Is it just my iPod Touch (5th Gen) or is everyone else's iPods missing the Auto Brightness feature in Settings? Did Apple remove the Ambient Light Sensor to achieve the thin design? 
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iPod touch iPod Touch (5th Gen) Missing Features
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Is it just my iPod Touch (5th Gen) or is everyone else's iPods missing the Auto Brightness feature in Settings? Did Apple remove the Ambient Light Sensor to achieve the thin design?
They did remove it
It's disappointing to hear that Apple removed the Ambient Light Sensor. Thanks for the information, it cleared it up for me.On the lowest are you serious? Maybe it's best for the eyes, but you miss half of joyness
The problem is auto-brightness was very useful when I was using iPod 3rd gen during a day it adjusted brightness properly to enjoy the screen, and then at night when I switched on the screen it didn't instantly hurt my eyes. Now we have to toggle the brightness level each each time we use an iPod depending on the light conditions. It's definetly a disadventage, and I seriously have no idea why Apple removed this feature...
What the hell? really?
The autobrightness was good when you were in the dark, it would make the brightness less blinding after unlocking.
Disappointing.
The autobrightness was good when you were in the dark, it would make the brightness less blinding after unlocking.
Disappointing.
I'm getting a distinct old person impression from this comment.
Anyway, as little as I liked auto brightness, it's still a pain in the ass to go you your homescreen, settings app, brightness & wallpaper tab, and drag the slider whenever lighting conditions change (which youngsters typically do). Thanks to Cydia, I had SBSettings, which allowed me to drag a brightness slider wherever I was from Notification Center. Apple seriously needs to implement this.
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It's not hard, but in the two full days of using the new iPod touch I had to adjust lighting over a dozen times a day doing normal things as I move in and out of my apartment and other locations. It's not as if we're complaining about a feature of questionable usefulness that was never in the iPod touch, but it was in the previous iPod touches and worked well most of the time, and now it's gone for an unexplained reasons.
Did Apple remove the Ambient Light Sensor to achieve the thin design?
If you look at the teardown pictures, the rear-facing camera is huge, that probably has taken over the space where the ambient light sensor used to be.
(Source: ifixit)
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I'm getting a distinct old person impression from this comment.
Thanks to Cydia, I had SBSettings, which allowed me to drag a brightness slider wherever I was from Notification Center. Apple seriously needs to implement this.
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I used SBSettings too so it's much more convenient and hey I'm not old, I'm still 20. I'm a heavy user and when I feel that my eyes is tired, I set it to the lowest setting especially when browsing or reading eBooks. Same with my laptop, it is always set on the lowest brightness because I spend 10 hours using it.
Well if you will noticed the design its all aluminum at the back except the black plastic for antennas unlike the iPhone 5 with two tone color. Many says that the iPT5 rear design looks more premium than the iPhone 5 but technically if not for those antennas, the iPhone 5 will also have a full aluminum design.
The iPod touch is so thin that there is no room left for the sensor which is not a big deal. Live with it
The advantages vastly outweigh the disadvantages when it comes to upgrading to 5th.
Positive
Negative
Positive
- Faster progessor
- Faster graphics
- Lighter
- Thinner
- Better cameras
- Siri
- Larger Display
- Higher Quality display
- Faster Wi-Fi
- More memory
Negative
- No ambient light sensor
- New dock connector
- No jailbreak (yet)
Really! No ambient light sensor? Oh I love my 4th gen.
Me to. It doesn't lag like other people's iPod touch 4's do either. I'll wait another year and see if the iPod touch 6 will be worth it.
This actually makes it a no buy for me, as they took out a feature I actually use. My 4th gen still works great too and I have little trouble with it. It is priceless to be able to go from house to a car and have the iPod automatically adjust to light.
It's all bullcrap. The iPhone is less than 1mm thicker and they found room for antennas, light sensors, proximity sensors and all the rest.
