Technologies

Keep Your Phone From Overheating When the Temperature Spikes

Hot weather can damage your iPhone or Android phone, sometimes permanently. Learn how to keep it safe.

As the East Coast of the US faces high winds and flooding from Hurricane Erin, the West Coast is about to be hit with a brutal heat wave. Along with increased danger from wildfires, the hot temperatures also create risks for your personal tech, specifically your smartphone.

Phones are more sensitive to extreme temperatures than most people realize. While the Pixel 6A made news earlier this year because of exploding, even the latest iPhone and Android models can overheat quickly if left in the sun or used heavily during hot weather.

When your phone gets too hot, it can slow down, shut off or even suffer long-term damage. High temperatures put stress on the battery and internal components, which can lead to reduced performance and a shorter lifespan. Whether you’re out on a hike, watching videos by the pool, or just leaving your phone on the dashboard, here’s what you need to know about overheating — and how to keep your device safe this summer.

Why is your phone overheating in the first place?

High temperatures — over 95 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Apple — can cause your phone to take precautions to protect its components. Your phone might overheat for many reasons, but here are some of the most common culprits:

Leaving your phone in direct sunlight
Keeping your phone in a hot environment, like a car on a hot day
Using your phone’s navigation system or other system-intensive tasks in hot conditions
Overusing your phone when it’s charging
A faulty battery or charger
Bugs in the software
Rogue apps or malware

Your phone might overheat from other causes, like a malfunctioning application or even a suffocating phone case, but the reasons above are the most likely causes of your phone getting too hot.

What does overheating do to your phone?

If the interior temperature of your phone exceeds its normal operating range and the device overheats, you can expect issues:

You may not be able to use your phone
Operations on your phone may slow down
Charging may slow or completely stop
Your signal may be weakened
Your camera’s flash may be disabled

There are also possible permanent harmful effects: Overheating can cause lasting damage to the battery, SIM card and other crucial parts inside your phone.

So how can you prevent your phone from overheating?

The most important thing is to keep your phone out of direct sunlight when possible, especially when it’s warm. Your phone might be fine in the grass on an overcast day, but the warmer the temperature, the less your phone can withstand the sun. At the beach, your phone can overheat in just a few minutes in the sun. The same is true if you put it in a sunny spot on the dash or seat of your car.

Instead, get your phone out of the direct light, whether it’s in your pocket, inside a backpack or under a towel/blanket or dashboard. Anyplace that will keep it away from sunlight will work.

It’s fairly easy to protect your phone from the sun, but high temperatures alone can also cause your phone to overheat. After only an hour, the inside of a car can reach 143 degrees Fahrenheit when it’s 100 degrees outside, for example, so a phone left in your cup holder could quickly overheat and get damaged. The short answer: Don’t keep your phone in a hot environment for an extended period of time, even if it’s not in direct sunlight. That includes your car, a sauna, the kitchen, the middle of the desert or anywhere near a fire.

Your phone’s optimal internal temperature should be somewhere between 32 degrees and 95 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees and 35 degrees Celsius). To prevent overheating, Apple recommends keeping the device in a place where the temperature is between negative 4 degrees and 113 degrees Fahrenheit (negative 20 degrees and 45 degrees Celsius).

While it might be tempting, don’t stick your phone in the freezer to cool it down. The Apple community boards have lots of warnings about the damage you can do to your phone by putting it in an icebox.

Steps You Can Take Right Now to Avoid an Overheated Phone

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You should also follow these tips to prevent your phone from overheating

Don’t use graphics- or processor-intensive apps when your phone is charging. That includes massive mobile video games like PUBG Mobile or streaming apps like Netflix and Hulu.
Update your phone system software and apps to the latest software available. A bug in the software can cause overheating issues, so always stay up-to-date with your software.
Steer clear of third-party chargers. You’ll be fine almost always, but a cheaply designed charger could cause your phone to overheat.

While you’re here, check out how to make your Android feel new again with these five tips.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for the Friday, Aug. 22, Domino-Shaped Puzzle

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Aug. 22. It’s an odd one, shaped like a domino to mark the new NYT dominos game, Pips.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword is a doubled-up crossword puzzle, shaped like a domino. That must be the Times celebrating their new dominos puzzle, Pips, which I have yet to try. Need answers for today’s very unusual Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Places to store shovels and leaf blowers
Answer: SHEDS

5A clue: Coating for Babybel cheese
Answer: WAX

6A clue: «___ vs. Predator» (2004 sci-fi film)
Answer: ALIEN

8A clue: Streaming glitch
Answer: LAG

9A clue: Docking spots
Answer: PIERS

10A clue: Feature of a Southern accent
Answer: TWANG

14A clue: Sweet potato lookalike
Answer: YAM

15A clue: Top-notch, informally
Answer: PRIMO

17A clue: Greenskeeper’s roll of grass
Answer: SOD

18A clue: Campfire remnants
Answer: ASHES

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Nickname for the Florida Gators football stadium, with «the»
Answer: SWAMP

