Mounting your iPhone on your motorcycle can damage its camera (2022)

https://old.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/comments/v7d6rn/learned_the_hard_way_that_mounting_your_phone_on/

by behnamoh • 3 years ago

138 224 3 years ago

old.reddit.com

greyface-4• 3 years ago

Road vibration is also bad for MacBook batteries. I used to carry my laptop in a bicycle pannier, and after a while its battery puffed up and started bulging out of the case.

NoZebra120vClip• 3 years ago

Spicy pillow!

I was just shoving a couple notebooks into a file cabinet when I thought how far we've come with vibration/fall resistant SSDs, but I suppose that constant, vigorous motion is still a danger.

martinky24• 3 years ago

And how are you sure biking was the cause? There are other things that can negatively affect a battery.

greyface-4• 3 years ago

It's impossible to be sure, but I otherwise treated the battery well, and it wasn't an issue with previous or subsequent laptops transported with more care.

woleium• 3 years ago

this is likely more temperature related. Stuck in a pannier bag with no cool air can do that to a battery.

PhasmaFelis• 3 years ago

I've had laptop batteries do that after nothing but sitting on a desk for a couple years. It's probably not from vibration.

fouc2• 3 years ago

was it completely off or was it merely in sleep mode?

greyface-4• 3 years ago

Sleep mode, typically. Do you think the slow discharge might have been a factor?

justinator• 3 years ago

Wonder if this is why most all my GoPro Max batteries are about to explode. Mount accessories rarely have dampeners

dharmab5• 3 years ago

Heat is the more likely suspect, especially if you run your camera for long periods of time in direct sunlight

mrguyorama5• 3 years ago

The 2015 macbooks had a problem were certain battery batches were bad, and it was basically just a matter of time until it ballooned and became hazardous.

greyface-4• 3 years ago

It was a 2015 model, so this is plausible, unlike all of the sibling comments telling me it must have overheated in transport without me noticing.

Kirby643• 3 years ago

This is any phone with OIS or AF. If you vibrate them enough, you will damage them. Not unique to iPhones.

jjtheblunt• 3 years ago

Damage means uncalibrate the optics vs sensor?

CitizenKane• 3 years ago

Optical image stabilization in modern phone camera sensors uses (very) small leaf springs along with small actuators to stabilize the sensor from shaking. Undampened vibrations from vehicles, especially motorcycles, can damage this springs as the vibration is enough force to cause the springs to snap.

Usually the result is that the camera tends to look kind of "smudgy" since the actuators can't correctly position the sensor with a broken spring.

Kirby643• 3 years ago

Nothing to do with calibration. You physically deform or break the mechanical structure of the OIS or AF systems.

NoPicklez• 3 years ago

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102175

Official support page on the matter, even iFixit have recommended not mounting iPhone's on handlebars for years

kepler1• 3 years ago

I love how everything has to be "blandified" to make it sound less significant than it is when it comes to diagnosing and characterizing a problem by Apple. And I don't exempt other companies from this dumbing down or "unhysterifying" language as well.

"Exposing your iPhone to high amplitude vibrations within certain frequency ranges, specifically those generated by high-power motorcycle engines, can degrade the performance of the camera system."

No, it doesn't kill your camera, it just "degrades" it to the point of unusability. Your battery didn't explode, it just experienced a "thermal event"! Your screen isn't cracked, it just has "user-induced fragmentation anomalies"!

mtreis863• 3 years ago

I honestly enjoy these.

My rocket didn't explode, it "spontaneously disassembled" mid flight.

That deployment that pushed me beyond my physical and emotional limits, of which I may never recover, was "challenging".

That absolute cluster fuck of a rollout "presented opportunities to improve our organization".

theshrike793• 3 years ago

It degrades it.

It's just the fact that continued degradation will result in a non-functioning device eventually =)

sdflhasjd• 3 years ago

"Status page" corporate language.

Contrast that with all the intensifiers used when describing the circumstances. It's not vibrations from motorcycle engines causing it, it's "high amplitude" vibrations from "high power" engines.

All completely non qualified as well. What's high power? As high as you can imagine for marketing purposes, but as low as Apple wants it to be for warranty claims.

xnx• 3 years ago

I've seen some bikeshare bikes that have a phone mount right on the handlebars. This is super-convenient for getting directions in an unfamiliar city (they even have wireless charging!) I couldn't help but thing that it might really be doing a number on the optics of my phone as I blasted across may cobblestone and brick streets.

ggm• 3 years ago

how camera CCDs fail is sometimes very interesting. I had a canon ixus which failed on a road trip, it grew retro pinstripes. As if a dataline in the scan had failed, and so it had partial feed in a regular pattern out of the cells.

crap getting into otherwise sealed lenses is in some ways more frustrating. the whole device works fine. There's just the ONE speck of dust, which ruins every shot in exactly the same place. I tried taking 2 images with an offset and doing a join, but its harder than it looks. NASA carry this off very well, they have to do a lot of this with gamma ray damage and the like.

