How I learned to love an obnoxious phone grip

<figure> <img alt="Hot dog PopSocket on a Pixel phone." data-caption="Have a little treat. | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge" data-portal-copyright="Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/11/IMG_1326_edit.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> Have a little treat. | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Much like a great recipe, it started with a stick of butter.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">This wasn't real butter; it was a friend's new phone grip, complemented by a phone case with bold stripes. Butter is <em>in vogue</em> now, or at least that's what a 12-year-old told me a few months ago. <a href="https://www.popsockets.com/en-us/p/magsafe/unsalty-%E2%80%94--magsafe-popgrip/809536.html">This stick of butter</a> was labeled "unsalty" and committed to the bit by including the appropriate tablespoon markings, just like the real thing. I was enamored. "Where did you get that?" I asked. It was a PopSocket-branded combo, and I found it so irresistible I ordered an equally eye-catching grip a few weeks later. After years of carrying buttoned-up, minimalist tech, I finally said, "To …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1026743/bright-colorful-phone-grip-case">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>