After building what was billed as the world’s first USB-C iPhone, engineer Ken Pillonell is back, this time with an Android phone with a Lightning port. This project is an experiment at best, not one that really emphasizes performance improvements. However, it does showcase what engineers can do when they think about it, including in terms of the amount of modification that today’s personal gadgets and equipment bring to the table.
Android phone with Lightning port: how it works
An Android phone with a Lightning port was made on the Samsung Galaxy A51 and its standard USB-C port has been replaced with a Lightning port. At first glance, it was a pretty pointless exchange since both USB-C and Lightning are reversible ports. However, USB-C is the obvious path to universal compatibility, and Apple itself is taking steps to ditch Lightning ports.
One of the biggest hurdles to installing Lightning ports on an Android phone is that Apple owns the port in question, which restricts it from working on any device other than Apple’s own. This meant that the engineer had to bypass restrictions in terms of firmware permissions and tricked into registering the Android device only as an Apple device. This usually requires bypassing certain hardware limitations as well as software signatures to unlock the usability of the Lightning port.
This ensured that a Lightning-equipped phone not only had a port, but allowed the port to read and write data, and be used to charge a smartphone. According to the same Engadget report, the phone could work without any restrictions.
However, Pillonel subsequently decided not to auction the phone or sell it online after experiencing the same issues with his previous USB-C iPhone. Thus, the device is a model of its technical capabilities, which in any case makes it unique.