Vibration isolation is only going to take you so far. Interesting to wonder how built-in video devices in cars and bikes avoid the risks.

stygiansonic• 3 years ago

This isn’t about the CCD or sensor failing. It is about the OIS and AF systems failing from vibrations, both of which (to my knowledge) involve mechanical movement.

lm28469• 3 years ago

CCDs

CMOS is what's used in most commercial applications now

numpad02• 3 years ago

The part that breaks is magnetic autofocus/image stabilization mechanisms. I don't know exactly but electromagnet drivers getting fried by back EM force or something. Or could be severed coils. something along those.

beej71• 3 years ago

Some of my peers learned this the hard way. I have a Garmin GPSmap mounted there--durable and glove-friendly.

Exmoor• 3 years ago

I've had this issue with my Samsung Note 20 Ultra, but not from motorcycles. I run a couple thousand miles a year and about 6 months ago I noticed my camera would come up out of focus. If I tap the phone fairly hard it will usually come back in focus eventually, but its super annoying. I've started carrying my phone in a pocket on my outer thigh where it should get less impact, rather than a loose zippered pocket of my shorts, but the damage is done to this one. Hopefully my next phone does better.

kbar13• 3 years ago

kinda crazy to think about what that means for your knees when you run. be safe.

jwhiles• 3 years ago

Knees aren't phone cameras

Unfrozen0688• 3 years ago

Humans are built to run long distance.

saiya-jin2• 3 years ago

S22 ultra here, when I shake my phone there is something rattling, I always assumed it was some part of lenses, since they have some advanced stuff like periscopes and maybe for some good reason some part is not tightly held as the rest. Otherwise there shouldn't be a thing moving in the phone.

As long as it keeps working no concern, and it works fine, focus is quick. But yeah I won't be mounting it on motorcycle (or mountain bike) anytime soon

londons_explore• 3 years ago

Most phone cameras rattle while the camera is off. If you turn the main camera on, then it normally stops the rattle temporarily, since the rattling lens assembly is now held in place electromagnetically.

Kirby643• 3 years ago

Any phone with OIS or AF will rattle if you shake it hard enough. It's just the springs of the lens assembly hitting the endstops of travel. Shouldn't damage anything unless you really hit it quite hard (or, repeatedly, as a motorcycle would). I've also noticed you can sometimes get rattling from buttons on a phone too. Could also be that.

xormapmap• 3 years ago

Not unique to iPhones but the way I see it, mounting a phone in a vehicle is a common enough use-case that it should be designed for. Doesn't matter if it's a motorcycle or not.

mensetmanusman• 3 years ago

Yes, there are mounts designed to dampen vibration to help prevent this.

perryizgr8• 3 years ago

Would keeping the camera on help? When it is on, the stabiliser components are active and they should counteract most of the vibrations. If this works, it might be worth it for apple to detect motorcycle vibrations for more than x minutes and energise the stabilisers without actually turning on the other imaging related parts of the camera.

ergonaught• 3 years ago

Mounted my iPhone to the handlebars of an Indian Springfield motorcycle, which certainly had some vibration from the motor ("111 cu in (1,811 cc)"), and the camera is now partly FUBAR. The phone says, "Unknown Part. Unable to determine if your iPhone camera is a genuine Apple part." Some features no longer work, some work improperly or poorly, etc.

Tsk.

AverageDude3• 3 years ago

Yup. The best bet is the handlebar bag with clear pouch and a cheap $100 android phone with offline google maps. I am personally using a Samsung Galaxy which I bought it from fb marketplace.

dharmab5• 3 years ago

Fortnine recently recommended grabbing a used Sonim phone (https://www.sonimtech.com/) to use as a motorcycle mounted phone. They're designed for EMS workers, so they're waterproof and have mappable physical buttons so you can use key functions with gloves on.

vladvasiliu3• 3 years ago

I was thinking of grabbing a cheap phone for this, but still attached to the handlebars. If it's sunny, the phone would probably get too hot and shut off in a pouch, especially since my motorbike has a big enough fairing that mounting the pouch in the wind wouldn't be practical.

AverageDude3• 3 years ago

I can see that heat would be a problem. But I don’t live in a very hot area. But I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for pointing it out.

calewis• 3 years ago

This is amazing: https://beeline.co/pages/beeline-moto E-ink display so works in very bright light Very small Multiple methods of navigation

AverageDude3• 3 years ago

From what I have heard is that it’s laggy and visibility is not good either. But never tried it myself.

wintermutestwin• 3 years ago

I mount mine on a mountain bike. While this isn't "high-amplitude vibrations," there are certainly lots of bumps and jolts. Fingers crossed as I really need to have my phone visible for directions, etc...

kylec• 3 years ago

Surprising, considering mounting your iPhone to a motorcycle was central to the main ad for the iPhone 13:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn50z2PEDEA

semiquaver• 3 years ago

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212803

high-power motorcycle engines

Neither “high-power” nor “motorcycle” are words I would use to characterize the vehicle in that advertisement.

