BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — It's that time of year again; temperatures are picking up and not only are people overheating, but so are their phones.
- You're laying out in the sun, scrolling on your phone or listening to music when you get this notification– “iPhone needs to cool down before you can use it.”
- Great, my phones overheated, now what? Well, here's how you can prevent this from happening, and what to do if the damage is done.
- Also, one of the most common phone issues that a local repair shop finds this time of year is water damage.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Kenny Oh, the master technician at Mobile Heroes in Bakersfield, says phones generally run hot as is.
“The main thing that usually gets damaged when it constantly overheats is gonna be your display. And usually what happens is it just blacks out. Typically when you cool it down, it comes back. But… if you leave it out in the sun too long, it might just completely kill the display,” said Oh. “... there’s a lot of things that affect overheating on the phones like you have apps running in the background, definitely the heat doesn’t help but the GPS is definitely the biggest culprit.”
According to Apple, their devices can be used where the ambient temperature is between 32º degrees to 95º Fahrenheit, and devices can be stored where the temperature is between -4º and 113º. Their website says using their devices in very hot conditions can permanently shorten its battery life.
In the Bakersfield heat, Oh says phones are especially susceptible to overheating.
“The nice thing about the iPhones and Samsungs now is that they actually have a temperature gauge or basically a thermometer inside,” said Oh. “So like when your phone overheats, it actually tells you.”
Oh said when you see this notification on your phone, it's time to turn the phone off and keep it in a cool, shaded place to prevent damage.
But this does not mean leaving your phone in the car.
“A lot of people have it on their window, and that’s just like the sun cooking it while you’re driving, or if you’re just sitting around, so that's not good,” said Oh.
But what you can do is keep your phone in a shaded area, such as under a towel or indoors, and shutting off apps running in the background.
He also says not to use the phone while it is charging.
“When you’re charging it, your battery is overworking,” said Oh. “So the charging overheats it. And then while you’re using it, it’s already running hot. So you’re basically doing double the amount of heat.”
If your phone has already overheated, Oh says most times, it's possible to recover. But the longer the phone is out in the sun, the less likely it is to repair.
“... I’d say like 8 times out of 10, those usually come back,” said Oh. “If you left it out all day, it has a better chance of being damaged. But if it was just for an hour and you see it overheat, just cooling it down would take care of it.”
Let's say you're out for a swim and you drop your phone in the pool. What do you do?
Oh said a common "fix" people go to when their phone gets wet is putting it on a charger or putting it in rice.
However, Oh says this does more harm than good– and that time is of the essence.
“Typically if it goes in the water, you should take it to a repair shop quicker and you shouldn’t wait cause the longer you wait it is harder to repair. But don’t charge it, don’t try to turn it on, and definitely don’t put it in rice,” said Oh.
Mobile Heroes is one of the repair shops you can visit if your phone overheats or you drop it in a pool.
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