Great headphones would never require an app or updating of the firmware. They should play music as engineered and intended from day one of the purchase of said heaphones, until they no longer work.
I agree they should just work but I also think their could be good cause for an update such as an improved noise cancelation software updates. I would expect that for music playback that just works always even if you decline the update.
I'm curious about the Sony App. What information does it get from the phone? The only kind of sensitive permission it asks for is location, and arguably there's a functionality related to that (change the adaptive sound reduction as a function of where you are). The other permission it asked for is Bluetooth, which I guess is expected since it uses that to talk to the headphones. It never asked for anything else.
I didn't allow it to get my location and I can still get firmware updates and can use it to confirm the codec in use (that's the main reason I have it installed).
Access to the Bluetooth service itself can cause some problems - both in user tracking (as your device notices and is noticed by other discoverable Bluetooth devices), fingerprinting, and through access to the bluetooth data channels (as mentioned in the article with the Bose Connect app)
Sony has the worst app I’ve ever seen[1], to the point where I legitimately don’t know how it passed the app store vetting process. Paragraphs of text have wrapping disabled so that the text goes off screen (important text, like the TOS!). Text which does have wrapping enabled wraps on character boundaries instead of word boundaries. Bullet-point lists don’t line up. I have no idea how they made it so bad, it feels like it must’ve taken effort to disable things which just work by default?
It also has two buttons. I really don't see the need for an app. Besides that I don't have a phone capable of running an app so that saves me from getting irritated at Sony. Again.
Because they have complex software in for bluetooth connection, noise cancellation and other behaviours like automatically switching off when taken out for example. You don't have to update it of you prefer not to.
Because we cut a corner somewhere to make a budget device and realized it was a lot more popular and now we have to patch it like if it was a fucking nuclear reactor....
why do keyboards need firmware updates and companion apps? yet, that's exactly what my razer mech KB required for me to change the slow fade in/out to just "on". Pretty ridiculous and I too uninstalled it after, but who knows if I got it all?
To work around Bluetooth bugs in newer phones/OSes that come out.
Bluetooth stacks constantly get broken with new revisions, the burden is unfortunately placed on individual device makers to update to work with whatever has broken recently.
So to each of you with the same response; You're totally ok being sold an unfinished product, paying too high of a price for it, and then having to opt into privacy violations to use a device which should have worked from day one out of the factory. Got it. Noise cancellation in headphones is a gimmick and a fad. High end studio monitors do not typically use it, and it distorts the experience. It makes sense if you're constantly packed in like a sardine on public transit or crowded spaces and you're simply trying to block out the surroundings, but may I suggest buying a real pair of headphones and carrying a pair of earplugs instead? To be very clear on my point. I see needing to update headphones and being conned into my headphones masquerading as a "smart device" equal to needing a smart toaster, or a connected can opener that some would justify should need firmware updates. It's senseless.
How's it different to any other software? Why should I be sold an 'unfinished' PC operating system that requires updates? Is that asinine?
You don't have to update any firmware if you don't want to. It doesn't mean the product is unfinished. In the past, improvements to firmware would have just been kept for the next revision of a hardware product, requiring you to pay for a whole new physical product just to get that new software.
EQ was not a feature sold to me, it's a free addon, a nice to have.
Noise cancellation is great for those of us that have to work in noisy environments, or for neurodivergent people that need a break from information overload, or for long haul flights... or any number of scenarios you have not considered, as if nothing outside your little bubble matters. And let me guess, your "sardine in public transport" remark is just rubbing in that you don't have to rely on such either, isn't it?
Besides the point that noise cancellation can be turned off at any time, I have a perfectly fine pair of ATH-M50x's for use at home.
This comments reeks of ugly elitism and a severe lack of capacity for empathy. Maybe sometimes you should just not write whatever comes to your mind.
I suspect they liked the device in the state they bought it in, and were pleased when it later got even better at no extra charge (except for installing the app).
You can still buy dumb headphones without Bluetooth or noise cancellation of you don't like smart devices.
I only installed the Bose app when I was going to be on a plane, as the app allows you to pair multiple Bose headphones to one source. Then you can watch the same movie with someone else.
Edit: Bose also had a nice big opt-out button in the app, and asks during setup.
With the app you can also change the cancellation level, they’re pretty isolated even with the feature powered off entirely but it helps out in some situations.
My Boses allow you to set the cancellation level with a button press. It cycles through three options: high, low, and off. Does the app enable more fine-grained control or something? Perhaps per-ear cancellation settings?
Apparently so. I have the QC35 II, which has a button on the left ear can. Bose calls it the Action Button, and it's used to summon Alexa/Google Assistant; but if you don't configure it to use an assistant (through the Connect app?) it will cycle through the noise cancellation level settings.