Melting_Harps3• 3 years ago

Neither “high-power” nor “motorcycle” are words I would use to characterize the vehicle in that advertisement.

Words I would use are 'manipulating gig workers nto thinking they can/should/must own a phone that far exceeds the value of their scooter.'

I have a Mac (computer) that I used for work stuff but I will never get the cult-like fantacism that drives the mobile phone sales side, even this ad screams of RATM No Shelter:

The poor adore keep fiendin' for more

The thin line between entertainment and war

Fix the need, develop the taste

Buy their products or get laid to waste

I had an older iiphone (sub 9) and the reason I got it was because the app I used it for pretty much abandoned Android support entirely, nothing on the Android version worked and was not being updated despite a significant outcry for support. It then died when I took it to EU (where they have almost no penetration) and used a phone charger and lost like $60 worth of Bitcoin on that phone.

I'm glad I'm a millennial that never got sucked into these stupid things, unlike most of my generation: I almost always have a laptop on me that can do everything a mobile phone can do with a much better UX and security/privacy,

With that said, I drove with my older S. Korean made LG Android on my motorcycles all the time and never had an issue, so... blame Foxconn made QA?

somerandomqaguy• 3 years ago

Eh, it qualifies as a motorcycle IMO. Whether the engine's vibrations transit enough through the frame to damage the camera though is a matter of some debate. It's not just power; how well the engine's tuned, if it's been damaged, etc can affect that pretty drastically.

vladvasiliu3• 3 years ago

Indeed. But, anecdotally, the absolute worst ride quality I've had on a powered two-wheeler was with that kind of scooter. All the legitimately "high-powered motorcycles" (>1000 CC and > 100 HP) I've ridden have been very smooth. Not Citroën Hydractive smooth, but still, night and day compared to the vibrating mess of small city scooters.

solatic5• 3 years ago

If it has two wheels ("bicycle") and a motor ("motorized bicycle") then it is a "motorcycle".

Declining to call it a motorcycle because the motor is small relative to other motorcycles is little more than snobbery, and it's a snobbery that discourages people from buying a (larger) motorcycle that fits their needs, because of a historic arbitrary distinction between small and large motorcycles that require separate licensing for large motorcycles; a distinction that should be eliminated either by applying licensing requirements uniformly to all motorcycles or uniformly eliminating the licensing requirements from all motorcycles.

ce42• 3 years ago

That makes no sense, yup. Well, maybe Scooters, yes - they usually have their engine mounted in the swingarm instead of the central frame, which reduces vibrations at the handlebar. As for power, that doesnt correlate, eg. I have a 20yrs old KTM single without a dampening balance shaft. It only has 48PS but boy, does it vibrate. 45min ride = tingling feet and hands. So, number of cylinders, crankshaft configuration and number of balance shafts make the difference.

Also: Vibration spectrum and power distribution probably also make a Zuge difference (for the iphone's lens/autofocus mechanism)

Electric motorcycles are also really smooth.

zikduruqe3• 3 years ago

Apple also advertises their watches as water resistant and shows ads with people swimming. But as soon as you get some water ingress, you are SOL since it is not guaranteed.

predmijat• 3 years ago

And one of my favorite commercials ruins everything with small print at the end: "liquid damage not covered by warranty". This shouldn't be legal :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYCnHebwTCM

stephen_g• 3 years ago

Since the Series 2 they have a water-resistance rating of 50 metres under ISO standard 22810:2010. So despite how it affects the warranty it is definitely designed to withstand swimming.

And it does work, I would have over 150 recorded swimming workouts (45 minutes to an hour each) on my Apple Watch SE.

l33t73322732• 3 years ago

The Ultra is literally advertised as a dive watch, so I think your information might be a little bit out of date.

eajakobsen• 3 years ago

There is some fine print at the bottom of the screen in the shot where the phone is connected to the handlebars:

Always use a dampener with your iPhone when riding as shown. Use only with low-powered bikes and avoid prolonged use.

dizhn• 3 years ago

That sounds like "it'll work in a pinch but don't actually do it".

arp242• 3 years ago

That disclaimer is shown for exactly 1.5 seconds, or 38 frames, mostly as white text against a white background. Yes, I downloaded and checked as I'm that sad type of person :-) No one can notice the text is there and read it that fast, so for all practical purposes it might as well not be there.

