Don’t Charge Your Phone This Way | Hacker News Reader

Don’t Charge Your Phone This Way

nytimes.com

12 pointsmhb21 comments

Non-clickbait title: Don't Charge Your Phone With Public Cables or Ports.

Title violates HN clickbait guidelines? ("this way")

Always distrusted public chargers and USB ports from the day they started becoming common. One way you can address this is by buying a power-only USB cable, with the data lines cut. Unless there's any form of communication possible on the power lines in a USB cable (some diagnostic thing, etc) that can help protect you.

The downside to that is you lose a lot of the newer fast charge features. USB-C power delivery specifically requires communication between the charger and the device to determine what voltage the charger will provide.

There are "USB Condoms" (I'm fond of the PortaPow, no association just a happy user, I give them away like candy to anyone who will take one) where one end negotiates with the USB source and the other end is for your device; you still can get max power but there is no data connection.

https://portablepowersupplies.co.uk/home/portapow-data-block...

That's just USB-A which only does one voltage at different current limits. USB-C has a whole negotiation back and forth about available (charger) and desired (device) voltages. You could possibly have a device pass just those messages back and forth I guess but that's definitely not the device you linked.

Sorry, I don't have any USB-C devices, and the OP at top of thread only said USB (not USB-C).

There are some more advanced USB-C PD proxy condoms that have their own charge controller & proxy the PD negotiation. But a lot easier & cheaper to just bring an AC charger around most places, even with an international plug adapter set.

Hadn't heard of those do you have a link?

With the data lines cut you will be limited to 100mA, no? My personal experience is that this charges far too slowly.

Use a USB condom that will negotiate fast charge but not passed data over the cable

When USB power jacks started appearing everywhere, I figured it was just a gimmicky branding thing. Why wouldn't I just use my known AC adapter in a standard receptacle, and be sure that my phone was getting the same power it always charged with. It's very unlikely that building power would be miswired to put say 277V or 460V on a common receptacle, whereas low voltage DC being crappy seemed quite likely. I certainly wouldn't want to screw up my several hundred dollar device, from a basically unaccountable charger, for the savings was taking one thing out of my bag instead of two.

But this is just not the way most people see the world, which is apparently "if it fits, I sticks". I just don't get it - for all of the general conservatism to resist actual change, why is everyone so quick to engage in new behavior that offers no gain?

The same argument would make you not want to drink water from a public fountain, or eating at a restaurant as opposed to cooking your own food. It's a matter of implicit risk analysis. You need to charge your phone, you see a USB port. What are the odds that it's going to be wired to something other than 5V? If that were the case, what's the worst that can happen? It works out for the vast majority of people.

why is everyone so quick to engage in new behavior that offers no gain?

Phone charges up. Sure seems like a gain.

The phone also charges with your AC charger though, and likely faster. Your gain is merely having to get just a cable out, instead of cable + AC adapter.

And if you're worried about a shortage of outlets, the savvy traveler thing to do is carry a multi-outlet tap and facilitate sharing, which also works at 120/240 and not 5V.

Some places don't provide a power socket I can plug an adapter into. Just the USB socket. Sometimes I'm carrying a phone and a slim cable I don't mind putting in my pocket, but I really don't want to put an AC adapter in my pocket and carry that around with me. Sometimes the AC adapter is in my checked luggage rather than in my pocket. Sometimes my AC adapter is made for a different kind of socket and I don't have a travel adapter for it. Sometimes I don't have a cable or an adapter, but someone lets me use their cable for five minutes. There are a lot more combinations in life than carrying a bag with an AC adapter inside that fits the local plug shape.

And if you're worried about a shortage of outlets the savvy traveler thing to do is carry a multi-outlet tap and facilitate sharing

Carry MORE things? I'm not worried about a shortage of outlets; I just use the USB slot.

I guess you've never experienced a watering hole of people at the only power outlet around? And aren't foreseeing being somewhere without USB jacks but with regular receptacles?

There is a whole bunch of path-dependence in what you've said. I formed my approach a decade ago, primarily in the context of traveling, and haven't seen a benefit to revisiting it.

But surely by the time one is talking about buying special cables with no data lines, but still needing to do power negotiation somehow, maybe it's time to question some recent assumptions!

Time to start selling power-only USB cables with a transparent sheath and two visible copper wires. They don't need to be shielded, of course.

TL;DR - don’t connect your phone to public USB ports because it could install malware to your phone.

The way this article is written and not having any serious information about “juice jacking” makes it really bad.

How about a TLDR since it's nytimes?

Also, what a trash headline. But it is the nytimes, and they've taken a huge fall.

"don't do this specific thing" (click to find out!)

"this one weird trick you must do" (click to find out!)

"you won't believe how annoying this headline type is!" (click me)

I always found it helpful to bring a portable charger wherever I go. Very affordable these days. The RavPower one I have is good for like 5-8 full iphone charges.

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