I’m worried

[Yorkshire Mouth]

I’m a bit worried.

More and more products are becoming dependent on apps. The apps stop being updated relatively quickly.

You can buy powered speakers for thousands of £s which might become obsolete, or at least very difficult to use fully, in just a few years.

Nothing is simply anymore. We used to have a triangle on its side for play, and a square for stop. Now you need a degree in computer engineering to change the PEQ.

I don’t think it helps the industry. People who might buy a product might be frightened off doing so through fear of being unable to use it correctly, or that they’ll have to buy a new one in the near future.

 

[Galliardist]

I’m a bit worried.

More and more products are becoming dependent on apps. The apps stop being updated relatively quickly.

You can buy powered speakers for thousands of £s which might become obsolete, or at least very difficult to use fully, in just a few years.

Nothing is simply anymore. We used to have a triangle on its side for play, and a square for stop. Now you need a degree in computer engineering to change the PEQ.

I don’t think it helps the industry. People who might buy a product might be frightened off doing so through fear of being unable to use it correctly, or that they’ll have to buy a new one in the near future.

Hence that vinyl renaissance?

It does appear that at least software like Roon, and the DLNA interface are staying static and will be supported for years to come - maybe Chromecast as well - so having a product with those interfaces will remain safe for a long time.

Which apps are you thinking about that stopped being updated quickly?

 

[Purité Audio]

I can’t think of any contemporary active designs that you can’t choose to use as a ‘traditional’ active if you choose to, is add functionality externally.
Keith

 

[Deleted member 21219]

People who might buy a product might be frightened off doing so through fear of being unable to use it correctly, or that they’ll have to buy a new one in the near future.

True .... but it'll be us, the old geezers, not the young kids. They're fearless.

Jim

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

I’m a bit worried.

More and more products are becoming dependent on apps. The apps stop being updated relatively quickly.

You can buy powered speakers for thousands of £s which might become obsolete, or at least very difficult to use fully, in just a few years.

Nothing is simply anymore. We used to have a triangle on its side for play, and a square for stop. Now you need a degree in computer engineering to change the PEQ.

I don’t think it helps the industry. People who might buy a product might be frightened off doing so through fear of being unable to use it correctly, or that they’ll have to buy a new one in the near future.

Another problem with the apps is true for all manufacturer supplied apps. They're terrible. It's like they supply vague specs to contractors in another country and accept whatever product that comes back. They're bug ridden and have little support. My hearing aids have an app that doesn't work on many phones, including some iphones. I have apps for a couple of Bluetooth speakers that are worthless except for applying firmware upgrades.

 

[goat76]

It's a good idea nowadays to look at the track record of the companies you are buying from, do they usually abandon most of the support and stop releasing updates of their old products when a new model is released, or do they have a software platform that will still work as usual for the old gear even if some new features may not work.

 

[steve59]

The part that gets me is all these services that require a monthly fee! I want to pay for something once and be done and app based products require maintenance, thus fees.

 

[tomtoo]

I’m a bit worried.

More and more products are becoming dependent on apps. The apps stop being updated relatively quickly.

You can buy powered speakers for thousands of £s which might become obsolete, or at least very difficult to use fully, in just a few years.

Nothing is simply anymore. We used to have a triangle on its side for play, and a square for stop. Now you need a degree in computer engineering to change the PEQ.

I don’t think it helps the industry. People who might buy a product might be frightened off doing so through fear of being unable to use it correctly, or that they’ll have to buy a new one in the near future.

No need to upgrade a app if it works.

 

[audio_tony]

No need to upgrade a app if it works.

True, but if it's on an Apple device, an IOS upgrade will usually require the app to be upgraded at the same time (and the old app stops working).

Same goes for some versions of Android, although it's not as common.

 

[coonmanx]

I’m a bit worried.

More and more products are becoming dependent on apps. The apps stop being updated relatively quickly.

You can buy powered speakers for thousands of £s which might become obsolete, or at least very difficult to use fully, in just a few years.

Nothing is simply anymore. We used to have a triangle on its side for play, and a square for stop. Now you need a degree in computer engineering to change the PEQ.