It always disappoints me regulators just let this kind of faux-disclaimer slide. This is just lying with your fingers crossed behind your back.

rainbowzootsuit• 3 years ago

And the theme song/video is, paraphrased, "doing this all day." Nice touch.

infecto• 3 years ago

Even without a dampener I would be surprised if they bike would cause issues.

raverbashing• 3 years ago

I'm betting that iPhone cost more than that motorcycle

(though to be fair to the other commenters, the vibration there is probably greatly reduced due to the fact of being more a scooter than a motorbike - being kept loosely on a holder instead of clamped also helps)

themaninthedark• 3 years ago

Given this is Apple, not surprising. "You're mounting it wrong"

CharlesW2• 3 years ago

A quick search shows that vibration dampening phone mounts are a thing. Does that not avoid this problem?

dharmab5• 3 years ago

Yes, if you purchase the correct mounts- older mounts marketed as vibration dampening were insufficient. You need something like a BuzzKill mount (https://hondogarage.com/products/buzz-kill-vibration-isolato...)

dingosity• 3 years ago

My motorcycle didn't come with a camera.

helsinki• 3 years ago

Yes, this happened to my phone.

opdahl• 3 years ago

This happened to me with my iPhone using a QuadLock mount. The camera started just shaking uncontrollably. Luckily I got a new iPhone back from Apple since I told them I had no idea how it happened. Now I'm using a Vibration Dampener https://www.quadlockcase.eu/collections/accessories/products... that seems to work, but I had received no warning from QuadLock that their mount could potentially damage my phone beforehand. Now I see that they have a small warning when purchasing which is a lot better.

j1elo• 3 years ago

Now I'm using a Vibration Dampener https://www.quadlockcase.eu/collections/accessories/products... that seems to work

Nothing to say about the product, but man I needed to comment on the video that the product page shows. I think they did a fantastic job with it.

There was something utterly satisfying to me, about the detail of adding a "click" sound every time the image shows someone snapping a phone into its mount. I just assumed it as a natural and expected sound since the second instance when it happens.

RhysU• 3 years ago

I know colloquial usage has changed but I can't get over "vibration dampener" vs "vibration damper".

In olden times, the former would make your phone wet via vibration (how left as an exercise to the reader) while the latter would attenuate or suppress or reduce vibration.

A damper [1] doth damp, dammit.

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/damper

constantly• 3 years ago

Total aside, I and others have had bad experiences with QuadLock. Ended up moving to the Peak Design mobile case and moto or universal mount and it’s been shockingly amazing.

andrewflnr• 3 years ago

As a casual r/motorcycles browser: it's now common knowledge (there, at least) that you absolutely need a vibration damper if you're mounting your phone.

1-6• 3 years ago

I wonder if that's the only thing that gets damaged. How do biological things fare on long durations of vibration?

stinkyball• 3 years ago

There is something called vibration induced white finger. It was known as drillers finger too.

jaclaz• 3 years ago

Yep, that traditionally happened after you had worked in a mine for years using daily a (air powered) drill or similar, though it has been recognized as a industry/work hazard only relatively recently, after the 1970's:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibration_white_finger

toyg• 3 years ago

Both cycling and motorcycling have well-known associated pathologies. Groin, testicles, eardrums, hips, they can all suffer. However, this has been known for decades, so there are plenty of countermeasures easily available.

dharmab5• 3 years ago

In recent years, studies have shown that vibration exposure causes brain damage over time: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5664147/

victorhooi• 3 years ago

Does anybody know if this would affect bicycles as well?

I have a phone mount on my roadbike handlecars - one of the Quadlock ones - does anybody know if the road vibrations from cycling can cause as much damage as the motorbike?

If anything...I would have thought a fairly stiff road bike would have more vibrations than a motorbike?

HDMI_Cable• 3 years ago

I'm assuming not, since the article in the post specifically mentions high-powered engines found in motorcycles—unless you're competing in the Tour de France, you should be fine.

dharmab5• 3 years ago

The article says "high power motorcycle engines" but I've heard of this happening on pretty low power motors as well.

10CIAL2• 3 years ago

I'm sure if you're doing downhill gravel riding, the phone will shake more than with a motorcycle riding on the street.

reuben364• 3 years ago

Surely the frequency of the vibration matters too? I would suspect that motorcycles will be closer to the resonant frequency of the springs. I don't pretend to understand enough to say with confidence though.

sp-connect• 3 years ago

It happened with my iPhone X on a racing bike. I mounted it with sp-connect on the bike stem. After 2 years (about 8000 kilometers), the camera was completely shaky.

Kyro38• 3 years ago

several years ago my iPhone 8 focus was broken after like 10K KM of riding.

OfSanguineFire• 3 years ago

I don’t know about iPhones, but bicycle tourers who ride long stretches of washboard or rough singletrack have frequently complained that the vibrations broke their autofocus lens on an ordinary DSLR or mirrorless camera. And that is not even with the camera mounted, but rather tucked away in a handlebar bag.

theshrike793• 3 years ago

My uneducated guess is that it's not the strength of the vibration that does it.

It's the fact that a motorcycle will vibrate at a specific frequency for tens of minutes or hours at a time while driving.