2D clue: «2001: A Space Odyssey» villain
Answer: HAL

3D clue: Cast out from a country
Answer: EXILE

4D clue: «Uptown Funk» and «Downtown,» for two
Answer: SONGS

7D clue: «Can I bend your ___ for a second?»
Answer: EAR

10D clue: Like an ambitious, competitive personality
Answer: TYPEA

11D clue: Simple-to-play card game for two
Answer: WAR

12D clue: Simple-living sect
Answer: AMISH

13D clue: Shop owner’s stock
Answer: GOODS

16D clue: Barkeep on «The Simpsons»
Answer: MOE

Technologies

11 Tips for Getting Started in Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

From cutscene tips to early item grabs, here’s my advice for getting started with the remake of one of my personal favorite Metal Gear games.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is the best way to play one of the greatest Metal Gear games of all time. However, like most Hideo Kojima games, the Metal Gear Solid series features unique gameplay and mechanics. Whether you’re a veteran fan of the series or experiencing Snake Eater for the very first time, the new modes and gameplay tweaks will be sure to satisfy you.

Here are 11 tips to keep in mind when jumping into Metal Gear Solid Delta.

Pause cutscenes if you need to

Hideo Kojima’s games are known for their long cutscenes, and Snake Eater is no different. The majority of your first few hours will feature very minimal gameplay. And while the cutscenes are exciting and bizarre, you can pause them to take a break without risking skipping them entirely. Pause any cutscene by hitting the menu button and if you want to skip, you’ll see the option for that, too. It’s also worth mentioning that you can hit the same button to pause lengthy radio conversations as well.

Swap camo often

Snake Eater can be played like a run-and-gun shooter, but a stealthy approach is generally better, and utilizing your various outfits and facepaint will maximize your evasiveness. Make sure to change your appearance often to match your surroundings. And to make swapping even quicker, hold up on the D-pad to access a quick change menu.

Keep an eye on camo percentage

The game will give you a higher stealth rating the better you blend in, so make sure to watch your camo percentage. As you move around the environment, a percentage at the bottom will show you how hidden you are. The higher the number, the less likely an enemy will spot you. Bonus tip: There’s a trophy you can unlock if you bring your camouflage over 90%.

Call your team often

Throughout the game you’ll unlock more and more allies to call and chat with on the radio. These conversations can range from hints on how to proceed to how you save your game. Calling teammates often will give you bonus dialogue about events that you just witnessed or played through. They’ll even offer fun anecdotes or just chat with Snake.

Be aware of time paradoxes

Snake Eater is a prequel entry in the Metal Gear Solid franchise. This means that you can’t deviate too far from the main story because it would mess with events that take place in MGS 1 and 2. If you do, you can create literal Time Paradoxes resulting in game over screens and humorous lectures from your team.

One such example is killing Ocelot after meeting him for the first time. To proceed, you need to leave him unconscious on the ground — stabbing him with your knife will disrupt the canon. However, you can stab him anyway if you want a trophy.

Keep an eye out for R1 prompts in cutscenes

Snake Eater has unique cutscenes where at specific moments, you can swap camera angles to see what Snake is looking at. You’ll miss out on important visuals while the game just shows your character looking into binoculars, for example. When you see the R1 icon show up in the screen’s corner, make sure to hit it. However, do keep in mind that this game is a product of an older era and sometimes you’ll realize Snake is just staring at a woman’s chest.

You can change settings to drag bodies easier

Hiding bodies is important to keep alert levels down. You can lift and drag someone by holding down the Square button, but doing so can be kind of annoying. In the settings menu you can select to change carrying from a button hold to a simple button press. This gives you back your right thumb in order to regain camera control while dragging someone out of sight.

Use silencers, but recognize when you don’t need them

Trust me on this, stealth is your friend in this game. It’s harder to pull off, but worth it. This means silencers are quite important for avoiding gun fights and staying hidden. However, silencers can wear down and won’t last forever. To avoid overusing them, remove the silencers anytime you engage in a big gun fight or boss battle. If the enemy already knows you’re there, there’s no point wasting the silencer.

Grab the thermal goggles early

One of the most useful pieces of equipment is the thermal goggles. It allows you to see enemies through walls and will help spot bosses during big fights. They can be collected pretty early in the game too. The second time you reach the destroyed base that housed Sokolov, check in the locker in his room.

Don’t miss the early machine gun

If you’re wanting to take the loud route through the game, there’s a machine gun stashed away quite early in Snake Eater. At the first bridge you encounter, where the game has you use a beehive to scare off an enemy, the gun is located in a small cave underneath. You can reach it by crossing the bridge and then circling around the ledge to the left. You need to grab the gun the first time you get to the bridge, though. The next time the gun will be gone and you’ll only find ammo.