Android

One benefit (that I have no sources for, but have seen it mentioned before), is that the USB C socket/cable setup is designed such that the cables wear out instead of the socket. The moving parts (the bendable contacts) are in the cable, so if/when they break. You throw out the cable instead of the phone.

I don't really know how it works for Lightning (Apple) cables, but presumably they have also considered this when they designed their connector. I haven't personally heard of iPhone sockets dying early, so maybe it doesn't really matter?

I have used sewing needles to get stuff out of my phone's socket, and that has been fine, but it's probably unwise. Thinning out a toothpick with a knife is probably safer, and has also worked for me.

The problem is that the socket will always have the mechanical retainers for all sorts of plugs. This was a problem for example in the shitty Nokia (HMD Global) phones that used the literal cheapest half-sockets it could find. The retaining tabs wore out and the entire phone socket had to be replaced.

But yes, the smaller retaining pins on USB C will wear out the plug first. Apple Lightning cables will wear out at the phone side instead of the plug side. The difference is that Apple requires Lightning certification on all of their cables meaning that shitty out of spec Chinese crap can't ruin your port as easily. They worked around bad design with legal restrictions. This was also a play by Apple to restrict charging to whatever they want with proprietary protocol.

USB-C is also grounded from the shielding around the connector, that is huge for pushing higher speeds also. Lighting is limited to 2010 speeds, but generally on phones that doesn't matter.

For your dirt problem, a smaller toothpick works fine and I have used that method many times to get fuzz and dirt out of my port. Don't use metal. Generally you will be fine with metal because GND and high voltage are both right next to high speed data lines so it will simply pull the data line high or low, pull data lines to each other, or temporarily toggle CC/SBU pins. Not a big deal, but if you go diagonally you can short something that would burn out supporting components, so I would recommend wood or plastic.

as someone from the apple world, our lightning standard isn’t that much better. Not only is it slower, but the plug also gets full of dust. I usually clean it out with a toothpick every couple months.

It’s just one of those things that are quite annoying but won’t be changed until we have portless (and always overheating lol) phones.

The springs are on the cable side for USB-C, which is good because those are always the thing that breaks first.

Apple has them on the port, which isn't ideal because it's hard to replace that port once it fails.

USB-C ports are very hard to damage. I scratch the dirt out of mine with a needle about once a year and since the springs are in the cable, you don't need to be careful.

Not an answer because I don't know, but I recommend using magnetic cables. That way you don't need to worry about damaging the connector on the phone, and you can use the same cable for USB-C, micro and Lightning.

Also yea don't use a screwdriver to clean stuff, geez. Just cut a piece of paper or if it's too stuck, get some isopropyl alcohol and toothpicks.

For one thing - the last thing I would want under these circumstances is for a $50 chipped cable sold only through Google - how Apple currently does.

There may be legitimate reasons to have the technology side inside the cable, but this isn't one of them. No thanks.

I wonder if having a more exposed 'open' port without the tongue would lead to more damaging debris getting lodged inside.

I shave a toothpick down to be half the width at the tip and use it to clean out lint etc

Are there any technical reasons to have the flat contact in the center of the usb socket rather than the plug?

I would guest it's just for having more surface area to have more pins. An USB-C can have up to 24 of them. Where as Apple's Lightning 2 connectors have 8.

USB-C connectors are much more than chargers. For example, I can connect two 4k Displays, Power, Ethernet as well as all peripherals (including a couple external harddrives) to my laptop with a single Thunderbolt 4 cable with an USB-C connector.

For cleaning out the connector, I get a piece of flat clamshell packaging, cut it into a V shape, then use that to carefully scrape out the gunk in the connector. It really helps if you have a stereo microscope or even a loupe, but isn't required.

Use a wooden toothpick, not a conductive metal screw. Geez!

In terms of WHY? It's 1/2 dozen of one, 6 or so of another. Yeah, the Apple solution seems more robust, and I have no doubt it is. Apple gets a lot of shit, most of it well deserved, but I also have little doubt that they tested the hell out of their connector to be incredibly robust.

I too think their solution seems better, but if yiu are abusing your device enough to where you are breaking the connector, something is wrong.