iOS Soundcore app - post all bugs on Q30

[mk2021]

Oh, wow. That’s quite a delay. But hoping they will really fix all the bugs then…

[ktkundy]

Oooo I’m excited for the update then hopefully it can fix the major issues with the app

[mk2021]

Below is my report about the latest (2.6.2) update…

ANC -> Transparency -> ANC
If I am in ANC (Indoor) mode and switch to Transparency by covering the right ear cup, and then switch from Transparency back to ANC (by covering my right ear cup again), headphones will switch to ANC, but this time the app will show ANC (Outdoor!) instead of Indoor. Why? Furthermore, under this condition, when I switch from Outdoor to Indoor inside the app, there is no audible change whatsoever between the two ANC modes. Only when I switch back again from Indoor to Outdoor: then I can hear a low frequency noise for a brief fraction of a second, which indicates that I’ve actually switched between Outdoor to Indoor.

This seems to have been fixed now.

EDIT: Apparently not really. I just tested it again thoroughly in a quiet room and it seems that as soon as you switch from the real ANC Indoor to, say, Transparency or Normal and then back to ANC, it will default back to Outdoor/Transport, while still showing Indoor as the selected mode. You can tell that by the HISS volume, which is slightly louder in Outdoor/Transport mode than the hiss in Indoor mode. Same thing when you turn OFF and then turn ON again the headphones. Although it will still show Indoor as the selected mode in the app as before I turned off the headphones, the hiss will actually be that of the Outdoor/Transport mode.

So it seems that as soon as you switch from ANC Indoor mode to Transparency/Normal or turn off the headphones, when you switch back to ANC (or turn on your headphones) it will again default to ANC Outdoor (or Transport for that matter) even though it appears as Indoor in the app.

As a result, you always have to manually switch inside the app to another ANC mode and then back to Indoor to really get the Indoor experience. Argh, really frustrating.

Furthermore, if I am in ANC (Indoor) mode and I quit the Soundcore app and restart it, the app will open in ANC (OUTDOOR) mode by default, not Indoor as before I quit the app. And just in general, whenever I reconnect to Q30’s via the app it will always default in Outdoor mode.

Same as above… not really fixed.

Another complaint is about Custom EQ profiles: if I have my own custom eq selected, when I quit and reopen the app or when I turn off and turn on the headphone to connect to the app , the app often generates a new Custom EQ profile with its OWN adjustments, often lowering some or all the bands by -1dB as compred with my custom eq. It’s really annoying that this happens, can you explain why?

This may have been fixed. I have yet to see if the app will create a new Custom EQ profile by itself. So far I tried turning on Q30, quitting and reopening the app several times and the EQ settings remained intact.

Apart from what was written above, this still needs to be fixed:

1. Widget. Still buggy. When I select Indoor in the widget and then open the Soundcore app, it will be selected as Outdoor in the app even though I selected Indoor in the widget. Similarly if I select Indoor in the app, it will appear as Outdoor in the widget! In short, if you select Indoor or Outdoor inside the app it will always be the opposite in the widget, and vice versa!

2. The voice announcing different modes is too loud. (Hoping this will be fixed with 2.0 firmware update)

3. BES_BLE still appears on my Bluetooth devices list as soon as I connect to the Soundcore app. I believe this is also firmware-related, so I’m guessing it will be fixed with 2.0 update.

4. Allow the user to have a separate EQ profile for Normal and NC mode. And that the app would remember these two profiles. (This is just a feature request though, not a bug per se).

[mk2021]

How do you find the latest app update?

[richard.hriech]

Yes, the widget still falls back to outdoor, but at least on start the app shows the last set profile. And the widget now looks right in iOS dark mode. Finally!

Edit: even though the app shows the last ANC mode, if you listen to the hissing, it always sets traffic or outdoor when switching modes with the button on the headphone. Indoor’s hissing is a lot quieter, almost inaudible. It’s definitely not using indoor, only when I use the app to select it.

[mk2021]

@richard.hriech Hm, I haven’t had the chance to test that much yet, but that’s not good news then.

What about when you go just from Indoor ANC to Transparency (by covering your ear cup with hand) and then back to ANC, will it stay on Indoor setting and “Indoor hissing”?

What about when you set to Indoor via app and turn off and on your headphones? Is the hissing that of Indoor or not?

I agree that in Indoor mode the hissing is less audible than in other modes.

[TheSnarkyOne]

That is exciting, thank you so much for posting up an update.

Have you thought of posting a review?

[mk2021]

@richard.hriech Meh, unfortunately you were right! I just tested it again thoroughly in a quiet room and it seems that as soon as you switch from the real ANC Indoor to, say, Transparency or Normal and then back to ANC, it will default back to Outdoor/Transport, while still showing Indoor as the selected mode. You can tell that by the HISS volume, which is slightly louder in Outdoor/Transport mode than the hiss in Indoor mode. Same thing when you turn OFF and then turn ON again the headphones. Although it will still show Indoor as the selected mode in the app as before I turned off the headphones, the hiss will actually be that of the Outdoor/Transport mode.

So it seems that as soon as you switch from ANC Indoor mode to Transparency/Normal or turn off the headphones, when you switch back to ANC (or turn on your headphones) it will again default to ANC Outdoor (or Transport for that matter) even though it appears as Indoor in the app.

As a result, you always have to manually switch inside the app to another ANC mode and then back to Indoor to really get the Indoor experience. Argh, really frustrating.

[mk2021]

I corrected my previous post… apparently one of the main issues wasn’t really fixed…

Not sure about the review…haven’t we already seen too many of those?

[TheSnarkyOne]

Canned out of the box reviews, I’d say yes. But ones relating personal experience and likes and dislikes, not so much.

[mk2021]

Maybe I will at some point. I noticed @The_Professor posted his review earlier.

[richard.hriech]

I think you should send this to support directly. What you wrote is a much more thorough testing than mine.
Btw Anker should hire us at this point as testers

[mk2021]

Yeah, they really should. @Yimi_Liu

I sent a report to them. Please can you also report from your side?

[richard.hriech]

I’ll report EVERYTHING once 2.0 drops and these problems are still there. Until then I’m collecting as much experience as I can.

[The_Professor]

There’s plenty of evidence there are beta testers, plenty and they are used often. And yet bugs still get through. Either the testers are not being diverse enough to be a better representative sample of general users, or their feedback is not being fully absorbed.

The bugs prove there’s something broken in who or how they use beta testers.

On a product launch, the reviews released on the same day have a leaning towards lightweight shallow and positive, so there’s doubt they really put product through a thorough stress testing.

I can understand long term reliability issues cannot be captured in beta testing, that takes months and many more units in hands.

[richard.hriech]

Custom EQs are still getting created occasionally.

[mk2021]

Dammit. So basically they haven’t really fixed anything!

Here’s to hoping these problems are bound to a firmware update and that they will be fixed with 2.0 in two weeks.

[Pieter19]

Update 2.1 is out according to Soundcore.

[mk2021]

Not showing up for me yet.

[richard.hriech]

Where did you read that?