There are times when the phone overheats, it becomes very hot, almost close to burning . This can happen for several reasons, for example because some app is using the processor massively or the heat comes from the battery or, again, for some internal malfunction.
In general there are some precautions to avoid overheating and to cool an Android smartphone or an iPhone in case it is getting too hot.
The most obvious reasons for the overheating of the phone are those of excessive use with the screen on, for example playing, or watching a streaming video or even listening to music using a Bluetooth speaker.
Usually overheating occurs especially when the mobile phone is connected to the internet in 3G or 4G and with the screen turned on with very high brightness, controlling some application that makes a lot of use of hardware resources.
In the cases described above, however, overheating of the mobile phone is normal and is not something to worry about because all computers made of electronic circuits can heat up during their use.
What needs to be avoided is that excessive phone overheating occurs in everyday conditions .
First of all, we need to understand where the heat of the mobile phone comes from, that is, which part in particular is overheated.
The rear where the battery is located may therefore be hot.
In this case, therefore, it is not the mobile phone that is hot, but the battery that has some problems or that has been under-charged until recently.
If instead the hot part is the lower one, at the bottom, then there may be a problem with the charger, which is perhaps not compatible or is damaged.
During the phone calls, the loudspeaker that warms the ear can become very hot, giving annoyance, irritation and even worry of getting burned.
The three most likely causes of overheating of an Android mobile phone (Samsung, Huawei or others) and of the iPhone are :
1) The processor is under heavy load which can be a 3D game or a video editing or graphic manipulation app.
In cell phones there are no fans inside to cool the processor and the aluminum shell is unable to expel all the heat generated.
2) The phone is in a heated environment, for example in the sun or in a hot car in summer.
In case of excessive heat, the smartphone can also be damaged.
3) The battery is about to give up and drain its life.
A battery that is about to fail can release a lot of heat, even if both iPhones and Android smartphones, in these cases, will go off by themselves preventing any dangerous situations.
From these three causes we can derive many scenarios that lead to overheating.
For example, continuous and prolonged use of the camera at higher resolution settings on a hot day or in the sun can bring excessive heat up to even displaying a high temperature warning.
Another frequent case is that of an installed virus app that remains in the background and uses the internet data network to exchange data with the outside continuously causing constant heat.
In addition, you may be using the wrong case, which retains heat and prevents cooling by keeping the phone too closed.
In general, to avoid overheating, the recommendations are as follows:
- Always charge your smartphone with the supplied charger or with a compatible one, without leaving it to charge for too long after it has reached 100%.
In this regard, you can read the guide on How often to charge the battery of the mobile phone / laptop to extend its life.
- Do not leave the phone in the sun, in the car or in places where the temperature can exceed 40 degrees, which is the maximum bearable.
- Use a cover or case that does not retain too much heat, so it is not poor.
- When playing games or using heavy apps or watching streaming videos or taking photos, it's better to stop and let the phone cool down when it is overheating.
- Check the camera settings and lower the quality of video and image recording.
- Check the active apps and, in particular, how much they drain the battery and how much network they use.
In particular, we have seen in other articles how to manage active apps in Android.
- Check if the battery works well.
In particular, you can check the health of the battery on the iPhone and use the apps for testing and hardware verification on Android smartphones, including the battery.
In cases where you feel the phone too hot, to cool it down :
- Remove the case
- Close all apps and turn off app updates and background sync
- Enter the energy saving mode
- Darken the screen and decrease the brightness
- Turn off location services and GPS
- Turn off the network and Bluetooth
For Android smartphones you can find in the Google Play store some applications that promise to keep the phone's temperature always low and avoid overheating.
In general, their effectiveness is rather limited, however, to name three, we can try:
- CPU Cooler Master-Phone Cooler, which monitors the CPU temperature and closes apps that heat it too much when it exceeds a certain level of heat.
As a tool it can be convenient because it shows us which applications use the CPU the most and is nothing but a task manager app for Android
- CPU Cooling is an app that automatically optimizes the system to keep it cool.
- Ampere to control the charging cycle and also the battery temperature.
Finally, a compulsory quote for the Greenify application for Android, which allows you to find the applications that consume more energy and that may be responsible for overheating, but it only works on devices unlocked with root.
