My New Ad-Hoc Nav System
Ancient Prius Nav… BE GONE!
Mrs. Gremlin and I live in Los Angeles, so a good nav is about as essential as clean water. Back in 2011, my trusty Prius’ built-in navigation console felt state of the art. Not so much now (I mean, Toyota actually thinks I’m going to pay them $100+ to update the nav data, using… wait for it… a stack of DVDs).
The key to this endeavor for me was Apple’s addition of Mag-Safe.
I’ve thrice talked myself out of buying and wiring in a third party car-play console, but it’s a pricy project with a whole lot of risks and downsides for one of my most expensive posessions). Enter iPhone 13 Pro Max.
The key to this endeavor for me was Apple’s addition of Mag-Safe. Having to fiddle with a plug-and-holster system every time I wanted to navigate somewhere was an immediate no-go for me, but Mag-Safe has offered a potentially perfect system, where I can pop the phone onto the console in an instant, and have it both secured, charging, and navigating as seamlessly as a built-in console, but with MUCH better software.
The verdict is a resounding: HOLY SHIT.
Seriously, if you get a Pro Max, and you drive a motor vehicle, you owe it to yourself to buy a MagSafe mount and give this a try. After reading some troubling reviews that suggested the magnets wouldn’t reliably keep the big honking Max phone in place, I’ve found it to be rock solid (even on rough free-ways and over speed-bumps), and seamless to pop on, and pull off.
This ESR Magnetic Charging Mount is a Game-Changer
More importantly, that giant 6.7″ screen is simply incredible for giving directions. Paired with Apple’s latest iOS 15 mapping data update, the nav is insanely easy to read at a glance, quick to adjust if you’re at a stop, and just plain fantastic to use. My mount lets you pop on the phone in either portrait or landscape (although I’m stuck using the latter to avoid blocking the built-in view of the car’s backup camera). My only very mild criticism is that, in landscape, a few apps refuse to play nice and rotate, including the otherwise fantastic Overcast. One very important aside: this only works with cases that have legit Mag-Safe magnets built into them. So if you’re using a third-party case, YMMV.
Two quick notes: Ignore the mounts on Apple’s website which are just mechanical and don’t actually charge. If you do pickup the ESR mount, make sure you also get a QC rated charger brick for your car, otherwise you might not get the maximum charging speed.
So Nav replacement? CHECK.
My Very Expensive Apple Kindle
I should start by saying that I’m a fairly avid reader, and my purchasing habits have definitely helped keep the Amazon Kindle line in business (my Kindle Oasis is a delight, by the way). So my standards for an e-reader are high, and in the past, I’ve always preferred an e-ink display for reading books.
Here’s the problem. Books are not iPhone shaped, and that’s for a good reason.
That said, I’ve been humbly trying and failing to curb my device addiction, and have lately been pushing myself to replace my endless cycle of doom-scroll/refresh with more novel reading time. I figured some liberal use of the Kindle app for on-the-go reading could figure into that goal.
Here’s the problem. Books are not iPhone shaped, and that’s for a good reason. While a phone is designed to be pocketable, a book is necessarily wider, to allow for reasonably natural line length.
Otherwise, each sentence
gets cutoff
and it’s pretty annoying
to read.
Unfortunately, that’s kind of the experience I’ve had, even with the Pro Max. One thing you’ll note immediately coming from an X is that the Pro Max isn’t actually much wider than the old phone. It’s dramatically taller though.
Even Side by Side, the Width Isn’t That Different
After fiddling with the Kindle App’s text size and spacing settings for some time, I was finally able to settle on the best possible ratio of line-length to text-size.
In short: e-reading is definitely an improvement on smaller phones, but not by as much as you might think. It’d be a nice improvement when I find a quick moment to read while I’m out and about, but the Kindle Oasis is definitely sticking around.