They have gotten a lot better. Specifically they are MUCH more reliable. The early problem was that engineers believed that since the vacuum switches were waterproof they could not be affected by juice. This was emphatically not true. Auto switches often malfunctioned after as little as a week or two. Folks finally grew a pair and moved the switch away from the juice. They also took steps to make sure the vacuum chamber in which the switch resides (who’s dimensions changes dramatically when filled with juice or other funk) remains clear of fouling.
There is a new pod I saw a review of recently that has both a button and an auto switch as well as an actual (though really really small) nautilus style coil cartridge permanently set into the pod. I do not know if it implements what I have just suggested or not but it seems to be very well liked.