On a bicycle it's more random and not uniform, unless you drive on a completely uniformly covered gravel road for an hour at a constant speed =)

cseleborg• 3 years ago

A friend of mine told me that the microphone on two different Fairphones broke from mounting them on their rather high-end mountain bike's handlebar (he realized it must be the handlebar after the second breakage.)

dirtyid• 3 years ago

Pretty common complaint in reviews for bike mounts when I was researching was breaking autofocus mechanism and IIRC either gyro or accelerometer which messed up screen orientation. Seemed like it happens in city riding as well but might depend on road quality of city.

10CIAL2• 3 years ago

Supposedly it's any OIS camera. But I've had my Pixel on a Quadlock with a dampner and I've had no problems so far. Could it be that iPhones are more sensible?

kalleboo• 3 years ago

It's probably because you're using a dampener - the Apple support article suggests using one as well

throwaway290• 3 years ago

Should link to https://support.apple.com/en-us/102175.

andy_ppp• 3 years ago

Are push bikes also a risk?

gregn610• 3 years ago

it's not just mounted iphones. An iphone doesn't fit in the motorcycle mount but an old oneplus does, so that gets mounted and iphone stays in my jacket pocket. Iphone camera is fubar, oneplus is working just fine.

theshrike793• 3 years ago

Does the oneplus have optical image stabilisation?

If not, there's nothing vibration could break.

ellieh2• 3 years ago

I’ve mounted my iPhone on the handlebars of several dirt bikes (pretty much the most vibrating bike possible)

1000s of miles with a vibration dampener, and no camera issues!

I do have a ruined battery though. The positioning + wind result in moderately extreme temperatures (very hot in summer and cold in winter), so my phone no longer holds a charge for very long

tyingq2• 3 years ago

several dirt bikes (pretty much the most vibrating bike possible)

By some measures, perhaps. Some Harley-Davidson street bikes have factory solid engine mounts with little isolation though.

mtreis863• 3 years ago

V twins are way better balanced than single cylinder engines. Singles have extreme primary imbalance. V-twins are a bit primary a bit secondary but neither is extreme. Dirt bikes don't have rubber motor mounts. No motorcycle I'm aware of does.

In terms of imbalance and vibration, IMO, thumpers are the worst, then parallel twins with 0-degree cranks, then other parallel twins. Triples and v-twins are somewhere in the middle. Inline four is decent, inline 6 is even better, boxer is best.

tostr• 3 years ago

Have you just mounted them, or mounted them and used the camera while riding the bike? The iPhone has sensor-shift image stabilization (what camera manufacturers are calling IBIS - In Body Image Stabilization) and if this is engaged (for example while filming) it would be much more prone to damage than if you are using the phone for, say, directions only with the system parked in transport mode.

At least this would be my assumption, I don't know where this problem comes from exactly.

ellieh2• 3 years ago

I’ve never used the camera while riding, though I can see that your assumption might be right

aldanor• 3 years ago

Been using Peak Design motorbike handlebar mount to attach iPhone to my e-bike without no problems for a year so far

the-dude• 3 years ago

Ever driven a motorcycle?

deforciant• 3 years ago

happened to me after riding maybe five times on MT-09 :) Since my iphone was a bit old anyways decided to buy a new one and this time also get the apple insurance just in case. For navigation I now use Beeline. You need to get used a bit more for the way it gives instructions but it's also way less distracting than having a phone on your bike.

Ref: https://beeline.co/pages/beeline-moto

the_gipsy• 3 years ago

Happened to my Pixel too. Replaced the camera once, the second time I gave up and retired it because it was old anyway.

QuadLock sells a "dampener" accessory, so in total I'd say they're scamming you for not making that the default, and damaging your device in the process.

sorenjan• 3 years ago

This is why I think it's so strange that Apple shows mounting an iPhone to a bike handlebar as an official use case in their latest watch presentation, where you can use the phone as a second display to show workout metrics from your watch. On one hand they tell you not to do it because it can break your phone, on the other hand they build features that assume you will do it anyway.

https://youtu.be/GYkq9Rgoj8E?t=4292

dwighttk3• 3 years ago

A LOT less vibration on a bike handlebar vs a motorcycle

o1y323• 3 years ago

How much is "a lot"? Enough that there is guarantee the camera won't be broken? Any numbers?

porkbeer2• 3 years ago

Not the case. Motorcycles have good suspension compared to even high end bikes.

yreg• 3 years ago

They also have an ad where it's mounted on an engine hood of a tractor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuOQdo7t3Xk

bandergirl• 3 years ago

A broken iPhone means two new sales (a replacement, and the broken phone won’t end up on the second hand market)

lukev• 3 years ago

It only breaks the camera. The rest of the phone works fine. Plenty of market for that (albeit at a steep discount.)

