Amazon’s Echo never had the same appeal for me as it did for all those tech journalists and podcasters who work from home. Yeah, I get that speaking commands out into the air is cool. But when I work a full-time job and have a bunch of kids it feels like I’m rarely home. A homebound digital assistant made about as much sense to me as owning a car that only made right-hand turns.
Enter Apple’s 2nd generation AirPods. Finally, an intelligent assistant that works for me.
I mainly used Siri on my Apple Watch to begin with. If I was home I would typically pull out my iPhone and do whatever I needed on there. Where Siri comes in handy for me is when I’m out and about. I’ll typically ask Siri to create reminders when I’m out running, text someone as I’m walking through a parking lot, or pull up my shopping list while pushing a grocery cart.
I’ve always preferred accessing Siri from my Apple Watch because it seemed so much more accessible than my iPhone which was in my pocket. But the AirPods just took it to whole other level.
I took my new AirPods out on their maiden voyage which was a 5-mile trail run. I cued up the CultCast to hear Leander Kahney talk about his new book. Now, listening to Leander can be interesting at times because I don’t always understand what he says. I think it’s his English accent. But I was absolutely giddy at being able to say “Hey Siri, rewind 10 seconds” so I could get a 2nd crack at deciphering what Leander said. And it worked!
So now when I’m out running, I can reply to texts, add reminders, or rewind my podcasts all with Siri on the AirPods. I could do that before with my watch but now I could say commands without breaking my stride and it’s so much nicer. Anyone who runs knows it feels very awkward to run with only one arm swinging as you hold your watch up to your mouth.
You can ask Siri to rewind or fast forward just like on the Apple TV. It’s better than the Apple TV in that you don’t need to reach for a remote to push the Siri button. I only wish I could use the Apple TV’s “What did she say?” command. On an unrelated humorous note, Erfon neglected to include a link to Leander’s new book in the podcast notes. But he didn't forget to post a link to his own CultCloth product for sale. That’s the Erfon we all know and love.
So the new AirPods are great for runners. But I also found that they are great for gardeners. Yesterday, I spent an hour raking leaves and pulling weeds in my back yard. While I was pulling weeds along the fence, my neighbor started weed whacking so I couldn’t hear what I was listening too. My first thought was to turn the dial on my Apple Watch but my work gloves covered the watch. Before I removed my work gloves I had an idea and thought it was worth a try. I said “Hey Siri, turn up to maximum volume”. It worked! Although, before she did it, Siri asked if me if I was sure that I wanted to do that due to how loud it would be.
I was so happy at being at being able to summon Siri from my AirPods since I had work gloves on and couldn’t use my watch that I thought to myself “My next blog post has GOT to be about this”.
I originally bought the new AirPods because I wanted the quicker connect times and didn’t really care about Siri. Now I find that I enjoy my new AirPods because of Siri and am a little disappointed with the connection aspect.
Yes, the connection times have been noticeably reduced on the new AirPods. The problem with pairing to new devices still exists though. There is pairing and then there is connecting. Once you are paired to a device, re-connecting is lightning fast. But if you were listening to your AirPods with your iPhone and later want to pair them with your Apple Watch, good luck.
About 1 in 5 times it seems like my AirPods don’t want to pair with my Apple Watch. They are stuck to my iPhone and won’t switch. If I’m trying to play a podcast from my Apple Watch it seems to help if I switch to the Music app. For whatever reason, playing Music from the Apple Watch seems to have a higher pairing rate than using the Podcast app.
But other than the pairing issue, I’m really enjoying these new AirPods. I find the new omnipresent Siri to be a bigger deal than I thought and I’m taking full advantage of it.
I mainly used Siri on my Apple Watch to begin with. If I was home I would typically pull out my iPhone and do whatever I needed on there. Where Siri comes in handy for me is when I’m out and about. I’ll typically ask Siri to create reminders when I’m out running, text someone as I’m walking through a parking lot, or pull up my shopping list while pushing a grocery cart.
I’ve always preferred accessing Siri from my Apple Watch because it seemed so much more accessible than my iPhone which was in my pocket. But the AirPods just took it to whole other level.
I took my new AirPods out on their maiden voyage which was a 5-mile trail run. I cued up the CultCast to hear Leander Kahney talk about his new book. Now, listening to Leander can be interesting at times because I don’t always understand what he says. I think it’s his English accent. But I was absolutely giddy at being able to say “Hey Siri, rewind 10 seconds” so I could get a 2nd crack at deciphering what Leander said. And it worked!
So now when I’m out running, I can reply to texts, add reminders, or rewind my podcasts all with Siri on the AirPods. I could do that before with my watch but now I could say commands without breaking my stride and it’s so much nicer. Anyone who runs knows it feels very awkward to run with only one arm swinging as you hold your watch up to your mouth.
You can ask Siri to rewind or fast forward just like on the Apple TV. It’s better than the Apple TV in that you don’t need to reach for a remote to push the Siri button. I only wish I could use the Apple TV’s “What did she say?” command. On an unrelated humorous note, Erfon neglected to include a link to Leander’s new book in the podcast notes. But he didn't forget to post a link to his own CultCloth product for sale. That’s the Erfon we all know and love.
So the new AirPods are great for runners. But I also found that they are great for gardeners. Yesterday, I spent an hour raking leaves and pulling weeds in my back yard. While I was pulling weeds along the fence, my neighbor started weed whacking so I couldn’t hear what I was listening too. My first thought was to turn the dial on my Apple Watch but my work gloves covered the watch. Before I removed my work gloves I had an idea and thought it was worth a try. I said “Hey Siri, turn up to maximum volume”. It worked! Although, before she did it, Siri asked if me if I was sure that I wanted to do that due to how loud it would be.
I was so happy at being at being able to summon Siri from my AirPods since I had work gloves on and couldn’t use my watch that I thought to myself “My next blog post has GOT to be about this”.
I originally bought the new AirPods because I wanted the quicker connect times and didn’t really care about Siri. Now I find that I enjoy my new AirPods because of Siri and am a little disappointed with the connection aspect.
Yes, the connection times have been noticeably reduced on the new AirPods. The problem with pairing to new devices still exists though. There is pairing and then there is connecting. Once you are paired to a device, re-connecting is lightning fast. But if you were listening to your AirPods with your iPhone and later want to pair them with your Apple Watch, good luck.
About 1 in 5 times it seems like my AirPods don’t want to pair with my Apple Watch. They are stuck to my iPhone and won’t switch. If I’m trying to play a podcast from my Apple Watch it seems to help if I switch to the Music app. For whatever reason, playing Music from the Apple Watch seems to have a higher pairing rate than using the Podcast app.
But other than the pairing issue, I’m really enjoying these new AirPods. I find the new omnipresent Siri to be a bigger deal than I thought and I’m taking full advantage of it.
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