Boze
Consumer and social
headphone companion app
SHOW HN2021
450points
239comments
#54of 2,533 in 2021
Top 3%of 2021 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
11 positive, 29 neutral or asking, 5 mixed, 35 critical, out of 80 comments about the project. Thread score -0.22.
Pricing: 0 for, 8 againstExecution: 0 for, 4 againstIdea: 4 for, 0 againstDesign: 1 for, 3 againstPerformance: 2 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Reverse-engineering work and cross-platform ambition appreciated.
From 2 comments
I really love my Bose headphones and in the past year I've used them almost exclusively on my Mac. Started running into problems where because I didn't have visibility on the…
dannyaziz97 on HNOn a similar note, I love my QC35s for the simple fact that this kind of an interface is available for them in general—I haven’t been able to find other Bluetooth devices that…
jonwest on HN
Battery display and delivery without app stores praised.
From 2 comments
Great delivery with no app stores involved. I can totally see this app grow to support more devices.
_throwawayaway on HNThe battery depleting as you scroll down the page is a nice touch.
bnj on HN
Objections
Name too close to Bose; trademark risk.
From 3 comments
Great app! If you want to keep distributing it, you'll have to find a less "Bose-sounding" name. I am not a lawyer, but as far as I can tell: a) they can't prevent you from…
some1else on HNAs other people wrote already - you should rename the app, or you will get sued for trademark infringement, soon.
shp0ngle on HNWell done, but as others have said, change the name asap.
kinard on HN
Paid closed-source app with limited features for $9.
From 3 comments
Expected a github repo link but instead it's closed source and it costs $9 and it apparently doesn't even allow you to set the noise cancellation level. So it's $9 for an app…
grishka on HNI was all excited about this and then I saw that it is a paid app with no access to the source.
fnord77 on HNI am feeling weird about this one because I'd totally pay for this app, but not $9. On one hand, I understand that the author spent a lot of work on it, and $9 is not that big a…
smsm42 on HN
Reverse engineering may breach warranty or Apple terms.
From 2 comments
> Will this void my warranty or destroy my beloved headphones? > > No! > Boze.app communicates with your headphones in the exact same way that the official Bose Connect app does.…
nickserv on HNI thought this sort of this was expressly verboten by the various Apple dev agreements? ``` You may not and You agree not to, or to enable others to, copy (except as expressly…
waynecochran on HN
Battery readings and connection failures reported.
From 2 comments
Battery level is way off from what my Bose headphones say. Shows my iPhone twice, trying to connect to them say failed to connect. Eh, at least it was only $9.
NeckBeardPrince on HNI tried the app on my mojave macbook and it's throwing an error when trying to connect to the headphone (I sent the details to your email). Hopefully it's something that easy to…
neurostimulant on HN
Requests
Windows and Linux support.
From 2 comments
> Windows 10 and Linux support coming soon Great to hear! I have had a lot of issues with getting high quality bi-directional audio (e.g. for video calls) to work with my QC35s…
12ian34 on HNI really love my Bose headphones and in the past year I've used them almost exclusively on my Mac. Started running into problems where because I didn't have visibility on the…
dannyaziz97 on HN
Support for other headphone models such as Sony and Bose on-ear wireless.
From 2 comments
Do we have something similar for Sony Headphones WH-1000
mraza007 on HNI wonder if it supports Bose on-ear wireless… Is there a compatibility table somewhere?
remix2000 on HN
Add a contact email and support guarantees.
From 1 comment
Super cool project! Sharing two related pieces of feedback: 1. I'd be willing to buy the app, but I'm missing info on support guarantees. I.e. is there some commitment to support…
mmmmmbop on HN
Questions
How was the Bluetooth protocol reverse engineered?
From 3 comments
How did you figure out the Bluetooth protocol and commands? I have a Cannondale app for my bike, which is reading the Bluetooth wheel sensor to display speed and mileage. I'd…
petard on HNCould you give some hints how this was done? There is an app for Boss's WAZA-AIR for Android and iOS that I'd really like to have on my Mac. The app itself is much more complex…
jarek83 on HNIs there a link to a deep dive into the reverse engineering of the app?
vageli on HN
Is it legal?
From 1 comment
Is this legal?
faeyanpiraat on HN
Alternatives named
based-connect (Linux CLI)
From 2 comments
For those on Linux; I had great success with the “based-connect” program, which enables me to configure “known devices” (which one is primary and so on) and, crucially, configure…
dijit on HNInterestingly in OP's tweet (same username as his HN username): [1], he credits [2], who made a Linux CLI for the same functionality, and named it "based-connect". And the…
bellyfullofbac on HN
Toothfairy
From 1 comment
I have trouble with the value proposition. If I understand correctly only the noise-cancelling toggle is a proprietary Bluetooth feature of the Bose? Since f.e. Toothfairy[1]…
jrnkntl on HN
blueutil
From 1 comment
This can be done with blueutil (available in brew). `blueutil --paired` to list devices and their addresses, then `blueutil --connect <address>` and `blueutil --disconnect…
devshane on HN
SonyHeadphonesClient
From 1 comment
Not sure if it works, but there's an open source version of this one for Sony headphones. Edit: forgot the link to repo: https://github.com/Plutoberth/SonyHeadphonesClient
lardissone on HN