Why Apple is warning against an age-old remedy for wet iPhones
(NEXSTAR) — As rugged as iPhones can be, sometimes, they encounter a situation they can’t handle too well: water.
Maybe you dropped your iPhone in a puddle while out for a walk, or in the water at the beach. Or maybe, you found yourself fishing your iPhone out of a toilet.
Either way, your first thought is maybe to toss your iPhone in a bag or container of uncooked rice in the hopes that the dry grains will absorb the moisture from your phone.
However, Apple is now warning against reaching for the rice.
If you visit the company’s support site, you’ll find guidance on what to do — and not to do — if your phone gets wet. Apple has seemingly updated that guidance to warn against putting your iPhone in a bag of rice, U.K. news outlet Metro and USA Today reported earlier this month.
“Doing so could allow small particles of rice to damage your iPhone,” Apple explains. The company also advises against trying to dry your iPhone with “an external heat source or compressed air” or inserting “a foreign object, such as a cotton swab or a paper towel” into the charging port.
Certain iPhone models — the XS, the XS Max, and the XR or later models — can alert you if it detects liquid in the charging port or on the charging cable or accessory. If you see one of these alerts, your iPhone will not charge until the device is dry (or if you have a wireless charger), Apple explains. (There is an emergency override option as well that will allow you to charge a wet device).
If a liquid is detected, or you know your device has become wet, Apple recommends tapping your iPhone gently against your hand, with the charging port facing down, then putting it in a dry area “with some airflow.” After at least a half hour, you can try charging the device again.
If your iPhone is still detecting liquid, Apple says you may need to leave it in a dry area with airflow for up to a day.
“You can try again to charge or connect an accessory through this period,” Apple explains. “It might take up to 24 hours to fully dry.”
Asurion, a tech insurer and repair company, says you can also put silica gel packets — those white packets often found in the box of new shoes or other items — and your iPhone in a sealed plastic bag for a day or two to absorb the moisture.
Tech experts have long advised against using rice to cure your wet devices because it may not actually solve the problem. As Apple warns, the small particles could cause more damage to your iPhone. Plus, there’s always the chance that the liquid has reached the battery and other internal parts of your phone that rice can’t mend.
Certain iPhones are “splash, water, and dust resistant,” according to Apple, and newer models are considered water resistant, meaning they can survive in water as deep as 6 meters (almost 20 feet) for up to 30 minutes. However, the company warns that an iPhone’s resistance to certain conditions “might decrease as a result of normal wear.”