The day began just like any other, but one mistake changed its course in the blink of an eye and there’s no going back. A vibration in your pocket as you walked down the street diverted your attention from your destination, which you were mere moments away from reaching. Had you not dug into your pocket to scoop out your iPhone at that very moment, your grip on your phone might not have loosened as the person walking past you caught your eye. But you did, and now the look of casual contentment on your face is transforming into sheer terror as your iPhone flips and fumbles on its way to the pavement.
And then… impact.
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The sound is unmistakable. That slight twinkle of cracking glass that seems so faint but echoes so loudly in your mind. You don’t even have to reach down and flip your phone over to know: You just cracked your iPhone screen.
If you paid $99 or $129 for AppleCare+, depending on the model, getting your screen or phone replaced can be done relatively quickly… as long as you live near an Apple store and there’s an available Genius bar appointment. Otherwise, you need to send your phone in and wait 3-5 business days to get it back. Beyond that, you’ll need to pay $79 on top of the $100-$130 you already paid. And if you don’t have AppleCare+, you’ll pay well over $100 per incident to have your phone fixed, and you’ll still have to wait several days to get it back.
There must be a better way.
You can roll the dice and go to one of those shady-looking iPhone repair stands at your local mall, and nine times out of 10 you’ll walk away with a repaired phone that works fine. You’ll also void your device’s warranty, and that little stand probably won’t back its work if anything goes wrong. Now, however, there’s an app for that.
A new startup called SwiftFix will come to your location to fix your broken iPhone or iPad, and it warranties all of its work. Prices are very reasonable — about the same as what you might pay at that stand in the mall — and appointments can be done the same day your phone breaks, right in your home or office. The bad news, however, is that the service is only available in New York City, San Francisco and Chicago for the time being.
Creating an appointment for SwiftFix to come repair your iPhone or iPad is as easy as a few taps and swipes in the SwiftFix app, which is a free download in the App Store. The app walks you through the process of identifying your device and the problem, and it then gives you a quote for the repair. If the quote is reasonable, you can quickly schedule an appointment for later that same day.
SwiftFix says it performed more than $30,000 worth of repairs through the end of October during its wee-long soft launch in New York, and its recent expansion took place a couple of weeks ago. How do customers like it so far? There are only 15 reviews in the App Store at this point, but each and every one has given SwiftFix 5 stars.
SwiftFix says it plans to launch in Boston, Philadelphia and Miami by the end of December.