Also, it's a repairable issue. Happened to me and Apple fixed it quickly (covered by AppleCare+ in my case)

tmpX7dMeXU• 3 years ago

Could we switch the link to the source Apple article instead of the reddit thread?

diclofenac• 3 years ago

The post is highlighting an interesting incident of vibration. The Apple article warning of effects of vibration is of less interest.

victorbstan• 3 years ago

Lol, this is 1 year old news and besides that known issue for even longer and for all mobile cameras. QuadLock makes specific hardware to counteract vibrations if you want to mount to motorcycle. Which I use.

liendolucas3• 3 years ago

Does anyone knows if this also holds for any phone in general? I've recently acquired the SP Connect Moto Mount Pro with the Universal Phone Clamp (while the mount itself is rock solid, I can't say the same about the clamp. It just feels a cheap piece of plastic which doesn't give that much confidence). Will I also need to use a dampener?

madsbuch• 3 years ago

in my experience it holds for every phone. I have seen quite a large number of phones being destroyed by the shaking.

mrklol• 3 years ago

Should be valid for all phones. Would recommend getting a vibration damper.

ce42• 3 years ago

It probably depends on the optics and fragility of the lens' autofocus mechanics

jeffbee2• 3 years ago

Apple uses an integrated camera module made by Sony, as do many other brands of phones.

xtiansimon• 3 years ago

Is it just a Quadlock issue? I have a RAM mount for my 2020 iPhone SE mounted to my V-Strom. I’ve not noticed any camera fault. I only use the mount when going on a long trip for navigation and monitoring traffic patterns—maybe 10 times since I bought the moto in 2021. My trips are usually 400 miles RT.

gcanyon• 3 years ago

V-Strom

I had a 650 back in the aughts. Such a good bike!

enragedcacti• 3 years ago

It would affect any phone mount without sufficient vibration damping, but I also suspect that there are a lot of bikes out there that wouldn't cause any problems regardless of the mount because they are on the less vibey side of the spectrum. Its just hard to know in advance for a given set of bike/mount/phone so better safe than sorry.

ho_schi2• 3 years ago

Please don’t mount any phone on your bicycle or motorcycle. Here is why:

    * The screen is not transflective (e.g. Garmin Edge, Nintendo Gameboy -> more  light is better)
    * The device isn’t made for heat or cold (Garmin allows -20 to + 60, an iPhone can only operate between 0 and +35 which is easily reached in sunlight at modest outside temperatures)
    * The battery will be quicker discharged and you want be reachable
    * It not hardened against forces, especially the glas display and (even worse) the Glas backside can and will break
    * It is a distraction (danger)
    * No mount built-in

In other words, the camera is your least problem. My recommendation for cyclists is therefore a Garmin, Wahoo or Karoo. But they are expensive? As smartphones are. Sadly I cannot recommend similar to motorcycles. Maybe some other?

PS: I cannot recommend any device from Apple for sport. The phones are too big and the Apple Watch cannot even broadcast the HR to an Apple TV. Yes! Lol! Apple is now incompatible to Apple!

Apple will allow you to connect sensors to their Watch/Phone in future (iOS17). Which is again bad because you’re not allowed to connect the Watch to a cycling computer (or Apple TV). Apple just wants your data, not providing a good device for sport or any outside activities. The complete industry outside of Apple is bidirectional compatible (you can connect anything to anything by ANT+ or BLE).

liendolucas3• 3 years ago

For me the most important point is "It's a distraction". The other day I was talking to a friend and told me that I was insane to have the phone mounted in the handle bar, and even though that I've that in place I do still believe he's right.

The advice that he gave was: "Well just keep driving, if you make a mistake you simply take the next exit and come back". Which again I think is pretty good advice, you get used to do that and to drive by either memory or instinct.

I do somehow still feel that I need the map, at least in some situations, the city where I'm living at the moment is literally a "spaghetti" of roads and very easy to get confused. Guess time will tell which works better for me.

hnuser9001• 3 years ago

Navigation by voice works quite well for me. Just connect the phone to the helmet's intercom and turn on voice navigation on e.g. Google Maps. If you have that option, I'd give it a go. Granted it might not be at it's best in "spaghetti" cities, but it has served me reasonably well in those scenarios as well.

jjice• 3 years ago

I had to take a few ubers in Orlando last week (a city I don't spend time in) and two out of my five uber drivers just had a tablet mounted playing movies and music videos that they'd watch while they drove. I was pretty shocked. The third of five was texting half the drive.

I feel like (at least in my circles) texting and driving/distracted driving in general was a big deal in the early 2010s, but now people seem to have accepted that they'll send a text on the highway. It's upsetting to say the least.

hwillis2• 3 years ago

For me the most important point is "It's a distraction".

How?? There's already a screen or at least dials in the same spot (I have my phone mount center bars). I'm not some bird, having my vision distracted by notifications popping up; the dials are moving around anyway. If I need it, it's there. It's a HELL of a lot better than squinting at street signs of trying to figure out what lane to be in. If I don't need it, I feel zero urge to look at it. It's far away, it's the same brightness as everything else, I don't understand what could be distracting about it.

