Putting your iPhone in rice after it falls into water has offered the ideal solution to water damage for many people for years. According to Apple, it’s a particularly bad solution.
Drop your iPhone in water and the first response people are likely to give you is “put it in rice for a while.” This is not surprising, as the tactic has been proven to work for years. Yet over time, more and more researchers have questioned the method. So what were you doing right?
It took a while, but Apple has finally answered that frequently asked question. So once and for all: should you put your iPhone in rice if it has water damage?
iPhone in rice: to do or not to do?
The iPhone today is extremely resistant to water damage, but sometimes it can really get out of hand. On that note, people may still want to put their Apple smartphone in a bowl of rice. Just to dry it quickly.
Given the method’s reputation, not a crazy idea, as in the past few years a bowl of rice has managed to save several phones. Or at least, given a lot of people the idea that it did. Researchers are questioning it, and now Apple also disapproves of the method.
A new support document on water damage and the iPhone literally states, “Do not put the iPhone in a bag of rice. Small pieces of rice can damage the iPhone if you do.”
So with that, it finally gives a blow to the age-old question of whether frosting (and no, that’s not a word) an iPhone is a good idea.
What you should do, according to Apple
OK, so putting your iPhone in rice is a bad idea. So what you should do? Apple lays out the steps for you:
Gently tap the iPhone against your hand with the connector facing down to remove excess liquid. Leave the iPhone in a dry area with some airflow.
Let the iPhone dry for at least 30 minutes before trying to charge it with a Lightning or USB-C cable or connect it to an accessory.
If you see the warning again, there is still liquid in the connector or under the pins of the cable. Leave the iPhone in a dry area with some airflow for up to a day. You can try charging or connecting an accessory again during this time. It may take up to 24 hours for the iPhone to be completely dry.
If your phone is completely dry but still not charging, disconnect the cable from the adapter, unplug the adapter (if possible) and then plug it in again.
Yes, so then when you’re fiddling with rice, it’s also good to know that you shouldn’t do certain other things as well.
For example, drying an iPhone with a heat source or compressed air is one of them, but you should also keep cotton swabs and paper towels far away from the port at the bottom.