this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2026

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Werewolf transformed my old gadgets into USB-C powered ones (www.theverge.com)

submitted 3 hours ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) by crank0271@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

26 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I was able to read the article with some ad blockers and without a subscription, but editing to add an archive link, shared below: https://archive.is/NBivg

This seems like a really cool device from a company called Werewolf. As the article details, they make a little $8 programmable USB-C power adapter, called the VFLEX, that you can get barrel plug adapters for to power older devices that use barrel plugs.

The article discusses some caveats, such as not every USB-C power supply supporting every voltage a device may need. But you can plug the VFLEX into your power adapters (and battery banks) and create a local database of available voltages. Then when you want to power a specific device the app will guide you through which power adapters are compatible with it.

I have no affiliation with the company, but after reading about the VFLEX it seems like a neat option to power some older devices I have.

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[–] solrize@lemmy.ml 2 points 6 minutes ago

This is pretty spammy. Those types of adapters have been around forever. You can get them from adafruit and probably aliexpress and so on. https://www.adafruit.com/product/6032

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 30 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) (4 children)

Sounded interesting until I hit their "web app"

No Firefox (and derivatives) support can and should be a fucking dealbreaker.

[–] Kirp123@lemmy.world 12 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Wait are they using MIDI for updating the firmware on their dongle? Or what? Because that's a pretty nasty vulnerability.

This API is actually a bit horrifying from a security perspective. In addition to allowing you to use MIDI keyboards as input devices on websites, it also allows websites to send binary firmware updates to MIDI devices. The reason is that it's common to use custom firmware to backup/restore settings and enable neat effects and functionality on MIDI devices.

Mozilla's engineers have reasonably pointed out that an attacker utilizing Web MIDI could use MIDI devices as a stepping stone to launch an attack against the user's PC outside of the web sandbox. One such attack might be by reprogramming the device to appear as a standard USB computer keyboard and "typing" commands to the host.

I also heard it could be used for fingerprinting.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 hour ago

Thanks for the info. I didn't really understand the add-on, just that it was trying to add it in an unsafe manner. I figured someone with more knowledge would show up with more info. Cheers.

[–] 01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 2 points 44 minutes ago

WebMIDI requirement? Hard pass.

[–] moonpiedumplings@programming.dev 10 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

No, firefox doesn't implement the webusb standard which they probably want.

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/WebUSB_API

The problem here is not browser support, but them not shipping a native application or library (which I would want to be open source).

[–] NarrativeBear@lemmy.world 4 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

That browser looks interesting, what's the name?

[–] woelkchen@lemmy.world 1 points 10 minutes ago

Looks like Firefox with a theme

[–] 01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 2 points 35 minutes ago* (last edited 33 minutes ago)

Wouldn't this with a barrel adaptor, be pretty much the same thing (except not require opening myself up to the many WebMIDI vulns)?

Edit. Here's a picture so you don't have to click.

[–] kkj@lemmy.dbzer0.com 21 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (1 children)

I just buy fixed-voltage USB-C to barrel jack adapters for $2-4 on AliExpress. No programming and they're cheaper and smaller, but you can't repurpose them to use different voltages.

[–] evenglow@lemmy.world 9 points 1 hour ago

You can with some but you have to change a resistor.

[–] doc@fedia.io 9 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

A programmable PD barrel adapter isn't exactly new.

Here's one with all the barrel adapters included and doesn't need an app.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FGV7SDCB

[–] W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 42 minutes ago* (last edited 42 minutes ago)

And at a fraction of the price.

[–] brsrklf@jlai.lu 8 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

I was curious how you were supposed to configure the thing's output... and of course it has to be a mobile app.

I'd prefer physical buttons I can check and change whenever like an actual old school power adapter.

[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 3 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

I know nothing about it, but it really depends on how they implement this.

There might or might not be a well-documented API that would make it easy to code your own app or just send commands to it.

Them providing a mobile app is not a bad thing per se. And maybe a few physical buttons wouldn't be enough. Although, physical buttons are expensive (to get right). It sucks, but there it is.