Chargie. A USB device to control charging of phones | Hacker News Reader

Chargie. A USB device to control charging of phones

chargie.org

13 pointsn100013 comments

There is an equivalent software solution for rooted Android phones:

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/mattecarra.accapp/

The Chargie will certainly be useful for the many people who don't want to/can't root their phones. But it's also sad that one needs an extra piece of hardware for something that the phone can technically already accomplish on its own.

I created a shortcut in iOS that will remind me to unplug.

I thought current iOS versions already have the ability to limit charge by default.

Yes, they do. For a couple years now:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210512

Ah, interesting that it's only available as "smart" feature and not as something you can intentionally configure. Neat feature otherwise.

The latest shortcuts app is able to monitor the charge level and one can configure it as a trigger.

no they don't. That function is a joke. Only works maybe 2 out of 10 nights, the rest are spent at 100%. I have a Chargie (older version) and it really does the trick, every single night. I don't know how the Android app does it, but the iOS one is really transparent and just works as it should. Big thumbs up for the developer!

I've adopted a different solution - use an old charger. I have a seemingly endless supply of them sitting around. They were never powerful enough to begin with, so they charge many times slower than modern chargers.

This is ideal for over night charging for me. From a nearly empty battery, it charger my phone to about 95% during a normal night. If I need to top off, I throw it on the quick charger while I get ready for the day.

That was what I was doing too. From one of the articles referenced on chargie.io [0] I learned battery lifetime is mostly about

- heat, which indeed potentially is lower with the small chargers, see Table 2

- keep between 35-75% charge level, see Figure 3.

With the astonishing battery life of the iPhone 13 under most daily use, even the _mini_, I will never go outside 35-75%. IOW I'm planning to buy a few Chargies, also leaving 1 or 2 in the car. That way I can use the iPhone 13 for another 6 years, like I did with the iPhone 6.

[0] https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-808-how-to-prolong-...

Looks like a pretty decent solution for the average person, I like it.

My OnePlus 7 Pro has a feature that's supposed to limit charging based on your usage habits, but in reality it never works and always charges to 100%, and you can't configure it manually for some reason.

I ended up using a wifi plug with home assistant to turn off the charger when my phone hits 80%.

The biggest downside is android is not smart enough to realize this is a full charge, and the battery stats never reset until I do a charge to 100%.

My phone (stock Android) has this built in.

https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/6090612?hl=en#z...

Nice, but mechanically it's far from an ideal design, a dongle in a dongle. I'd buy the USB-C version anyway. It would have been better if it was built insude a wall or 12V socket adapter. A safe way to use it is with an USB extender.

this type of thing is built into a newer Lenovo tablet I have.

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