GoPro Shame on You!

The GoPro Hero 7 Black is an amazing camera. The latest version of the GoPro line has incredible image stabilization and makes some of the best pictures I have seen coming from a little camera. My beef is not with the camera, it is with the software and phone support.

I spent 2 hours trying to get a new GoPro Hero 7 Black connected to my brand new Pixel 3a XL. After talking with GoPro support for 45 minutes, we finally gave up. My Pixel 3a XL will not connect through the app, or through the GoPro Wireless system.

A coworker of mine has an iPhone. I took the same exact GoPro over to Dave and asked if we could try to connect the GoPro to his iPhone. It was instant.

It is unacceptable to have these kind of discrepancies in software development for a company the size of GoPro. The fact that one phone cannot connect at all, and another can connect instantly is not okay. If GoPro said in the marketing material, “only works with iPhone” then they might have a leg to stand on, but GoPro wants this to be the camera for everyone.

GoPro Quik software is something that you can load on your Windows machine. I loaded the software, and connected the GoPro. This actually works, but the application is a pathetic excuse for a piece of software. Why don’t I have controls. Setting time, setting up the device. None of this is available in the software that actually does appear to work.

You can update firmware by using Quik, however, today with a new camera it says “Firmware unknown (Up to date)”. Wait? What? How can you not know, but also know that it is up to date. You can’t know, if you don’t know!

What I saw on Dave’s iPhone was great. The software has the features that are necessary and required to control a GoPro. This needs to be brought to Android, and it needs to be brought to Quik. Why would you have software that doesn’t provide all the functionality that you need to control a device on all of your available systems. What if you don’t own a phone?

I hope GoPro will put a staff of programmers on these issues. Having to purchase an iPhone to control a GoPro is not an acceptable solution and GoPro should be ashamed of itself.