Apple didn't put it in because they didn't want to. That's all. They do things like that for no reason. Like when they took the 3G toggle out and put it back after people complained. Watch the iPod touch 6 come back with an ambient light sensor.
Having to go and adjust the brightness is stupid. Even the crappiest cheapest blackberry has a light sensor.
"It's just too thin". That's what Phil Schiller said when they asked him why it didn't have a sensor. That's a bullcrap answer. You're telling me you couldn't spare 0.5mm to fit a sensor and give people the functionality they want?
How can you make a brand new device with LESS features than the previous one? Only Apple gets away with this.
It's just too thin. Well, then IT'S TOO THIN!! There's a point where a device can be way too thin where you sacrifice features and the structural integrity. When this happens then you've gone too far.
The iPod is a gaming device. It's not really a music device anymore. You can get a Nano for that. They also are using old components. Why couldn't they fit the new A6? More RAM? The iPods this year are crap. All of them. I don't like them.
The second they announced the new iPods I ran into the store and got the Nano before they went away. My wife lives that little thing. The new Nano is going backwards. Has a home button that will break, I have no doubt, and round icons that make no sense in an iOS device.
Apple didn't put it in because they didn't want to. That's all. They do things like that for no reason. Like when they took the 3G toggle out and put it back after people complained. Watch the iPod touch 6 come back with an ambient light sensor.
Having to go and adjust the brightness is stupid. Even the crappiest cheapest blackberry has a light sensor.
"It's just too thin". That's what Phil Schiller said when they asked him why it didn't have a sensor. That's a bullcrap answer. You're telling me you couldn't spare 0.5mm to fit a sensor and give people the functionality they want?
How can you make a brand new device with LESS features than the previous one? Only Apple gets away with this.
It's just too thin. Well, then IT'S TOO THIN!! There's a point where a device can be way too thin where you sacrifice features and the structural integrity. When this happens then you've gone too far.
The iPod is a gaming device. It's not really a music device anymore. You can get a Nano for that. They also are using old components. Why couldn't they fit the new A6? More RAM? The iPods this year are crap. All of them. I don't like them.
The second they announced the new iPods I ran into the store and got the Nano before they went away. My wife lives that little thing. The new Nano is going backwards. Has a home button that will break, I have no doubt, and round icons that make no sense in an iOS device.
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Correct, but as much as I hate the ommision of ALS, it's not going to stop me from getting the new iPod touch. The new screen is very bright much brighter than iPhone 4S not to mention crappy iPod touch 4th gen's screen, so I'll adjust the brightness to one sweet spot and use the iPod at that level in all lightining situations. It's probably be something between 30-40% of brightness. On the negative note for ALS, it not always worked as it should. I found many times it adjusted brightness incorrectly or at levels I didn't like for example at night it dimmed the screen too much, when I preffered a little more brighter. Many times I had to correct it manually to my likening. Of course it's better to have an option with ALS, but it's not like it was perfect. I would have preffered they didn't take it, but I can live with that. Plus, the brightness adjustment will be easily accessible from the home screen when the new touch will be jailbroken.
That said they wouldn't have to put an IPS display and just stay with the TN retina like 4th gen. I'm sure nobody would've complained. I prefer an iPod with IPS retina and no ALS than an iPod with TN retina and ALS. iPod touch 5th generation isn't perfect, so as iPhone 5. But I think it's worth upgrading just for that gorgeus 4" IPS sRGB retina display alone. The screen + rear iSight camera + front HD Facetime camera are the essential factors for me.
Basically you want an iPhone 5 without a phone for 299$ when the iPhone 5 comes at 700$. Forget it. There's a reason why Apple makes iPod touch with lesser quality internals. They do it on purpose to keep the 299$ price point and to differentiate enough from the iPhone. We can hate Apple for this, but that's reality. It's good that they finally incorporated same quality screen as iPhone's and a very decent camera, better than iPhone 4, on par with iPhone 4S and with some tweaks just like the iPhone 5's camera. The new Pod touch is as closest to iPhone quality-wise as it has ever been, but it's never going to be the same, not at 299$ price point.