I don’t think it helps the industry. People who might buy a product might be frightened off doing so through fear of being unable to use it correctly, or that they’ll have to buy a new one in the near future.

Simple. Buy vintage equipment and passive speakers. Refurbish if necessary. Sit back and enjoy.

Also, try to remember that nothing lasts forever, but some well made stuff lasts a very long time...

 

[coonmanx]

 

[DVDdoug]

I wouldn't buy expensive speakers that require an app. If something is "disposable", OK...

Something that communicates via a browser with HTML is likely to last longer than something that requires a custom app. But it still might have limited lifetime when browser/HTML standards change.

I also don't want a "smart" refrigerator or another major appliance. My last refrigerator was made before the Internet and it lasted about 40 years an I don't know how many computers I went-through over that period of time. I won't be around 40 more years, but I'll probably be around long enough to need a few more hardware & operating system upgrades...

 

[Timcognito]

Let's give Lenbrooke some credit here. They give you a universal lifetime app with each product, the BluOS, that stretches across multiple lines and types, and is constantly curated and updated. It is in many ways the product itself. That said their latest release BluOS 4.0, a major revamp, is plagued with minor hiccups that should have been caught, as evidenced here.

https://support1.bluesound.com/hc/en-us/community/topics/200546948-General-Discussions

 

[CapMan]

HiFi is the least of the worries - central heating - app, electric radiators - app, air conditioner - app, lights - app

 

[ZolaIII]

I don't see open sourced efforts fading nor code disappearing from git. Individual forks and apps might but the important part of repository (measurements) will stay the same.
There always where irresponsible vendors and not successful products. You do need to do at least some effort and don't expect OEM's to get you there where you want to be in the first place. Think as of clever, good apps as an extension of capabilities (like EQ-APO and extension - forks for headphones or Wavelet or REW as a tool and in generally) not the manufacturer bloat and progress is guaranteed (with effort put towards learning).
Sometimes friendly assistance is more than welcomed and after proper calibration there is nothing in between then sit down and listen as it whose always done.

 

[ta240]

The part that gets me is all these services that require a monthly fee! I want to pay for something once and be done and app based products require maintenance, thus fees.

Even car companies are getting in on that one. Want your remote start to keep working? Pay a fee.
There is so much money to be made in reoccurring fees that people forget about.

 

[ta240]

I've had a few, non audio, products become doorstops when the companies failed.

 

[TonyJZX]

i'm not worried about this at all... i have at least a dozen devices from atmos recievers to a cheapo dyson style upright fan that has an app.... they're all not necessary to the operation of the unit... i have a pair of Harman receivers that tried to push you into their app but making the front panel completely devoid of hard buttons but even the remote works fine here.

If you bought into Juicero or Pelelton or any IoT thing that calls back to server then that's on you.

I mean I've done it in the past... eg. Logitech Harmony but ehhh... so I lost some minor money on some remotes... boo hoo...

 

[computer-audiophile]

Another problem with the apps is true for all manufacturer supplied apps. They're terrible. It's like they supply vague specs to contractors in another country and accept whatever product that comes back. They're bug ridden and have little support. My hearing aids have an app that doesn't work on many phones, including some iphones. I have apps for a couple of Bluetooth speakers that are worthless except for applying firmware upgrades.

Many things don't work together properly and you have to research what works yourself. That's not always easy.
For example, I wanted to buy a new Sony Smart TV with Android, but it turned out that Deezer does have an app for Android, but only with reduced sound quality. Users have been complaining about it for years, but nothing happens. Then I read that the apps for the German media libraries of the public broadcasters don't run stably, and so on. It also seems that the Android versions of the Sony TVs are not updated. That means you buy a TV like this and very quickly have an old version on the device.

 

[Timcognito]

It's interesting that most companies really want their own apps for commodity products like TVs, audio, cable and satellite connected devices and services to control basic functions. Logitech had a business amalgamating many apps and controls, but, I guess there was so much verifiability, that keeping up with it to sell a $100 dollar remote device was not profitable or barely feasible.