[darkwater]

What are the alternatives, for a mass market standard like USB used literally by everything out there nowadays? Unplug it and plug it again until it works it's easier for everyone that going to some obscure menu (although maybe smartphones/laptop/console could just display a modal "do you want to charge or be charged?")

[somat]

Usb historically solved this with ended connectors It was why you had "A" and "B" sides. usb C has an awful lot of user hostile fallout considering it's stated goal of "a cable that just works for everything"

I think to solve it, while keeping all the other goals of usb C would be to orient the charging pins on the plug, not charging the direction you want? unplug then flip one side.

[klausa]

Having a plug that works differently based on the orientation it’s plugged in, feels like it would not quite be „keeping all the other goals of USB-C”.

[bzzzt]

It could default to charging the device with the lowest battery level. Can't find it but I believe having read years ago Apple does something like that.