Overheating on smartphones can harm your device, shorten battery life, and affect performance. It’s a common but avoidable problem.
Keeping heat buildup under control is essential for preserving maximum performance as phones become more powerful with sophisticated processors and quick charging capabilities.
Overheating is frequently brought on by an excessive CPU load, external circumstances, bad charging practices, or out-of-date software.
If left unchecked, it might cause sudden shutdowns, performance throttling, and even irreversible hardware damage.
This book offers expert, doable tips for keeping your phone cool, ranging from basic habit adjustments like shutting down background apps to more complex methods for heavy users.
By putting these tips into practice, you can prolong the life of your gadget, maintain the health of your battery, and guarantee seamless performance even when using it frequently.
Getting the most out of your smartphone, whether you’re a casual user or a mobile gamer, requires knowing how to avoid overheating.
- Close any background apps.
Many programs on modern smartphones run in the background, using up processing power and producing heat.
Your processor must work harder because every running application needs RAM and CPU cycles.
To remove unnecessary apps from your Android device, use the “Recent Apps” menu.
Swipe apps away from the bottom of the iPhone (or double-click the Home button on previous models).
Think about utilising built-in tools for device maintenance, such as Samsung’s Device Care, to shut down background programs automatically.
Developer settings can provide statistics on CPU use and running services for power users.
- Stay out of direct sunshine.
Particularly susceptible to ambient temperatures are smartphones. While the greenhouse effect in cars can cause temperatures to rise dangerously high, most phones’ black surfaces absorb heat quickly when exposed to direct sunshine.
In the summer, a parked car’s dashboard can get as high as 70°C (158°F), which might harm parts.
When you’re out in the sun, keep your phone in a bag rather than in your pocket.
At the pool or beach, store it in a cooler bag or under a towel. When a phone starts to overheat, many will display temperature warnings; pay attention to these right away.
- Lower the brightness of the screen
One of the most power-hungry parts of your device is your display. Modern OLED screens can generate a lot of heat while operating at maximum brightness, using up to 40% more power than when operating at medium settings.
Turn on auto-brightness so that your phone can adapt to changing lighting situations.
Even 30 to 50 percent brightness is frequently enough in dark conditions.
Because black pixels are genuinely turned off, dark mode can save up to 30% on OLED screen power consumption.
Instead of turning up the brightness if you plan to be outside for a long time, think about getting a parasol or seeking shade.
- Turn off unused connectivity options
Continually looking for connections, wireless radios generate a lot of heat:
Unless you’re using headphones or other accessories, keep Bluetooth turned off.
GPS: Turn on only the navigation apps that require it.
Turn off Wi-Fi when you’re not close to a known network to avoid continuous scanning.
Mobile Data: 5G uses more energy than LTE; in places with little coverage, revert to LTE.
Hotspot: Produces a lot of heat when it’s active
Toggle these features using quick settings instead of leaving them enabled all the time. Automation to turn off certain functionalities based on time or place is available in several iOS and Android skins.
- Take off the phone case while it’s charging.
The majority of protective cases are not made for heat management, but rather for impact protection. When temperatures naturally rise, thick rubber or silicone cases serve as insulators, retaining heat while charging.
Heat dissipation is especially problematic with leather casings. Take the case out when:
Rapid charging
Wireless charging
Executing operations that need a lot of processing power
In hot conditions
If you have to charge while wearing a case, think about utilising cases with ventilation features or materials that dissipate heat, such as specific thermally conductive polymers.
- Turn on aeroplane mode when there are few signals.
To stay connected in locations with weak cellular signals, your phone’s modem increases transmission power exponentially, sometimes consuming ten times as much power as in areas with strong signals.
Significant heat is produced as a result. Turn on aeroplane mode when:
In structures with weak reception
Passing through places with patchy coverage
Elevators or underground
When you are temporarily not in need of connectivity
Keep in mind that, if necessary, you can frequently turn on Wi-Fi independently while in aeroplane mode.
- Limit labour-intensive duties
Long-term gaming or video editing strains the CPU and GPU of your phone, producing excessive heat.
Avoid using other taxing apps at the same time, minimise graphical settings, and take frequent breaks throughout prolonged sessions.
Advanced cooling systems on high-performance phones perform better at certain tasks, although even they require cooling times.
- Do not charge while using
The two main sources of heat produced by using your phone while it is charging are CPU activity and battery charge.
Both temperature and battery wear are accelerated by this combined strain. Allow your phone to charge without interruption, especially when fast charging, for best results.
Avoid using it for gaming or streaming videos, and instead limit it to simple chores like chatting.
- Update software frequently
Bug fixes that stop overheating and important thermal management enhancements are frequently included in software updates. App and operating system updates both improve performance and address procedures that can be consuming excessive amounts of CPU power.
To guarantee that your phone always runs the newest, most energy-efficient software versions, turn on automatic updates.
- Modify the heat-induced charging
Standard charging produces a lot less heat than fast charging. When your phone is already hot or in a heated environment, switch to standard charging speeds.
Avoid wireless charging in hot weather and take off the cases while charging to enhance heat dissipation.
Many phones automatically slow down charging when they get too hot; heed these precautions.