The advice that he gave was: "Well just keep driving, if you make a mistake you simply take the next exit and come back". Which again I think is pretty good advice, you get used to do that and to drive by either memory or instinct.

Safety on a motorcycle means knowing your escape routes, being early to turn, making sure you aren't even giving drivers the opportunity to be surprised. You want to merge into a lane before it ever gets crowded. You never want to be let into a lane, you want to switch while space is completely open.

Planning is the essential difference between a car and a motorcycle. To turn a car, you turn the wheel. Turning a bike is a 3-step plan. If you just turned, you'd tip over from centrifugal force. So you commit to a lean angle before you even enter the turn. To create the lean, you have to turn the bars opposite the road direction, to countersteer. So you plan that step too. But you also have to plan for avoiding something mid-turn, so you have to get a lean angle that allows you to adjust in a safe direction.

The point is, you need to know where you will be going. Having directions is a major part of that. If you live on a grid with numbered streets- fine, go for it. But in a city with even moderately complicated roads, or a crowded highway, having directions DOES make you safer.

prmoustache• 3 years ago

There are brands less expensive than wahoo and garmin. I think at roughly equal set of features the brytons are less expensive.

strus• 3 years ago

Most of these points would apply if you use phone in your car for navigation, and most of them are not a real issue (expect being a distraction maybe).

Screen is good enough to be used in a sunny day, phone will easily reach more than 35 degrees if you play a graphics-heavy game, so this is also not an issue, battery with a battery saver mode will easily last for a few hours even if you use Google Maps all the time, and with a good mount there is a zero chance you will drop your phone and break something.

ho_schi2• 3 years ago

When an iPhone reaches high temperature it turns off navigation automatically. Actually newer iPhones automatically go into a low power “failsafe” mode even when not in active use. If that happens you’re only allowed to make emergency phone calls, all apps are forced off.

Source: Apples documentation and my own surprise when it did.

I don’t know much about games but assume iPhones can and will limit the core frequency before the self generated heat will be an issue. What they cannot control is the environment.

AdrianB1• 3 years ago

I have the previous phone, 7 or 8 years old, still running as a GPS or Strava on the bicycle. That phone is electronic waste otherwise, on the motorcycle I can connect it to the charger and the battery is not a problem.

In this context "don't mount any phone ..." is wrong. If you want to say "don't mount your main phone", you are right, I never do. Only when I cycle I use Strava on the main phone in the pocket, not on the handlebars, but this is not the use case in the article.

askonomm2• 3 years ago

I mount my phone on my motorcycle and use it for navigation / maps. Yes, it's a distraction, but I need to know where I'm going and stopping at every intersection to check my phone also makes no sense.

hwillis2• 3 years ago

Heavy upvote. Reading street signs is a distraction. For me, even just stressing about finding a road -here in boston, a missed turn can mean a 30 minute delay- is a major distraction.

Nobody is reading texts on a motorcycle. Well, except maybe those guys on mopeds without helmets. If you're listening to music or directions, having the volume easy to reach is a strict improvement over having it in a pocket.

randomdata• 3 years ago

Before the days of digital maps I'd only ever quickly glance at a paper map to get a feel for where my destination is and then... just drive. You get there. Maybe you go an intersection too far sometimes, but who cares? If you've chosen a motorcycle over a car, it is no doubt because you enjoy riding. Enjoy it.

lallysingh• 3 years ago

I just finished a >6,000 mile motorcycle trip. I used a rebadged Garmin (BMW Navigator VI). I have a vibration-reducing mount (quad lock) for my phone. I never use it.

Reasons:

   * Phone interfaces (maps, almost any app) are designed to have your full visual attention.  They don't mind changing (zoom levels on maps, the evil bastards) to look more interactive.

   * A specialized GPS will have its interfaced designed for "glance interactions."  You peek at it, then go back to riding.  If you have to touch something, you'll poke it with a high error rate, and the interface has to not completely screw up.  That means keeping the "stop navigating" button far away from the "find next gas station" button.

   * As you said, physical concerns: vibration, heat, cold.

   * The GPS is mounted to be pretty theft proof.  Phones you always have to take with you.

   * With gloves, the touch screen is only 4x as large as my thumb.  The only people I see successfully using it have cut the thumb and forefinger off their gloves.

Edit: modern touring bikes usually have either a GPS mount, their own GPS system, and/or carplay/android auto.

WhyNotHugo2• 3 years ago

I've been using Organic Maps lately and I really appreciate how it has separate "zoom in" and "zoom out" buttons. And regular-sized buttons, not tiny ones that I can't hit.

When biking, I can easily tap on either of these while holding the phone with one hand.

OTOH, Apple Maps and Google Maps require pinch-to-zoom... which is incredible hard to do with the hand that you're holding the phone. And using a phone with both hands while biking is pretty darn risky.