The fact new nano and touch incorporate the same rubber membrane home button as iPhone 4S and all other iDevices with the exception of iPhone 5, doesn't mean it'll break easily. Yes, the home button in iPhone 5 is more durable and better built, but that doesn't mean home button in the new iPods are crap. I've used my iPod touch 3rd gen for over 2,5 years now. Guess what, home button still works just like new.
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Well, the iPhone 5 isn't really worth $700. Just Apple prices it that way. The real price is actually about $150 - $200 bucks to build it.
Apparently they're using the iPhone 4s specs for the iPod Touch 5. But I remember the iPhone 4s being the best phone ever built, once upon a time. So, are you saying the iPhone 4s was a cheap phone with lesser quality parts? Why don't they sell the iPhone 4s for $299 then?
The point is, the omission of the light sensor in the iPod is bullcrap. There is NO reason to ommit such a standard feature. The reason Phil gave is "you're holding it wrong" type answer.
Also, it wasn't ME to say that. Apple said, during a keynote, that the iPod was basically an "iPhone without the Phone". I think it was Steve if I remember correctly.
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I can't believe people really think this ambient light sensor thing is the end of the world. Holy christ. It's one minor convenience. Otherwise this thing is a tremendous upgrade in every facet. The idea that it has "less" features than the 4th gen is outrageous, it has far more features overall. Get back to reality.
I still might be confused about what the 8-pin connector does and doesn't support, but I thought it no longer supported "iPod out," or using your car's stereo to control track selection when the iPod is plugged in via USB in your car. My Acura (without the nav system) has a pig tail USB connection. I just tried plugging the iPod in via the 8-pin to USB cable and I got both audio (which I expected) and controls via my car stereo. Track names, playlists, etc. showed up on my car stereo display without issue, just like they had with my 4th gen. iPod Touch.
Is this a different protocol than iPod out?
Is this a different protocol than iPod out?
I was reading the news last night. somebody sent Phill Schiller email to ask about light ambient sensor. he said that ipod touch is too thin to put it. so it's officially confirmed. but there would be any solution apple could find to have it. it's ridiculous. of course, lightning sensor is not important to me. it doesn't affect on battery life at all. but I am still missing it.
Apple doesn't make their products for charity. They want to make big margins + add costs of R&D, production, transportation, marketing, taxes etc. It's well beyond 150$ per unit.
Every year it's the same scenario. When the iPhone gets old, it's internals get cheaper in production. That's why they can put them to iPod touch next year at the cost of 299$ for device. To be exact they could do it for 199$, but this year it's 299$ meaning internals are still quite expensive. Next year I expect iPod touch 6th gen to get A6 cheap as it gets cheaper in production, but who knows...
Yup, they shouldn't have taken it out, but what can you do about it? If can't live with it, then don't buy the new touch. For me ALS isn't the number one feature, although it would be appreciated. I wouldn't belive everything Apple execs say. Their role is to present the company in the best possible light and to sell as much as possible. I've always taken their words with the grain of salt.
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Not trying to justify the omission of ALS, but it actually can have a positive impact on battery live. With ALS on it very often adjusted brightness to 70-100% levels, especially during a day. Now with the lack of this feature, we can manually adjust the brightness to 30-50% and actually save some battery.I was reading the news last night. somebody sent Phill Schiller email to ask about light ambient sensor. he said that ipod touch is too thin to put it. so it's officially confirmed. but there would be any solution apple could find to have it. it's ridiculous. of course, lightning sensor is not important to me. it doesn't affect on battery life at all. but I am still missing it.
Maybe what they could do is put a brightness slider on the pull down notifications menu. It's not as good as a light sensor but seeing as it doesn't have one it would be better than having to go all through the settings menu to change it.