Abstract
- In case you’re something like me, you in all probability have a pile of previous USB flash drives stashed away in a closet someplace.
- Regardless of utilizing the antiquated USB-A port commonplace, you may join your previous flash drive to most trendy telephones and tablets and not using a hitch.
- Utilizing an inexpensive USB-A to USB-C adapter, you may effortlessly flick thru all of your forgotten 2000s-era paperwork and information.
After I bought my
Samsung Galaxy S9
again in 2018, the cellphone got here with a free accent within the field: a Samsung-branded USB-A to USB-C On-The-Go (OTG) adapter. The corporate had solely just lately begun switching its cellular units over from USB Micro-B to USB-Kind-C, and this adapter was a considerate inclusion to assist
smooth over the transition process
.
The included adapter’s assist for OTG was (and nonetheless is) necessary — as a USB specification, OTG permits the accent to facilitate communication between host and peripheral units with none compatibility points. For essentially the most half, I did not make a lot use of my adapter again after I was rocking the S9 every day. This all modified just lately, after I was spring-cleaning and stumbled upon my previous assortment of 2012-era
After all, tech has come a good distance because the early 2010s, and none of my private units embody a USB-A port anymore.
I made a decision it will be a enjoyable alternative to look again in any respect my digital information and paperwork from after I was a junior highschool and senior highschool scholar. For context, despite the fact that cloud storage options existed again then, it was commonplace to regionally retailer essays and slideshow shows on a USB stick, which is exactly how I operated on the time.
After all, tech has come a good distance because the early 2010s, and none of my private units embody a USB-A port anymore. That is the place my useful USB OTG adapter is available in — and not using a hitch, it lets me not solely entry my previous information on my trendy PC, but in addition on my USB-C-enabled
iPhone
and
Android tablet
. In different phrases, the identical USB stick that I beforehand plugged into the Home windows XP desktop tower at my old skool, can simply as simply be plugged into my state-of-the-art
Samsung On-The-Go USB-A to USB-C Adapter
This Samsung USB-A to USB-C adapter beforehand got here bundled in with new Galaxy smartphones. It means that you can simply interface legacy USB merchandise with newer USB-C-based units.
How do I join my previous USB flash drive to my cellular gadget?
All it takes is a single, low cost USA-A to USB-C adapter
Pocket-lint / Apple / Samsung
To attach an old-school USB flash drive to a contemporary cellular gadget like an iPhone, an iPad, or an Android, observe these steps:
- Guarantee that you’ve entry to an OTG-certified USB-A to USB-C adapter, and that your cellular gadget has at the least one free USB-C port.
- Plug the male finish of the USB stick into the feminine finish of the USB-A to USB-C adapter.
- Subsequent, plug the male finish of the USB-A to USB-C adapter straight into the USB-C port of your cellphone or pill.
It ought to be famous that some newer USB flash drives take a ‘hybrid’ strategy to design. For instance, the favored SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive Go mannequin options USB-A on one finish, and USB-C on the opposite, negating the necessity for a separate adapter.
When it comes to USB-A to USB-C adapters, there are many choices available on the market apart from the Samsung mannequin that I highlighted. I might keep away from springing for a no-name model — regardless of the compelling costs, you are playing by way of high quality. Many of those choices lack OTG assist, make the most of the sluggish USB 2.0 switch pace commonplace, and do not characteristic security options or correct energy supply controllers.
Some adapter fashions I might personally advocate embody:
Associated
4 lesser-known things I do with old USB drives
USB drives can achieve this rather more than simply retailer PDFs and Phrase docs.
USB stick ubiquity is within the rear-view mirror
Lately, USB flash drives have roughly fallen into obscurity. Certain, there are nonetheless
plenty of potentially clever use cases
on your previous thumb drives, however as a major storage medium, their days are all however numbered. The sheer comfort of cloud-based storage options like Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive and iCloud have evidently taken the wind out of the common-or-garden USB stick’s sail. On the identical time, wi-fi switch protocols like AirDrop and Fast Share have decreased the necessity to depend on native storage for cross-device entry as a complete.
For longer-term local storage
, exterior arduous disk drives (HDDs) stay the very best bang-for-your-buck, whereas flash-based
solid state drives
(SSDs) are extra strong, dependable, and capacity-dense than their USB stick counterparts. Nonetheless, I’ve a nostalgic attachment to the thumb drive period, and there is one thing about plugging my previous USB stick into my trendy smartphone that tickles my nerdy heartstrings.
Associated
Apple (sort of) sells a USB-A-to-C cable now, but there’s no fruit logo in sight
Apple-owned Beats has launched colourful new woven charging cables in a number of plug codecs.
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