How to make an internet fridge in 2015

Depending on what device you want to attach to your fridge, you’ll find roughly three solutions, and they’re all pretty much bang on the same.

First is one produced by LifeProof, makers of ruggedised cases and sporting accessories for smartphones and tablets, with the company’s QuickMount.

This is essentially a little flat square adaptor you can mount to the back of any device, though typically it should be mounted to a casing if you have one. LifeProof’s QuickMount can be paired with various accessories such as an armband, a belt clip, or even a suction mount for your car.

Or, alternatively, a wall or fridge with the multi-purpose mount.

We're looking at the circle on the left for the fridge, and the square in the middle for the tablet. If you have a wall where you can screw things in, you'll use that circle on the right.
We’re looking at the circle on the left for the fridge, and the square in the middle for the tablet. If you have a wall where you can screw things in, you’ll use that circle on the right.

The multi-purpose mount is exactly what it sounds like, with a small circular block that can be mounted using adhesive to a wall, or even with screws if the surface you’re attaching it to can support it.

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When the mount is in place, you simply need to attach the QuickMount to the device you’ll be using, and then attach the two.

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LifeProof’s QuickMount offers a fairly stable system for phones, though tablets bigger than 7 inches may feel a little wobbly on the mount. In the testing we’ve done, the mount has definitely held for a few days, with us taking the tablet off to recharge it during this time.

The QuickMount’s small size does mean a tablet doesn’t feel right to type on, however, because it wobbles. It will be fine, that said, but it might work better with a big phone or a small tablet.

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Possibly the best thing about LifeProof’s QuickMount is that you can attach multiple ones to various devices — and even bring in multiple mounts around the home — and then attach these in different ways.

Say the tablet you normally use for your fridge is being used, but your phone has a QuickMount on the back. If this is the case, it can be mounting to the fridge mount simply by snapping it in.

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This method of snapping in a device and building your internet fridge doesn’t just exist for LifeProof, though, with Australian company Studio Proper also offering similar solutions in the form of the X-Lock and M-Lock mounts.

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Each of these is based on a design shaped like an “X”, with Studio Proper making accessories only for Apple products, so if you have something with Windows or Android involved, you’ll have to steer clear and go back to LifeProof, as this won’t be useful to you.

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If you do have a spare iPhone, iPad, or iPad Mini, Studio Proper is thinking of you with these solutions, which are very, very similar to what we’ve just seen from LifeProof.

The X-Lock and M-Lock are very similar, though one is a physical locking mount, while the other is magnetic.

Simply put, the X-Lock is a physical X you mount to a wall or fridge destined for tablets, while the M-Lock is a magnetic edition of mount made for phones.

Both rely on cases for the device you’re attaching, such as an X-Lock case for the iPad Air 2 or an M-Lock case for the iPhone 5 or 6, and when these are equipped, you can attach your device easily using the lock.

Normally, we'd show you the iPhone 5 inside this case on a fridge, but we can't find our iPhone 5, so here's a picture of an empty case attached by magnets to the fridge. Tada!
Normally, we’d show you the iPhone 5 inside this case on a fridge, but we can’t find our iPhone 5, so here’s a picture of an empty case attached by magnets to the fridge. Tada!

The Lenovo way

When it comes to tablet design, there’s a fairly basic concept out there that most manufacturers tend to adhere to, and it’s this: take a flat plane and give it a screen.

In general, that tends to make most tablets kind of look the same. For instance, the iPad Air 2 is a flat screen you carry around, and so is the Samsung Galaxy Tab S, as is the Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact, and the Acer Iconia A-insert-any-number-here, and so on and so on and so on.

They’re all roughly the same design because the reality is there are only a few ways you can make a tablet look, and most of them appear to be flat and minimalist.

Now there’s nothing wrong with this, but one hardware company appears to be trying to change the formula slightly, and it’s Lenovo.

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For Lenovo’s stab at the tablet market, its Yoga devices tend to sport an all-metal body with a curved almost wrap-around hinge complete with a stand in place. As such, this design tends to make it a little difficult to mount to a wall or fridge, so it comes with a different trick up its sleeve.

Rather than mount the actual body to a surface, Lenovo includes a hole cut out of its stand to let you hang the tablet almost like a picture frame.

This might seem like a bizarre inclusion, but this means if you’re using a hook in the kitchen for utensils or pots and pans, you can hook the tablet over this and have a kitchen-friendly tablet, even if it’s not mounted to the refrigerator.