How to stop your iPhone from dying during the heatwave
Temperatures across the country are set to remain swelteringly high throughout the week, with the Met Office issuing its first-ever Extreme Heat Warning on Tuesday. And while some of us are struggling with the sunny weather, many iPhone users have also noticed their phone is also susceptible to the heat.
The team at Uswitch.com have pulled together seven useful tips to help your iPhone keep going on even the hottest of days.
Catherine Hiley, mobiles expert at Uswitch.com, “iPhones are designed to work at their optimum between 0°c and 35°c (32°f and 95°f) but can overheat when exposed to extreme temperatures. Some areas of the UK have already hit over 32°c, with the temperature increasing significantly inside buildings and cars. As such, some iPhone users have suffered from a noticeable drop in their phone’s performance.
“Prolonged exposure to high heat can impact the performance of the battery in an iPhone, resulting in an inability to store energy efficiently. If this happens, users will notice their phone’s performance slow down significantly.
“If things get too hot to handle, your iPhone will give you a temperature warning message. If this happens, all is not lost. In most cases, your iPhone will be unaffected long term. But the sooner you take action, the better.”
How to prevent your iPhone from overheating
Prevention is always better than a cure. So, if you’re having trouble with your iPhone, try these tops tips to help prevent it from getting too hot:
1. Disable Background Refresh
Almost all apps come with background refresh enabled. It’s the hidden iPhone function that allows developers to keep your apps updated. It operates in the background to ensure you’re getting the latest content and updates.
However, with multiple apps refreshing at once, this can increase your iPhone’s processing power, which only adds to the workload of your already struggling device.
To access background refresh, open your iPhone’s Settings, go to General and scroll down to Background App Refresh. Then, use the sliders to turn the function off for the apps that can decide can survive without it.
2. Don’t leave your iPhone in direct sunlight
This sounds obvious. But with busy lives, the sun changing position throughout the day and, let’s be honest, the fact we’re not that used to hot weather here in the UK, it’s easy to let this simple step slip your mind.
Keep your phone in the shade where possible, especially if you’re using apps that take up a lot of processing power, like Google Maps, Waze, streaming services, or gaming.
3. Use An Apple Charger
Unofficial charger leads can overload the battery of your phone, which could cause it to overheat. It’s worth having another look in your bedside drawers if you’ve lost your original Apple charger.
4. Check Your Apps Aren’t The Problem
If you’ve followed all of the above steps but find your iPhone is still overheating, it could be one of your apps that’s causing the issue.
To check, head to Settings, then to General, and scroll to iPhone Storage. If you’ve got a lot of apps, it may take a second or two to load. But you’ll see a list of all your apps and, on the right-hand side, how much storage they’re taking up on your device.
If you see anything out of the ordinary, like an app taking up a lot more room than any others, especially if it’s a third-party app, uninstall it and see if that fixes the issue. Remember, you can always reinstall it later.
How to cool your iPhone down when it overheats
It’s important to cool your iPhone down quickly when it shows signs of overheating. However, as tempting as it might be to head for the freezer or to try a dunk in cold water, this kind of sudden exposure to cold may do more harm than good.
You need to bring the temperature of your iPhone down safely, and here are some tips on how to do just that:
1. Uncover Your iPhone
If you’ve got a case on your overheating iPhone, take it off straight away. While cases usually offer varying degrees of protection to your phone, it can act like a blanket, keeping the heat in.
The shell of your iPhone is designed to help heat dissipate from the device, so whip that case off and let it cool down.
2. Unplug
Whether you’re using an Apple charger cable or not, if it’s safe to do so, unplug your phone if it’s overheating.
3. Close your apps and other features
Even if you’re not using them, apps will continue to run on your iPhone, keeping processing demand high unless you close them. Reduce the workload of your device by closing all unnecessary apps.
Turning off Bluetooth and Location Services will also save processing power, which will help your iPhone cool down much quicker. Bluetooth can be turned off in your iPhone’s Settings menu, while Location Services can be accessed through the Privacy Menu in Settings.
If you’ve done all of the above and your iPhone is still overheating, you can disable Wi-Fi, GPS, and iCloud. If you’re still having trouble after that, turn your iPhone off fully (not just to sleep) and put it somewhere cool (not cold) and out of direct sunlight. Somewhere like a glove box in a car, a bedside drawer, or a bag that’s in the shade.