Technologies

Wet Phone? Try These 3 Ways to Dry It Out

How effective is rice in drying your phone out? We’ll explain that and more.

Your smartphone’s price tag doesn’t protect it from accidents, unfortunately. People buy phone cases in case they drop their new phone, but what if your phone gets wet? According to Secure Data Recovery, a data recovery service, 23% of people not only get their phone wet but actually drop their phone in the toilet. That’s one way to flush your money away.

While many smartphones are water-resistant, that doesn’t mean they’re waterproof, so it’s still important to dry your phone out. Here are three ways to dry your phone out after dropping it in water and hopefully save yourself from having to buy a new one.

Unfortunately, none of these methods are guaranteed to work, and there is a lot of anecdotal evidence with very few scientific studies on the subject. The most recent study we could find was from 2014 by Gazelle, a company that buys and sells used and broken phones. According to that study, the make and model of phone were found to influence whether or not a phone could return to working order, with Android phones typically faring better than iPhones.

Sources agree that getting your phone out of the water as quickly as possible helps by minimizing how much water comes into contact with your device. If you follow these instructions and your phone won’t turn on, or it turns on and has some issues, you should take it to a phone shop to see if they can help.

What Apple and Samsung recommend

Both phone manufacturers have some tips for users in case your phone is dropped in water.

Here’s what Apple says to do:

1. Remove your iPhone from the water, turn it off and dry it with a soft, lint-free cloth.

2. Tap your phone gently with the Lightning port facing down to get excess water out.

3. Place your iPhone in a dry area with good circulation and wait at least five hours. Pointing a fan at your iPhone’s Lightning port might help the process.

After five hours, turn your phone back on and see how it’s working. If you’re still having issues, jump to the end of this article.

Samsung has similar instructions:

1. Remove your phone from the water, turn it off and dry it off with a dry towel or a clean cloth.

2. Place your phone in a well-ventilated area or in the shade with cool air from a fan. Samsung doesn’t specify a length of time to wait, though.

Samsung says even after you’ve followed these steps that there might still be water inside your phone so you should bring it to a Samsung Electronics Service Center.

Both manufacturers also say if you drop your phone in a liquid other than clean water — like soda or pool water — you should quickly rinse your phone using tap water before drying with a towel and then air drying.

Apple and Samsung say to never use a heating source, like a blow dryer or oven, to dry your phone off. The heat could damage your phone.

Silica gel beads could help

You could also try silica gel. According to Gazelle, silica gel beads are a good option to absorb moisture out of phones. Silica gel beads can be found in those white packs labeled «Do not eat» many products come packed with. You can save these packs from packages you’ve received, or buy packs through online stores like Amazon or companies like Dry & Dry.

Once you have your silica, here’s what to do after dropping your phone in water.

1. Get your phone out of the water and turn it off.

2. Dry the outside of your phone with a lint-free towel.

3. Place your phone in a large container.

4. Fill the container with your silica gel beads and seal the container.

5. Gazelle recommends waiting 72 hours to let your phone dry.

6. Remove your phone from the container and try turning it back on.

Other household items might help

If you don’t have silica gel beads on hand, you could try other household items. Gazelle found couscous and instant rice both work well as drying agents.

Follow the steps in the above section, but replace the silica beads with either of these, wait for the same amount of time and then try restarting your device.

Gazelle also tested conventional cat litter, oats, chia seeds and uncooked white rice but doesn’t recommend these products because they leave behind debris that could damage your phone.

For more tips, check out how low-frequency sounds can get rid of water from your phone’s speakers, how to get two days out of a single iPhone charge and how to easily manage your Android permissions.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Monday, Oct. 27

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 27.

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.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I thought 8-Across was a bit of an odd one, since it was asking for a sound that has no universal spelling. If you need help, 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: «Soooo cute!» reactions
Answer: AWS

4A clue: ___ mode (battery-saving state)
Answer: SLEEP

6A clue: Afica’s largest capital city
Answer: CAIRO

7A clue: Bicker, bicker, bicker
Answer: ARGUE

8A clue: Close-mouthed sound of agreement
Answer: MMHMM

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Reason to suddenly bolt awake
Answer: ALARM

2D clue: Put on a scale
Answer: WEIGH

3D clue: kin-care product dispensed with a dropper
Answer: SERUM

4D clue: Total rip-off
Answer: SCAM

5D clue: «The Raven» or «The Road Not Taken»
Answer: POEM

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Oct. 27, #399

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Oct. 27, No. 399.

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

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tricky one. Hope you know your NBA history! If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Help athletes learn.

Green group hint: Statistics.

Blue group hint: From Sin City.

Purple group hint: Not Queens, but…

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Coach.

Green group: Seen in a baseball scorebug.

Blue group: UNLV

Purple group: Home cities of the NBA’s Kings franchise, over time.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is coach. The four answers are drill, instruct, school and teach.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is seen in a baseball scorebug. The four answers are count, inning, outs and score.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is UNLV. The four answers are Las, Nevada, University and Vegas.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is home cities of the NBA’s Kings franchise, over time. The four answers are Cincinnati, Kansas City, Rochester and Sacramento.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 27, #869

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Oct. 27, No. 869.

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

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle has a fun mix of topics today. They’re not too tough but if you need help you’re in the right place. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Reach out from a center point.

Green group hint: Barely.

Blue group hint: Decorative eats in a drink.

Purple group hint: Not two or three, but …