My rear-facing camera failed on my iPhone 5. It was past the 1-year warranty date, and I didn’t buy AppleCare. Historically Apple had usually taken care of me if I had a Genius Bar appointment and was reasonably nice, but not this time. Frankly the manager was a little too smarmy for me, saying “your story really spoke to me” (I didn’t really have a story, just that I needed my camera to work), “and so I can take $50 off (which he claimed they never do) if you upgrade.” The problem was that I was “early upgrade eligible” with AT&T, which means $250 out-of-pocket, and the phone upgrade from a 5 to a 5s was another $130 (they would give me some credit for my existing phone). Net-net was that almost 2 hours later (after they wiped my phone to test it, which always messes things up), I had the following options from Apple:
- Replace the handset at $270 for a refurbished one.
- Upgrade to a 5s for $130 + $250 = $380. Be ineligible for an update for 2 more years.
- Live with a broken camera.
I’m pretty sure I could buy a really nice pocket point-and-shoot for $270, but the best camera you have is the one you always have with you. Opportunity for a rock-star watch camera I’m thinking. I was considering briefly the Sony QX10, but it’s yet another thing to carry.
So back to Apple. And note that the time you spend still paying your full monthly rate after your 2-year commitment is up is never used as a credit. So I left the Apple Store, debating if I should make an appointment at a different Genius Bar at a different store (so much of it depends on the Genius you’re talking to).
Then it occurred to me on the drive home. Why not just call one of the many iPhone repair stores (I later learned that 40% of their revenue is replacing your broken glass on your phone). One call later I spoke to a nice human at MacMasters, and they quoted me $89 to replace my camera. They said it could be less, depending if the camera needed to be replaced or just reconnected.
Long story short, they did a great job with the repair, and the price was fine. But that’s not the moral of this story. It was two things that I learned during the repair, and two features that I need for my phone:
- I needed to unlock or provide them my passcode so they could test the camera (which is understandable), but also the maps/gps, light, compass and other features that are normally not available in lock mode. I basically want a “Repair Mode” feature of the phone which would lock them out of all of my apps except the base apps, maybe a few others (like an additional camera app) — or you can opt them into “Repair Mode”. The problem with giving somebody access to your whole iPhone is that many of your apps are not locked; you get access to AMEX, Walgreens, banking apps, anything else you’ve given restricted permission to. It was one of the most unnerving hours of the weekend.
- I want an “If Found” mode; not a simple photo overlay, for which there are already apps, but a “Good Samaritan” Mode. It would give you some contact information, a “Call my spouse” feature, or “Emergency Contact Call”, or Email my owner, with instructions on where and how to drop it off. Maybe even a program where if you drop it off at an designated store, you get an automatic reward (that the owner has already set aside a CC for).
- Maybe the “Find My Owner” mode would also log the GPS as activities happen. Heck, even showing the most recent calendar appointment would go a long way (e.g. catching a flight), or a meeting at work. That way the person who found your phone would have some sense of where you might be.
Let’s face it. Losing your phone is worse than losing your wallet. You want it back immediately. And although some people would debate how badly you “need” your phone, I fall squarely on the side of “the anxiety of not knowing where it is isn’t worth it”. So I’ll humbly ask Android and Google to make it easier for lost phones to return to their owners. Time to submit some feedback (somewhere, somehow). Or maybe build something around a shortURL with some “how to get a hold of me” data that you can add to your overlay. That might be a fun app.