"Sweet 16" isn't so "sweet"

I found out something interesting the other day: It seems that once Apple iOS hit 16.5, it disables power to external adapters such as the Lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter. 

How do I know?

Friday I wanted to use the adapter to transfer a PDF from my (i)Phone (11) to my work computer, and when I plugged the power source in to the adapter, my phone failed to acknowledge the charge (since you have to use extra power for USB sticks). 

If there was no power source connected to the adapter and the flash drive was inserted, the "Cannot Use Accessory This accessory uses too much power" message pops up. 

I thought it was my charging cable and brick, as both are not true "purchased thru Apple" products. I decided that when I got home home, I would try all the other charging cables I had. 

Challenge is, every single cable I own, including the one I keep in my backpack, worked perfectly well when I plugged it straight into the phone. Using the adapter, no ding, no green, no charge. So the adapter had to be broken. 

I was all set to go buy another $39 adapter on Amazon when I scrolled to a couple reviews. I wanted to see if anyone was commenting on the longevity of the product, since I had purchased it in 2021, surely more people would be using it for longer than two years? 

Well, as thought, people were making comments, but not about how long it lasts, but how they updated their phone software to iOS 16.5 and the adapter buggered out. 

People who routinely use this accessory for various purposes every day, had been fine until they updated their phone. The second the software went from 16.4 to 16.5, the adapter copped out, rendering all projects halted and the device useless. 

Doing some more research (Mac talk websites, etc), a lot more people were discussing this issue. It's been hanging around for close to three weeks at the point of this writing, and there are loads of unhapy people. 

It goes to show you the last time I used the adapter if it's been almost a month.

But users are hoping Apple gets on the fix game and enables the use of the adapter in the next software update. Otherwise, people who rely on this work work or other reasons are dead in the water when they need to utilize it. 

Me, I bought it for the occasional transfer to/from my phone to a computer when emailing isn't sufficient (I don't want to text a PDF to my boss from my personal phone, nor do I want to use my personal email to my work email). 

Technology gets you coming and going, and Apple used to do better with their stuff. I'm not fanboy as the phone and watch are the only fruit things I own. Had we not started with an iPhone 4 in 2013, I wouldn't have gotten the 5, 6 or 11. The watch was because I updated from a third party watch (not Fitbit) and wanted something new. However, the watch is a Series 3 and it stopped updating with WatchOS 8.7.

At least my friend Tay says all the time the things he can do on his various Android phones. He pressures me to return to the droid side quite frequently. I just can't get my act together to transfer everything (apps, etc). I am not a real big fan of the Apple, but I guess I'm stuck in my way right now, especially since I've got enough bumper cases for the watch and loads of charging cables, to be able to sell back to various stores. 

It's not to say I didn't previously own Android devices in the past. The flip phone I had before getting the iPhone 4 was a Motorola w755 that I was able to root and do a lot more things with it that I wanted to (easily transfer pictures to my computer, add music, etc). The Apple doesn't let you do what you want, since you have to go through customs (aka the app store) for everything. Tay tells me that he'd set a droid phone up for me if I wanted him to. He'd install all the things I need and it'd be end of story. Then I can not worry about transferring voice memos to my laptop, putting them in Audacity, shrinking them down to a manageable email size and then emailing. The thing he could do is put a specific memo app on the droid that will compress the audio without losing anything, and then I can send it in an email. Cut out the middle editing man. Among other things. 

Again, I've got too many things invested now in Apple, especially since we use Apple TV+ and it's attached to my Apple ID. Excuses, excuses, I know. 

Until I hear the USB adapter gets fixed, this will be something that goes in the closet unused. At least I got some of my money's worth with it, the last couple years...

Cheers;