Why is my phone hot?

CALLING the devices we rely on “phones” seems a bit of an understatement given how much they can do these days.

So much so, that, like us, they can get a bit hot and bothered when overloaded with tasks.

Why does my phone get hot?

Your phone can get hot for various reasons, like using applications that drain power, or using lots of apps at once.

It’s not unusual for devices to become a bit warm when they are being worked hard, but if this persists it could be a more serious issue.

Common things that cause your phone to warm up are:

• Gaming for extended periods
  • Gaming apps make use of your devices GPU and central processing cores which puts your device through quite a workout

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Your phone can get hot for various reasons, like using applications that drain power, or using lots of apps at once.[/caption]

• Old apps
  • If apps aren’t kept updated and have bugs, they can overuse the processor. Updates will fix bugs and ensure apps are working efficiently, and not putting the strain on your poor phone
• The wrong settings
  • It may have something to do with your device’s settings. For example, leaving your screen brightness on full or using animated wallpapers, which will sap energy

• Streaming video
  • We’ve all done it “I’ll just watch another five minutes… ” But it ends up being much longer. Streaming is a major workout for your processor, and means your phone has to keep your display on throughout

• Leaving it in the sun
  • May seem an obvious one, but many of us are so casual with our phones that they’re left in all kinds of wacky places. Phones can easily overheat in the sun which drains battery. Water damage can also cause your handset to overheat.
• Software updates
  • You may also find that your phone overheats after or during an update. This may be due to a bug that needed fixing, which meant your operating system needed to use more power. Thankfully though, this is normally temporary, and shouldn’t cause any long-term issues

How to cool down my phone down

There are a few simple things you can do to help your phone cool off.

Thankfully, they don’t require any technical expertise, so they should be easy to do.

A good place to start would be to try the following:

• Remove the case (if you have one), this will release heat strapped between the plastic and your phone
• Switch on airplane mode and keep it on for a while, this will turn off things like Bluetooth which can use up battery without you noticing
• Put your phone in a cool place – but not the fridge!
• Use your phone less. Again, this may seem obvious, but many of us use them for far longer than we realise and it’s good both for your phone and for you to takes breaks
• Turn on power saving settings, this will extend your phone’s battery and will likely help it reduce its temperature
• Close apps when you stop using them
• Restart your phone – this can help stop your phone from being overwhelmed by minor glitches