Android 13 QPR1 Beta 3 lets you turn off the Pixels' smart reverse wireless charging
Wireless and reverse wireless charging have become standard features on thebest Android phones. Despite limited speeds, the latter is a useful way to top up accessories like earbuds and wearables with Qi wireless charging support when on the move. Before you start wirelessly charging a device, you must jump into the phone’s settings menu or tap a Quick Settings tile to enable the feature. Google’s Battery Share implementation on Pixel phones, like theGoogle Pixel 7 Pro, is smarter, as it automatically turns on for a short period when the device is plugged in to charge. Most Pixel phone users are probably unaware of this handy functionality, but Google is making it more obvious with a small tweak inAndroid 13 QPR1 Beta 3.
As noted by Mishaal Rahman, Esper’s Sr. Technical Editor, Google has added an option to disable Battery Share from turning on automatically on Pixel phones in the latestAndroid 13QPR1 Beta 3. If you have never used reverse wireless charging on your Pixel, you can use the toggle to turn off this behavior. But the option is a reminder of Pixel’s reverse wireless charging implementation being better than other phones.
Using reverse wireless charging to top up Bluetooth accessories will quickly drain your phone’s battery. So, ideally, you should use your phone as a charging pad when it is plugged into a wall adapter. On non-Pixel devices, you must then fumble around with the device settings to enable reverse wireless charging before placing the accessory on the back of the device. On Pixels, though, simply placing the accessory on the phone’s rear after plugging the device into a wall adapter will be enough to start the reverse charging process. Battery Share will automatically turn off after a few minutes if it detects there’s no device to charge or if there are placement issues.
Google’s reverse wireless charging implementation is smart and saves you from the hassle of jumping into the Settings menu. And if you don’t care about it, the next Android 13 update will add an option to turn it off entirely. What is surprising is that this feature isn’t widely available across different Android phones from all sorts of manufacturers.
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