Phone’s getting too hot? Here’s how to keep it from overheating issues

Is your phone getting hot due to the heat? Has it ever happened to you that you were casually walking on the streets using your phone and suddenly, it starts overheating sending you prompts to cool it down? 

I can recall an incident when on one fine day, I was on my way to work in Dubai and since I was just starting, I didn’t know the various public transports I could use to travel. It took me two hours to realize that the metro station was packed, I couldn’t find a taxi as it was peak hours, the bus frequency was every 30 minutes, and a lot more. What’s unfortunate is the prompt I got on my phone that the device is overheating. This primarily happens in summers (that could vary in timings and intensifies in countries). 

Heat buildup could prompt your phone to overheat. It could render your phone unusable for some time, make it uncomfortable to hold, shorten its battery life, cause it to malfunction or run slow, or damage parts, etc. It could be a fire risk as there have been instances where overheating phones caught fire possibly hurting the owner or nearby people. 

I am hoping that’s not something you’d wish to happen to your daily drive as it may take a few days to get the device fixed. So, what can you do to prevent the device from overheating? Here’s how.

Phone getting hot? Say no more with these “do’s”

#1: Let it breathe

It is often our habit to keep the phone in pockets, tucked in a bulky case, or tightly packed in bags that would prevent airflow required to stabilize the temperature. The impacts could be compounded when there’s extreme heat outside. The best practice here is to let it breathe. Simply take it out and let the cooler surroundings do their job.

#2: Away from the sun

Again, there’s no rocket science degree required to understand that you need to get your phone away from the sun. Of course, you shouldn’t keep it in a hot place either, a sauna, or bathroom with the steam on, or any place where the temperature is scorching. Other examples include keeping it in a car parked in an open parking lot, using too many apps while traveling on a bright day with high temperatures, watching videos in a loop, or listening to music on a loop, etc. 

#3: Give it a break

Phone’s getting overheated? Give it a break. A few minutes won’t cause any loss of pay for sure but it will surely save your device from frying up due to indecently scorching temperature. Killing the brightness a bit, putting off a few apps, updating the phone to ensure it is on the latest firmware, keeping the phone ventilated, etc., can prevent any catastrophic damage. 

4: Get rid of apps you aren’t using

Time and again, I keep saying this to friends and family to get rid of apps that you aren’t using. You need to understand that even if you aren’t using 5 out of 10 apps, these 5 apps are still consuming resources on the device. As a rupee a day and every day could turn into millions, these unused apps could consume resources on your device such as the battery, storage, RAM, processing power, etc., that adds up. 

Thus, it is better to remove apps that you aren’t using. The first and foremost thing is to kill recently opened apps that you aren’t using at the time. Next, go to your app’s drawer/list, scan through to find apps that you haven’t used in a while, and uninstall them since you can pretty much reinstall them next time when you need them. 

#5: Turn it off

Ultimately the best thing you can do is to turn off the phone. It doesn’t take rocket science to bring your phone’s temperature down when you can just turn it off and let it handle the temperature on its own. Of course, you can’t just turn it off and still leave it in a hot place or under warm temperatures but rather keep it in a shaded area and with some ventilation. 

The Don’ts

Now that you have the ways you can fix your phone’s overheating issues, it’s time to keep yourself informed about the “Don’ts”. 

First up, don’t slide your iPhone or Android in the freezer. Although it might seem logical that freeing temperature can cool down the phone rapidly, it can cause more damage. If you have heard about condensations, that could happen when you put your phone in a freezer allowing water to seep into the internals causing water damage which is often irreversible. 

Another take is don’t dunk your phone in water even if it has the highest IP rating ever. The phone is already hot and dunking it in water could end up in trouble causing water damage.

Note that IP ratings are accredited based on tests conducted in suitable conditions and there’s no way smartphone makers would check the phone’s durability when it is prompting ‘overheating’ by putting it in water. Thus, avoid it altogether and stick to the “do’s” mentioned above.