So, the shuffle is going away. The mainstay of my running tunes and swimming tunes. It’s so small and compact, neither of which can be replicated by my phone (especially for pool swims). Very bummed about this news:
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-kills-off-ipod-nano-ipod-shuffle-2017-7
I was going to recommend the iPod nano…but they discontinued that as well! Holy crap that sucks
Damn, that does suck.
Stock up now with a spare or two
http://waterfi.com/waterproof-ipod-shuffle
I was thinking about ordering an extra or two also, but I figure they figured out a good product for swimming with music once, they’ll figure it out again. Hopefully, the one I have will last until then.
I was going to recommend the iPod nano…but they discontinued that as well! Holy crap that sucks
I have two 3rd gen Nanos sitting on my desk right now. I can’t kill those things!
Those things will be on Ebay for years to come!
I’ve killed two shuffles and a nano with sweat in the past year. I have been using the Scandisk Sport Clip (discontinued but widely available) with satisfaction for the past month. You can get an 8gig model on Amazon or Ebay for about 30 bucks - probably cheaper if you’re motivated to look harder than I did. They’re compatible with iTunes and you can also use a removable micoSD card to add even more memory to them. At the price, they’re practically disposable and I found they’re easier to manipulate than the shuffle - I invariably skip the song I’m listening to when I am trying to turn up the volume.
Damn, that does suck.
Stock up now with a spare or two
http://waterfi.com/waterproof-ipod-shuffle
Just bought one-thanks for the link
Damn, that does suck.
Stock up now with a spare or two
http://waterfi.com/waterproof-ipod-shuffle
yeah, I stocked up with a spare shuffle - the one with a screen and a clip that’s about 1 inch square.
still using the old one though, despite its cracked screen.
My older gen iPod shuffle still works, but the newest Apple earbuds can no longer control it! That’s right somewhere along the line of product development Apple changed the signaling from the on-wire earbud remote. Older devices can’t be controlled with the newer earbuds. Since this shuffle has no controls on it other than on/off, and its original earbuds are long dead (corroded coils due to sweat) it is stuck playing whatever it’s playing on whatever volume it was set.
Can anyone recommend a set of 3rd party earbuds that don’t fall out of ears while running, and have a remote compatible with older Apple devices?
The shuffle was killed when they didn’t allow Apple Music on the shuffle. Since purchasing music is practically irrelevant now.
Really bummed to hear this. I’ve probably gone through 15 of them since 2005(?). Work great Sept-May, but would always sweat through 1 or 2 a year in the summer. I’ll be stocking up. Not sure what I’ll switch to after that.
Go to underwater audio buy a shuffle there. Have had mine almost 2 years. Use it for every swim and run.
The shuffle was killed when they didn’t allow Apple Music on the shuffle. Since purchasing music is practically irrelevant now.
Speak for yourself, Cowboy…
I’ve killed two shuffles and a nano with sweat in the past year. I have been using the Scandisk Sport Clip (discontinued but widely available) with satisfaction for the past month. You can get an 8gig model on Amazon or Ebay for about 30 bucks - probably cheaper if you’re motivated to look harder than I did. They’re compatible with iTunes and you can also use a removable micoSD card to add even more memory to them. At the price, they’re practically disposable and I found they’re easier to manipulate than the shuffle - I invariably skip the song I’m listening to when I am trying to turn up the volume.
I’ve got the latest generation nano and it’s been replaced 8 times, my current one is now starting to have issues with the screen, not really designed well if a sweaty finger can cause it to die…
I can’t live without mine. After I saw this post I immediately went online and bought 2 more of them, thanks for the heads up.
I know that the Apple ecosystem can be important, but an alternative (as 1 or 2 others have mentioned) is the SanDisk Sansa series. I’m a pseudo expert on these, having owned many, killed a few and resurrected a handful. If you are looking for modern models, the Clip Sport is fine - useful internal memory 4 Gb or 8 Gb and a microSD card slot if you have a big library. It uses a big(ish) color screen, which is irrelevant if you set it on shuffle and stuff it in your pocket for a run, There is a newer variant (Clip Sport Plus) which adds bluetooth (!) and up to 16 Gb internal capacity but deletes the mSD card slot. The Clip Jam has a mono screen, tops out at 8 Gb internal, no BT, but has a mSD slot. These are all disposable if something goes wrong.
If you take a step back in time and find a Clip Zip, it’s about the same as the Clip Sport (but the Sport is advertised as sweat resistant (I’ve killed a few, though)). I’ve seen a number of screen problems with the Zip and Sport - funny vertical lines, for example. The one I run with now (a green 8Gb Clip Sport) has a nonfunctional screen unless you press the case JUST RIGHT. It’s fine for running since I don’t care about the album art! But my previous running Sansa was a brown/grey 8 Gb Clip Sport that had the screen go from a single, wonky, always bright vertical stripe to a dim screen to no screen at all. Bleh.
Working farther back in time gets higher quality DAC and better build quality along with the possibility to recover a bricked unit and use of Rockbox (look it up) for a more feature-filled (but less pretty) interface. That model is the Clip+, which is the oldest with a mSD card slot. This one has an mono (sort of) OLED screen. I find these pretty indestructible, but they are getting old and have less internal storage capacity and the batteries are getting old, too. The original model was the Clip (no +). These are mostly 1 and 2 Gb device (4 Gb at the end of the run), but NO mSD card and old enough that most will have charging/battery problems. These are, in many ways, the most solidly built, bulletproof of the Sansa line. I’ve never killed one, but one of mine no longer holds ANY charge.
So, there are options if you are willing to step out of the Apple family. If you don’t care about BT, a new Clip Jam 8 Gb is $30 USD. If you need more space, add a 16 Gb mSD for $8 USD (or even a 32 Gb mSD) and you’ll have all the space you need for a shuffling MP3 in a tiny package that will run for 10+ hours on a charge.
EDIT: fixed a spec on the Clip Sport Plus
I’ve had the same nano for years…rain, sweat…no signs of slowing down. I didn’t realize there were issues with these or shuffles
I’ve killed 3 in 6mo! I don’t kno what’s going on. I think I have 6 with 1 working…
I was going to recommend the iPod nano…but they discontinued that as well! Holy crap that sucks
I have two 3rd gen Nanos sitting on my desk right now. I can’t kill those things!
oh man… i’ve killed shuffles, nanos, that sansabelt one… (including putting one through the washing machine, but the others were all sweat death/general casualties from the rough lives they lead).