Summer is here. Tans are being topped up and ice cream vendors are rejoicing but spare a thought for your smartphone, for them summer brings many enemies. Heat is the biggest danger but sand, water or an overly-ambitious leap for a frisbee can all be hazardous to our trusty devices.
Following the notion that prevention is better than cure, we've put together a few of the best ways to protect your smartphone and stop it overheating. Because while you may know you can look after yourself with plenty of sun screen and regular hydration, those are techniques you should avoid when it comes to technology. Try these instead.
1. Charge properly
OK, so this one seems fairly simple but there are good ways to charge and bad ways to charge . Some of these are probably listed in the long-forgotten user manual but here are some general guidelines to follow. There's also plenty more useful advice here.
Firstly, make sure your smartphone is free from obstacles, including cases and anything else that may cause the battery to heat up. A battery subjected to hot conditions will not last as long as others and, in extremely rare cases, may even cause an explosion.
It's also best not to charge your device for too long in the daytime heat. So, tough as it may be for some, perhaps just charge to 70 or 80%, avoid the mobile charger and fully charge the device at night when the battery has run down.
2. Keep it in a cool, sheltered place
Many of us will recognize the need to seek shade every now and again in the summer but it's particularly important for your phone. Prolonged exposure to direct sunlight could damage not only the battery but also the screen.
It's also best to try and avoid keeping your device in your pocket where possible, particularly if it's tight or you're likely to get sweaty. The ideal scenario is to keep your device in a larger pocket, a bag or a purse in order to keep it cool.
It's also best to try and avoid keeping your device in your pocket where possible, particularly if it's tight or you're likely to get sweaty. The ideal scenario is to keep your device in a larger pocket, a bag or a purse in order to keep it cool.
3. Beware the beach and look for cover
We may love the beach in summer but it's it's fraught with danger for our smartphones. The biggest killers of the Samsung Galaxy s5 were water, dust and sand - with at least two of those three always in abundance by the seaside.
So the advice here is straightforward: Try and use your device as little as possible at the beach. But for those who can't bear to leave a beach scene un-Instagrammed, it's worth considering a protective screen. It may not be the choice of the purist or the aesthete but a slight loss of responsiveness seems preferable to a total loss of functionality.
4. Avoid diving
A quick dip in the sea and a swim with the fishes (not in the mafia way) is an appealing prospect but water and phones don't get on at all.
The basic advice here, again, is pretty simple - don't get your phone wet and check your pockets before you dive in the any water. If you are thinking of taking your phone near the drink, it's worth investing in one of the many covers that work underwater, with the added bonus that you can get some pretty spectacular shots.
A potential solution
Right, so you've followed all these tips and your smartphone still feels like it's just popped out the toaster. It's probably time to, quite literally, chill out and avoid using it for a few minutes. It's normal for smartphones to overheat sometimes in hot conditions but there are further steps you can take to try and avoid it.
If the device stops functioning correctly, it will often be a problem with the firmware. One of the best ways to tackle the problem is Coolify. Here's what you need to know about the app:
What does it do?
As you might imagine, Coolify prevents your phone overheating. It does this by continuously monitoring the temperature around you and modifying the phone's systems accordingly, particularly during intensive internet use or during the times where you are using a heavy duty app. Oh, and a side effect of Coolify is that battery life is increased. Win-win.
How does it work?
Many of you may be skeptical about the app, perhaps suspecting it purely closes tasks in order to free up memory but that's not the case. The developers have tweaked the concept 80 times and Coolify can now alter a device's system parameters in a number of ways, including interacting with the battery and the device's virtual machine. (?) This level of interaction will, naturally, require root permissions.
For those who use custom ROMS, the app may vary in efficacy, depending on how they were developed, though Coolify is compatible with 80% of custom ROMs. It's also worth noting how silently it works and how little RAM it requires to run. In fact, you could almost forget it was even running if the benefits weren't so obvious.
How do I use it?
Coolify is simple to use and intuitively designed. Just press 'Turn On Normal Temp Protection' to begin, accept the request for root permissions and the initialization process will begin. This will be followed by the main screen, where you will find the current temperature chart. Other functions are accessed through the menu button in the top-right of the screen and include:
Cooling: A record of the dates and times when the app has cooled the device.
Settings: Allows the user to set when to use the app, whether to use Celsius or Fahrenheit and whether to allow notifications.
Background: Changes the background to one of several pre-set pictures or allows the user to choose any picture from their phone to form their background.
Settings: Allows the user to set when to use the app, whether to use Celsius or Fahrenheit and whether to allow notifications.
Background: Changes the background to one of several pre-set pictures or allows the user to choose any picture from their phone to form their background.
There's no doubt that Coolify is very effective at controlling the temperature of your devices and preventing over-heating. Smartphone manufacturers are also starting to play their part, attempting to integrate processors and hardware that produce as little heat as possible.
Traditionally the most important factor in phones overheating, as Galaxy s4 users will know only too well, is the optimization software. It seems like Coolify may be able to rectify this issue, so give it a go and see what you think.
All this should give your smartphone the chance to enjoy the summer as much as you do.
All this should give your smartphone the chance to enjoy the summer as much as you do.
If you have any other tips or experiences to share, let us know in the comment section below.
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