However, when it comes to charging we are all accustomed to wired charging as usual, and as if that wasn’t convenient enough even though being fast, we saw the rise of wireless charging specifically the Qi (chee) wireless charging standard (every other wireless charger is based on this very standard today), not more than a decade ago.

Yes, the pucks and stands on which a smartphone is placed to sip up energy. Speaking of which, here’s why we think wireless charging technology is nothing more than just a gimmick. Then what about the convenience factor associated with it? We’ll get to that.

This one has to be the elephant in the room. The charging speed is super slow and that’s just an understatement. For instance, we used a 10W wireless charger to top up our iPhone SE (2020) and it took almost 4 hours to fully charge the battery (0% to 100%). For comparison’s sake, a 6.5W wired charger was brought to the scene, and it took about 2 hours to fill up the battery. However, let’s keep in mind that Apple caps the iPhone to wirelessly charge at 7.5W. And still, the speed is unsatisfactory at its best.

The next part of inefficiency is the heat that’s generated here. Just 20 minutes of charging the phone brought out almost burning levels of heat. In contrast, the usually wired charging generated little heat and as a result, the phone was slightly warm to the touch which is normal.

Also Read: Hide photos and videos on iPhone

iPhone on a wireless charging pad | Source: Apple

The phone needs to be placed right in the middle of the charging pad to ensure charging actually takes place. Going askew off the center stops the charging process as the induction coils are situated right in the middle portion of the wireless charger.

Taking the aforementioned observations into consideration, the convenience factor of wireless charging just proves to be worthless. Sure, your phone will top up without a cord helping you pick it up any time to check notifications. However, that perk isn’t justified here as the phone stops charging the moment it’s taken off the wireless charger pad. You may say a wireless charging stand helps here but not at all, again due to the lack of portability and wastage of space.

Stick to wired charging for now

It’s as simple as it gets, just takes that much effort to carry the brick and USB cable wherever you go. Apart from the perfectly manageable cord, picking up the phone for checking important notifications and more all while charging much efficiently and safely is more than feasible at the end of the day. Until and unless the weaknesses are ironed out, wired charging is all the way to go!

The post Why wireless charging is nothing more than a gimmick! appeared first on PhoneGlide.

Even though, the iPhone 13 Pro models brought in a 120Hz ProMotion display and advanced camera system, we think Wozniak doesn’t mind iPhone upgrades all that much.

I got the new iPhone; I can’t tell the difference really. The software that’s in it applies to older iPhones, I presume.

For those not all into details, yes, the iPhone 13 may not look like an upgrade at least in terms of design. Internally, however there are quite a bit of notable upgrades. But are those upgrades justifiable for those with an iPhone 12 at hand? Not really! iPhone 13. Source: Apple Back in 2017, at the time of the release of the iPhone X, Wozniak voiced a similar outlook. He felt his iPhone 8 at the time was identical to the iPhone 7 which was, in turn, identical to the iPhone 6.

I’d rather wait and watch that one. I’m happy with my iPhone 8 — which is the same as the iPhone 7, which is the same as the iPhone 6, to me.

What are your opinions about the iPhone 13 series and how does the latest smartphone from Apple stand different from previous models. Are they worth upgrading to? Chime in the comments section below. Apple iPhone 13 Steve Wozniak Next Article Beats Fit Pro joins Apple’s ever-growing list of TWS

The post This is what Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says about iPhone 13 appeared first on PhoneGlide.

New iOS 14 home screen with widgets Live Tiles on a Nokia Lumia 930, Windows Phone | Source: Windows Central

Anyways, getting back on track, the way the folks over at Cupertino implemented the widget concept is great but only visually. If we look beyond all of the glitters and golds of it, we get to see why this very feature needs a lot of work. This takes us to three reasons why widgets in iOS are a beautiful mess.

Icons can’t be expanded to form widgets

3D/Haptic Touch on an icon and you get no options to expand the same to form widgets Small size option in Windows Phone | Source: GSMArena

Having used a Windows Phone for a few years, we can vouch for how great its Tiles were. For those uninformed, Tiles were basically live widgets that were dynamic and displayed up-to-date info right on the home screen. You could resize it in small, medium, and large forms. In its smallest form, it was just an icon sans live information. Want more info? Just resize the very same icon to medium or large and you get dynamic tiles showing you live information right on spot.

And this is where iOS falls short with no way whatsoever to expand icons to form widgets right from the home screen rather going the long way to adding one by navigating to the home screen widgets settings. Is iOS getting convoluted over time? Who knows.

Resizing widget is unintuitive

Editing the Calendar widget No resize option available in options Large size option in Windows Phone | Source: GSMArena Medium size option in Windows Phone | Source: GSMArena

Most if not all widgets in iOS 14 are available in at least three different sizes. Now if you want to resize, for example, let’s take the calendar app here, you can’t long-press the app right on the spot. Again, the situation is similar to the widget expansion capability, you will eventually have to go to the widget library by long-pressing the home screen and tapping the + button at the top-right corner. Take a look.

https://www.phoneglide.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/add-widget-ios14.mp4

Stack rotation and widget update issues

At least on our iPhone SE 2020 running the latest iOS 14.4 (as of writing this article), the widgets seem to have a hard time updating relevant information on time. Not only that, stacks on the other hand do not rotate at all on our device. For those unaware as of yet, stack as the word implies is a feature that allows you to drop a widget over another to form a Rolodex (vertically scrollable widget stack). Do watch the video below to learn how to create a stack.

https://www.phoneglide.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/ios-widget-stacks.mp4

Wrapping up, We hope Apple brings in new features and fix all of the issues in iOS 15. what are your thoughts about widgets in iOS? Feel free to chime in the comments section and do share your experience. Thank you for reading.

The post Here’s why widgets in iOS are a beautiful mess appeared first on PhoneGlide.