Pixel 5 turns into a smart charging pad, iOS 14 back tap, more tech news today!

Your Tech News Digest via the DGiT Daily Tech Newsletter for Wednesday 4th November 2020.

1. New Features: Pixel 5 Charging Pad, iOS 14 Back Tap

Today is like a day where you can try out some handy smartphone features that are really great when you have the opportunity to take advantage of them.

First, today is confirmation that the Google Pixel 5 “Battery Share” makes reverse wireless charging easier.

• Reverse wireless charging does not charge the phone wirelessly, it charges another device wirelessly.
• A common example is true wireless earbuds that can be charged wirelessly and have smaller battery sizes to charge.
• You can also use one phone to charge and help another over WiFi.
• Now the Pixel 5 can also charge wirelessly. But it’s smart: when the Pixel 5 is charged via wired USB-C with Battery Share enabled, the back of the Pixel 5 is an effective charging pad for other Qi-compatible devices.
• And it’s also pretty well executed, as Google explains: “When your Pixel phone is plugged in and charging, Battery Share will automatically turn on for a short time. If your phone doesn’t detect any other device consuming its power during this time, battery sharing will be turned off.”
• There is also a video.
• To be very clear, you can use reverse wireless charging to share power when it’s not plugged in. It’s just a manual operation to prevent unwanted loading, which makes perfect sense.
• It is a good idea! It is likely that another flagship should be implemented via a software update if possible, or in its next version. Why not?
• And if you really want to, buy two Pixel 5s and charge each other. Correct?

The other feature is the “secret” back button in iPhones that have been updated to iOS 14:

• In iOS 14, “Tap Back” was added from the Accessibility menu, so many users may not even have noticed.
• This is how Apple Back Tap describes: “A quick double or triple tap on the back of your iPhone can be configured to trigger a range of actions, such as: B. opening the magnifying glass or triggering VoiceOver when your iPhone is in your pocket. It can even be assigned to general system functions such as the control center or accessible activities such as switch control actions.”
• When this feature is enabled, the back of your iPhone becomes a touch sensitive button. (Turn it on by walking Settings> Accessibility> Touchand scroll down to make sure Back Tap is enabled.)
• If you keep opening the Tap Back option, you can access additional menus to create shortcuts for double and triple tips.
• For example, tap the back of your iPhone twice to open the camera, or three times to take a screenshot.
• Back tap is not perfect from my experience with a borrowed iPhone. Apple seems to be trying to prevent accidental activations, which is useful but doesn’t always work perfectly. It’s likely that function will improve over time, but it’s worth trying to see if it becomes part of your flow.
• Google had included something similar in Android 11 betas but didn’t include it in the final version, possibly due to similar misfire issues.
• And Android phones had experimented far more with different gestures than they did on the iPhone. Motorola phones turned on the flashlight when you made a double-handed gesture, and a twist of your wrist opened the camera.
• Little tricks like these didn’t really catch on though, and I’m not sure why, other than how device-specific features tend to be hard to stay useful.

2. Leak: Possibly a few more details about Qualcomm Snapdragon 875, leaks indicating that it is a 5 nm process, new Cortex CPUs and a GPU (Android Authority).

3. Nokia offers a range of inexpensive 4K Android TVs in most sizes (Android Authority).

4. 200W + charging could be a thing (as if we need it) in 2021 (Android Authority).

5. Spotify now lets you stream songs straight from your Apple Watch without the need for a phone (The Next Web).

6. Apple, Google hires special effects masters outside of Hollywood to work on AR & VR, and it works: “The difference is that technically you’re treated more like a human.” (Apple Insider)

7. It looks like California’s Prop 22 passed, which allows Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash to have gig workers work as independent contractors (with no perks) rather than employees. The electoral measure contains some guarantees. (TechCrunch).

8. Elon Musk Says Tesla Could Uncover Cybertruck Changes In A Month Or So (Engadget).

9. Pokimane wants Twitch fans to stop giving her so much money by setting a donation cap of $ 5. Great! (Polygon).

10. Ant Group’s upcoming world record fintech IPO has been suspended by regulators in China just two days before launch. Unprecedented. Alibaba owns ~ 33% of Ant Group (CNBC).

11. SpaceX Starlink users provide first impressions and unboxing images (Ars Technica).

12. 17 soothing videos to watch if you panic for any reason (lifehacker).

13. That question! “Why do sprinklers go like ‘ts ts ts ts ts ts’ and come back like ‘tttttt t’?” (r / nostupidquestions).

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