PopSockets Announces Kick-Out Grip and stand
MacRumors’ Joe Rossignol reports this week PopSockets has released its newest product, the Kick-Out grip and stand for iPhone. The $40 accessory, which supports Apple’s MagSafe technology, is touted by PopSockets as “[rocking] multiple angles.”
“Unlike other PopSockets, the Kick-Out model offers the long-awaited ability to prop up an iPhone in a vertical Portrait Mode position. This added functionality is useful for watching vertical videos in apps like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube,” Rossignol wrote in describing the new accessory. “You can twist the built-in MagSafe ring, and then pop open the hinged stand to prop up the iPhone horizontally or vertically on a table.”
Seeing this news immediately took my mind to my interview late last year with PopSockets’ chief executive officer Jiayu Lin. Lin, who’s coming up on her 1-year anniversary leading the company, told me in part PopSockets “[sits] at the intersection of fashion and functionality.” My conversation with Lin coincided with the announcement that PopSockets worked with Apple such that the Cupertino-based captain of industry exclusively carry a collection of MagSafe phone grips in both its online store and retail outposts. According to Lin, PopSockets was “really excited” about the opportunity to work closely with Apple to reach “a new generation of customers,” adding it was a big step towards “forming strong relationships with partners and collaborators and [finding] new ways to get the brand into new locations.”
As I wrote in November—editorializing is a key part of reporting on accessibility, in my strong opinion—PopSockets’ origin story indeed lies in accessibility. Back in 2010, company founder David Barnett, who last fall handed the proverbial reins to Lin to be the company’s next chief executive, grew frustrated by his EarPods’ cords becoming tangled, so he decided to concoct a DIY remedy by gluing two buttons to the back of his phone before wrapping the cord around them. A Kickstarter project followed in 2012, with Barnett directing the money generated from the successfully-funded campaign to humbly start PopSockets from his Boulder, Colorado garage over a decade ago, in 2014.
Lin extolled PopSockets’ virtues by highlighting its position sitting at the intersection of fashion and functionality. As ever, it’s about something else: accessibility. Not only does the grippy nature make it easier to hold and prop up on a table, both especially important to those with muscle tone problems, the MagSafe integration makes it such that applying (or removing) the PopSocket itself is more accessible by virtue of the laws of physics. Ergo, a product like the aforementioned Kick-Out may well be immensely appealing to someone who copes with motor disabilities. In fact, as someone who does have motor disabilities, grip and friction are the primary reasons I insist on using a case on my iPhones. A case may obstruct from admiring the industrial design, but it’s a price I must pay for usability’s sake. Such is life for a nerd who lives with multiple conditions.
PopSockets’ new Kick-Out grip is available on its website now.
