You found a phone strap you love. Then you read the fine print: it needs a case with a built-in loop, or a special strap-ready case. Your case has neither, and you like your case.
That is the problem a phone patch solves. It is a thin tab that sits between your phone and your existing case, with a small tail that comes out of the charging port side. Clip your strap to the tail and you are done — no new case, no adhesive on the phone itself.
How a phone patch works
The patch is a flat piece of material with a reinforced hole at one end. You slide the flat part inside your case, against the back of the phone, and let the reinforced end poke out at the bottom edge. When the case snaps shut, it clamps the patch in place. The pressure of the case is what holds it — the patch is not glued to your phone.
The hole then takes a ring hook, and the ring hook takes any strap with a lobster clasp. Ours ship with the ring hook included.
What you need to check first
- Your case must be a snap-on or fitted case. Hard shells, silicone cases and clear cases all work. A magnetic wallet that slides off will not hold the patch.
- Wireless charging still works. The patch sits at the very bottom of the case, away from the charging coil.
- Any phone model. The patch does not care whether it is an iPhone 17 Pro Max or a five-year-old Android — it is the case that grips it, not the phone.
Fitting it, step by step
- Take your phone out of its case.
- Lay the patch against the back of the phone with the reinforced hole hanging past the bottom edge, near the charging port.
- Press the case back on. Work around the edges so the case clicks in fully.
- Check that the hole sits flat and outside the case, not pinched at an angle.
- Attach the ring hook through the hole, then clip your strap to the ring.
If the case will not close properly, the patch is probably too far inside — pull it down a couple of millimetres so only the tab is trapped, not the whole body.
One patch or three?
Most people underestimate this. A patch stays inside the case it was fitted to, so if you rotate between two cases, you want a patch in each. Changing your case every few weeks and moving a single patch across gets old fast.
That is why we sell the Phone Patch in a 3-pack as well as a single patch. If you would rather it matched your strap than disappeared, the Phone Patch Colored range comes in 42 colourways.
Is it strong enough?
This is the honest part. The patch itself is reinforced and the ring hook is metal, but the weakest link is always the case. A well-fitted hard case grips the patch across its whole width and is very hard to pull out. A loose, stretched-out silicone case is not.
Our advice: after fitting, hold the strap and let the phone hang over a sofa or a bed for the first test. If the case is going to let go, you want to find out there. If your case is soft and stretched, replace the case before you trust it with a crossbody strap.
If you would rather not rely on a case at all, our Original Phone Straps use a strap-through-case design instead, and we compared both approaches in how to attach a crossbody phone strap to any phone or case.
Living with it
A few things worth knowing after the first week:
- The tab adds almost nothing to the thickness of the phone, but it does sit near the charging port. Bulky third-party cables can catch on the ring — a slimmer connector solves it.
- The ring hook can rattle against a desk. Clip the strap to it and the noise stops.
- When you finally change cases, the patch comes out clean. It is not adhesive and leaves nothing behind.
The short version
A phone patch is the cheapest way to make a strap work with the case you already own. Fit it once, check it holds, and every strap in your drawer suddenly fits every phone in the house.
Browse the Phone Patch range, then pick a strap from Phone Straps. Free shipping over €150.
