I'll point out a new feature with iOS I recently discovered. It is now possible to share audio to other apple headphones (with their customer BT chip) https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/share-audio-with-airp...

Very smooth UX and useful when watching a movie on a plane on an iPad.

As with many things, it works great as long as everyone owns a recent product from the same company.

Thanks for that info.

Unfortunately useless for anyone not using Apple's mediocre-at-best listening devices. Like the huge number of people with Bose wireless cans.

Bose has their own version of this and has for some time, as long as both people are using Bose headphones: https://www.bose.com/en_us/support/article/using-music-share...

Which requires both users carry a recent Bose product instead, of course.

I really don't understand why we can't just have the headphone jack back. Did it even take up any significant amount of space?

Sure, it takes up some space. But so does having to carry dongles. If Apple made an iPhone with the jack back again and a couple percent smaller battery, I'd take the jack. The phones has already been getting thicker every year ever since 6 (the 2nd last iPhone so far with a jack), so that's no argument.

Right? Not to mention the dongles break super easily and also I can't charge my phone and listen to music at the same time :/

I imagine it helped deliver on another feature customers have been asking for for years, which is water proofing.

Of all the possible audio quality brands to use in comparison, you chose Bose.

Thanks for that laugh.

It's a common enough product, so isn't it relevant?

Sure. Arguably though, as a brand it's at least as deserving of your "mediocre at best" description as Apple's stuff...

I could take the same slippery slope of audio purism and criticize most of the audio choices that people are making here. But that would be douchy.

Same reason I prefer a wired multi-channel audio system throughout my house. Yes, wiring speakers is not fun and not everyone can do it - especially renters. But there are never sync issues, quality problems, or issues with connectivity. Same goes for wired internet over WiFi.

Wireless tech is pretty great. But when it comes to simplicity and reliability, I'll take wired any day.

Just so you know... some of us are still fighting the loss of the headphone jack: I am now on my third first generation Google pixel phone, 90% for the headphone jack (which I use often with my Shure SE 425s... and actually used today while sharing with my daughter via a $4 3.5mm aux splitter while on a plane) and 10% because today's "regular" phones are all LARGER than 2016's "XL" phones.

Did you consider a Pixel 3a?

Yes. The Pixel 3a is larger than the Pixel XL.

I have large hands, and the OG Pixel is the largest screen I can fully use one-handed comfortably. I've used the OG Pixel XL for about 3 months now (because I already had one when my OG Pixel died, RIP) and I still hate the size.

Aside: the screen on all the Pixel 3a display models I've checked out the past few months (I keep getting tempted to finally buy one but) is tinted yellow and has serious burn in issues.

This makes me wonder if there is a way to customize Android's screen resolution so the top of the phone is just ignored (I don't mind if my phone has a large bezel, chin, or forehead).

FYI, if you own a relatively recent Samsung phone, the dual audio feature allows you to play audio to multiple Bluetooth devices.

We use it on long flights to watch movies together.

https://www.samsung.com/au/support/mobile-devices/what-is-th...