is really unfortunate. That’s too bad…

 

[gnirkatto]

The H1 chip is a great feature add. It is unfortunate that it has not worked out for you. I have a fairly wide Apple eco so I use my AirPods Pro a lot with ATV, Mac, IPhone, IPad. Auto switching can only be used if you have a understanding rhythm. Watching ATV but need a quick look at the iPhone and it switches. Without the rhythm using auto is no good, go with ‘AirPods Nearby’ (I prefer this option).
Audio Sharing is a sweet feature I use frequently with the GF.

You mentioned giving away AirPods Pro because they didn’t fit? AirPods Pro are changeable tips based on size. Inexpensive third party options even have ‘medium small’ and ‘medium large’ - silicone to mix to foam. That’s 5 different size options with fit variationsX3 due to different materials. That not one of those scenarios fit is really unfortunate. That’s too bad…

Oh yes I forgot I have an Apple TV too. Same story, same problems.

I don't know what you mean by 'if you have a understanding rhythm'. And what or where is an 'Airpods Nearby' option?

I had the previous Air Pods Pro version. They popped out of my ears. Then I bought the current version. None of the supplied silicone tips helped. So I tested all options extensively, and nothing worked for my ears. But thanks anyway for telling me.

 

[gnirkatto]

P.S. for picking up phone calls, I use a Plantronics BT headset. When using the pods/beats, it takes forever until they connect, or they don't connect at all. Often the caller ends the call because it takes me too long to pick up. The Plantronics connects quickly. Yes I understand they don't have to switch over from other device(s). But sometimes it takes the pods/beats forever to connect, even if they were not connected elsewhere. They pods/beats are not useable in such real life scenarios.

 

[FFR]

AirPods Pro work pretty great for me. If I’m watching something on my iPad and answer a phone call on my iPhone, the iPad pauses while the phone call is routed to the AirPods Pro and when the call has ended the video as well as the AirPods Pro resume on the iPad. It is pretty seamless.

 

[gnirkatto]

AirPods Pro work pretty great for me. If I’m watching something on my iPad and answer a phone call on my iPhone, the iPad pauses while the phone call is routed to the AirPods Pro and when the call has ended the video as well as the AirPods Pro resume on the iPad. It is pretty seamless.

Do you have an iPad and an iPhone only? Or more devices? Maybe it works better when only 2 devices are involved.

 

[FFR]

Do you have an iPad and an iPhone only? Or more devices? Maybe it works better when only 2 devices are involved.

Two iPads two iPhones, two macs, Apple Watch. Works really well for me.

 

[Spencerdl]

AirPods Pro work pretty great for me. If I’m watching something on my iPad and answer a phone call on my iPhone, the iPad pauses while the phone call is routed to the AirPods Pro and when the call has ended the video as well as the AirPods Pro resume on the iPad. It is pretty seamless.

Same here as well as my Beats Fit Pro.

 

[gnirkatto]

I'm always wondering, why features like this work for some people, and don't work for others.
If the devices I'm using were my first ones, and me trying this out for the very first time, then I would suspect user error(s) or defective device(s).
But as described above, I'm using my 6th or 7th pair of pods/beats, my 4th iPad, my 3rd Mac, my ~10th iPhone - and my 1st ATV. On many different OS or firmware versions. Always the same problems in all kinds of combinations. I even moved to a new home with a totally new wifi environment, switched to a new carrier with my phone, and the problems were always the same, before and after. And user error? I don't really know what mistakes a user can make with that.

 

[FFR]

I'm always wondering, why features like this work for some people, and don't work for others.
If the devices I'm using were my first ones, and me trying this out for the very first time, then I would suspect user error(s) or defective device(s).
But as described above, I'm using my 6th or 7th pair of pods/beats, my 4th iPad, my 3rd Mac, my ~10th iPhone - and my 1st ATV. On many different OS or firmware versions. Always the same problems in all kinds of combinations. I even moved to a new home with a totally new wifi environment, switched to a new carrier with my phone, and the problems were always the same, before and after. And user error? I don't really know what mistakes a user can make with that.

Are the AirPods configured to connect to your devices automagically or last connected device?

 

[gnirkatto]

Are the AirPods configured to connect to your devices automagically or last connected device?

Automatic.
As I'm alternately using them on 3 or 4 different devices.
I think, the issue is, when I'm working on my Mac, the iPhone next to it (sometimes the iPad too), it doesn't really 'know' where I want to use them. I understand this is tricky. However, eg when they are connected to the Mac, and a call arrives on the phone, they should go there instantly, without delay, or at least with a tiny little delay only, and not with a ~10+ seconds wait, or not go there at all. Or let me put it that way: not go there until after I had to go for alternatives to answer the call (built in speaker, 'regular' BT headset).

I could put them into last connected mode and switch manually, but then there is no difference to regular headsets, and like I said before, the system-wide pairing is fancy, but I could live with doing that manually once, whenever I bring a new device online.

 

[FFR]

Maybe one of your devices is causing an issue.

 

[gnirkatto]

Maybe one of your devices is causing an issue.

after replacing my devices on a regular basis, some more than once each year, and the issue persisting?
Don't think so.
I think the main issue is speed. Maybe they always do move to the active device, but it sometimes takes so long that I carried on doing other things, by means of other tools, on a different device.
I might have said that before: it's not a very big deal if it takes a while to go from eg the iPhone to the Mac if I want to listen to music. But it becomes a big deal when it takes (too) long to go from eg the Mac to the iPhone when a call arrives.
But as I said in a previous post: I also faced embarrassment when watching a video in a coffee shop and 6 times, the beats did not move over to the iPad from the phone, and everybody heard loud music & voices from my video. So that's not 'long', that is 'never' (although on the 7th try, it decided to work).

 

[gnirkatto]

Anyway, there seems to be no solution for this problem. It seems to work for some, for others it doesn't (work well).
I just wanted to raise a flag and find out if I'm the only one. I'm not.

 

[imwjl]

This is not perfect but something I can really complain about. Once in a while my APP have needed a reset, and I've manually disconnected the Beats Fit Pro to speed up matters between computers.

As much as we're talking about Bluetooth devices, the across devices matters worked better after a WiFi and network upgrades. Especially the unlock with Apple Watch. The computer on a same access point even if mesh type stood out in that observation.