As the number of smartphone owners and users increases each day, useful apps continue to crop up at the center of amazing stories in the news. Smartphones are transforming normal life like the couple who used an iPhone app to conceive their daughter, and they are helping in amazing situations such as the missionary who survived the Haitian earthquakewith the help of medical advice from his smartphone.
As these increasingly intelligent little supercomputers change life as we know it, they also fall into harms way. Whether drowned in the dishwater or crushed by a fall from the roof, many damaged smartphones wish they had been covered by a protective case like the LifeProof Galaxy S3 case.
If your phone is reeling in the wake of technological destruction from a drooling puppy or a friend mistaking it for a hammer, here are some suggestions for protecting and even resurrecting your smartphone.
Help! Water!
Oops, your phone just got wet, and you hadn’t yet had the chance to purchase a waterproof iPhone case. Is it possible to recover the phone? Immediately remove the battery without pressing any other buttons. Lightly rinse the rest of the device with distilled water which does not conduct electricity. Then pout rice into a Ziploc bag and seal the device inside the plastic bag for 24 hours. Then replace the battery pack, and hopefully, it your screen will magically reappear, dehydrated and ready to go.
Scratches and Cracks
You’ve probably seen or even held on to one of those poor phones with spider web splinters across the face of their screen. Smartphones are such a common accessory for the average person that they are often tossed into pockets and bags without much thought. But even if you are careful to keep car keys in the left pocket and the phone on the right side, there are still dust and dirt particles which rub against the screen created nasty scratches.
Theft
Theft of mobile devices has been called the “fastest growing street crime” in America. The four largest cell phone manufacturers have been working on the problem with solutions such as the “kill switch” which would disable use of the device on any network even if the SIM card is removed. While it is tempting to pull out your phone to play games while commuting home from work, it is perhaps most advisable not to advertise your technology to potential danger in the area.
Sticky Home Button
Over time, many iPhones develop an obstinate home button. This can be due to dirt or simply pressing the button too hard too often. If cleaning the area does not seem to make much of a difference, the phone can be taken to a repair shop.
It can be slightly traumatic to hear the crunch of your phone landing on the floor. College student Terry Balmer clung to a badly cracked iPhone for seven months because he had “grown attached to it” as if it were a part of him.
So if the news that “this kind of damage is not covered under your warranty” has you singing the smartphone blues, try some of these tips. And if your iPhone woes aren’t solved this time around, then definitely invest in the right case and take a few precautionary steps with your next device.
Image from blog.csoftintl.com