It would seem that nobody at either the Apple Maps and Google Maps teams use their product while biking.

ubermonkey4• 3 years ago

Apple doesn't care about cycling, because Apple doesn't want to make a head unit to compete with Wahoo, Garmin, or Karoo. That's fine. But that also means they have no motivation to publish the HR data from the watch to something else.

Runners are happy with it. Cyclists already have something else. There's nothing nefarious here.

It also sounds like you don't know that much about motorcycling. MANY bikes include a USB port close to the cockpit so that a device can draw power in use, so the battery thing isn't really an issue. There exist shock-absorbing mounts that will protect lenses and other aspects of the camera.

daveisfera• 3 years ago

The sensor support added to watchOS 10 is really nice and the live displays of cycling stats in iOS 17 has made it so I can use my phone for stats and feedback while on bike rides

jamespo• 3 years ago

Who cares if the apple watch won't sync with Apple TV!?

Angostura2• 3 years ago

The phone is absolutely idea if you want directions occasionally while cycling in city. I have a mount on my handlebars and probably use a phone on it for an hour or so a week. Works perfectly and I'm not going buy a dedicated device that I am unlikely to have with me.

Why would you expect to be able to broadcast HR to an Apple TV?

In terms of Apple 'just wanting your data'. They don't get your Health data. It sits on your device. It exports quite happily from Health to, for example, Stava

pkulak• 3 years ago

I like to keep the phone in my pocket, but put in a single airpod for directions.

ahf8Aithaex7Nai• 3 years ago

Please do not buy a special device for navigation.

Use an old or a cheap smartphone or tablet with GPS. Install a decent navigation software with offline maps (e.g. Osmand). Remove the sim card. Turn off Wifi. Familiarize yourself with the software so you don't get distracted by any obscurities while driving. Try it out before you go on long trips with it. With Osmand, you can even freely customize the user interface to suit your preferences and needs.

If you use it like a navigation device, it won't be more distracting than a navigation device. And it's a good way to reuse old hardware.

BlueGh0st• 3 years ago

I saw it mentioned in that thread but I can also back up the anecdotal evidence that a stem mount doesn't seem to cause this issue after 6 years. My bike was inline however. YMMV.

chewmieser3• 3 years ago

This time around I got a small CarPlay motorcycle screen instead (e.g. https://www.amazon.com/Weuaste-Motorcycle-Motorbike-Waterpro... ). Auto-connects to your phone in your pocket. Much better and no risk to your iPhone's camera!

The vibration-dampening mounts for phones are so ugly and add significant bulk to the phone.

MrGilbert• 3 years ago

How happy are you with responsiveness and such? I'm also considering getting one. But I wonder how good carplay works on a bike. :)

chewmieser3• 3 years ago

I got the one I sent but at a different site. It has its own interface on top of supporting CarPlay and Android Auto. It takes a few seconds to start, a few to “load”, and a few to connect to Bluetooth before CarPlay kicks in.

The CarPlay interface is quite responsive. I have it retransmit audio to a Bluetooth speaker bar (Kuryakyn or something of that nature) and there’s a slight delay between clicking the play/pause and it being transmitted in the speaker. It’s noticeable but fine and you could probably reduce it by transmitting directly to the speaker instead of via retransmit (but you’ll have to select the output each time on your phone via this route since it expects to use the CarPlay speaker). You can of course use the CarPlay device’s speaker too but I wouldn’t recommend it on a motorcycle!

I also have a CarPlay wired - to - wireless adapter and there’s more delay with that than with this IMO.

cellularmitosis• 3 years ago

I’ve been using a Chubby Buttons for about a year now and I love it. My phone stays in my pocket now. You can get them on Amazon.

https://www.chubbybuttons.io/

CharlesW2• 3 years ago

This seems like the ideal solution because you also get the streamlined, simple, safer CarPlay UX. Thanks for posting!

ThePowerOfFuet• 3 years ago

Actual link:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102175

brundolf• 3 years ago

Does this apply to bicycles too (i.e. on a bumpy road)?

taylodl• 3 years ago

Mounting your phone on your motorcycle is a bad idea for a lot of reasons:

- The sun is hot. Your phone wasn't designed to be out in the direct sun for extended periods of time.

- It rains, often unexpectedly. Every rider knows what it feels like to ride in the rain, even a "light" rain: it feels like needles in any exposed skin (time to lower the visor!). That's not great for your phone.

- Sometimes there's hail. No, one doesn't tend to continue riding in such conditions, but it takes time to find cover. Meanwhile the phone is getting pounded.

- There's potholes and other big bumps. A phone mounted to the handlebars bears the brunt of that impact.

Simply put, phones weren't designed for this kind of operating environment. A lot of Garmin GPS units are, especially the ruggedized ones. Save your phone, use the right tool for the right job. Get a Garmin.

Mounting your iPhone on your motorcycle can damage its camera (2022)

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