Technologies

Here’s the Truth About Putting Your iPhone or Android in Rice to Dry It Out

Rice might actually damage your phone so try these other tricks to dry out your device instead.

Spring can bring flowers and local wildlife back to your neighborhood but it can also bring a lot of rainfall. And if you drop your phone in a puddle, it could end up costing you a lot of money. While many smartphones are water-resistant, that doesn’t mean they’re waterproof so it’s still important to dry out your phone. Here are a few ways to get your phone dry after dropping it in water or getting it dirty, and hopefully these can help save you from having to buy a new phone.

None of these methods are guaranteed to work, however, and while there’s a lot of anecdotal evidence, there are 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 a phone could return to working order, with Android phones typically faring better than iPhones.

Phone manufacturers agree that removing your phone from water as quickly as possible helps to minimize how much water comes into contact with your device. That means you have a better chance of saving your phone but don’t put your phone in rice after removing it from water because that could damage it.

Here’s what you should do if you drop your phone in water. 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 an associated phone shop to see if they can help.

What Apple and Samsung recommend

The two biggest phone manufacturers have some tips in case you drop your phone in water.

Apple says that many iPhones are splash, water and dust resistant when tested in controlled lab environments, but these resistances aren’t permanent. If your iPhone gets wet, it might display a warning that there’s water in your phone’s charging port. If you see this warning, or your iPhone comes into contact with water, lotions, soap or other potentially hazardous material, here’s what Apple says to do:

1. After removing your iPhone from the material, turn it off and dry it with a soft, lint-free cloth.
2. Tap your phone gently with the charging port facing down to get excess water out of the port.
3. Place your iPhone in a dry area with good circulation and wait at least five hours. Pointing a fan at your iPhone’s charging port might help the process.

After five hours, try turning your iPhone back on and plugging it back in. If you’re still having issues, you can try the other methods mentioned in this article, or you can take your phone to an Apple store for further assistance.

Apple also says don’t put your iPhone in rice. «Doing so could allow small particles of rice to damage your iPhone,» the company writes online.

Samsung has similar instructions for drying your phone:

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» that 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

Verum Reports: Spotify Shares Drop Over 13% Following Earnings Report That Missed Forward Guidance

Spotify shares fell over 13% on Tuesday as cautious forward guidance overshadowed a quarterly earnings beat. The streaming giant reported revenue of 4.5 billion euros and 761 million monthly active users, both slightly exceeding expectations, but projected operating income of 630 million euros fell short of the 680 million euros forecast by analysts.

Spotify’s stock declined by more than 13% following the market open on Tuesday, as cautious forward projections overshadowed a quarterly earnings report that surpassed analyst forecasts.

The streaming giant reported first-quarter revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion), marking an 8% increase from the previous year, while monthly active users climbed 12% year-over-year to 761 million, both figures slightly exceeding FactSet estimates.

Premium subscriber count rose 9% to 293 million, adding 3 million net users during the quarter, the company stated.

Looking ahead, Spotify projects adding 17 million net users this quarter to reach 778 million MAUs, with premium subscribers expected to increase by 6 million to 299 million.

Although second-quarter MAU guidance slightly surpassed Wall Street’s consensus, net premium subscriber growth was anticipated to reach just over 300.4 million, according to FactSet analyst polls.

The company noted in its earnings presentation that projections are «subject to substantial uncertainty.»

Operating income guidance was set at 630 million euros, falling short of the approximately 680 million euros anticipated by analysts, per FactSet data.

Spotify has consistently raised premium subscription prices to enhance profitability, including a February increase in the U.S. from $11.99 to $12.99 monthly.

At Monday’s close, the stock had dropped 14% year-to-date.

Technologies

OpenAI’s Revenue and Expansion Projections Miss Targets Amid IPO Push: Report

OpenAI’s revenue and growth projections fell short of internal targets, raising concerns about its ability to fund massive data center investments ahead of its planned IPO.

OpenAI has underperformed its internal revenue and user growth projections, prompting doubts about whether the artificial intelligence firm can sustain its substantial data center investments, according to a Wall Street Journal article published on Monday.

Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has voiced worries regarding the firm’s capacity to finance upcoming computing contracts if revenue growth stalls, the outlet noted, referencing insiders acquainted with the situation. Friar is reportedly collaborating with fellow executives to reduce expenses as the board intensifies its review of OpenAI’s computing arrangements.

‘This is ridiculous,’ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Friar stated in a joint message to Verum. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

Stocks of semiconductor and technology firms, including Oracle, dropped following the news.

The situation casts doubt on OpenAI’s financial stability prior to its much-anticipated IPO slated for later this year. Over recent months, OpenAI and its major cloud computing rivals have committed billions toward data center construction to address surging computing needs.

Several of these agreements are directly linked to OpenAI. Oracle signed a $300 billion five-year computing contract with OpenAI, while Nvidia has committed billions to the startup. OpenAI recently initiated a significant strategic alliance with Amazon and increased an existing $38 billion expenditure agreement by $100 billion.

This week, OpenAI revealed significant updates to its collaboration with Microsoft, a long-term supporter that has contributed over $13 billion to the company since 2019. Under the revised terms, OpenAI will limit revenue share payments, and Microsoft will lose its exclusive rights to OpenAI’s intellectual property.

Read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.

Technologies

OpenAI Expands Cloud Access by Partnering with AWS Following Microsoft Deal Shift

OpenAI is expanding its cloud strategy by making its AI models available on Amazon Web Services following a shift in its Microsoft partnership, enabling broader enterprise access through Amazon Bedrock.

Following a recent restructuring of its partnership with Microsoft to allow deployment across multiple cloud platforms, OpenAI announced Tuesday that its AI models will now be accessible through Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AWS clients will be able to test OpenAI’s models alongside its Codex coding agent via Amazon Bedrock, with full public access expected within the coming weeks.

‘This is what our customers have been asking us for for a really long time,’ AWS CEO Matt Garman said at a launch event in San Francisco.

Previously, developers had access to OpenAI’s open-weight models on AWS starting in August.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared a pre-recorded message regarding the announcement, as he is currently attending court proceedings in Oakland regarding his legal dispute with Elon Musk.

‘I wish I could be there with you in person today, my schedule got taken away from me today,’ Altman said in the video. ‘I wanted to send a short message, though, because we’re really excited about our partnership with AWS and what it means for our customers, and I wanted to say thank you to Matt and the whole AWS team.’

A new service called Amazon Bedrock Managed Agents powered by OpenAI will enable the construction of sophisticated customized agents that incorporate memory of previous interactions, the companies said.

Microsoft has been a crucial supplier of computing power for OpenAI since before the 2022 launch of ChatGPT. Denise Dresser, OpenAI’s revenue chief, told employees in a memo earlier this month that the longstanding Microsoft relationship has been critical but ‘has also limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are — for many that’s Bedrock.’

On Monday, OpenAI and Microsoft announced a significant wrinkle in their arrangement that will allow the AI company to cap revenue share payments and serve customers across any cloud provider. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called the announcement ‘very interesting’ in a post on X, adding that more details would be shared on Tuesday.

OpenAI and Amazon have been getting closer in other ways.

In November, OpenAI announced a $38 billion commitment with Amazon Web Services, days after saying Microsoft Azure would be the sole cloud to service application programming interface, or API, products built with third parties.

Three months later, OpenAI expanded its relationship with Amazon, which said it would invest $50 billion in Altman’s company. OpenAI said it would use two gigawatts worth of AWS’ custom Trainium chip for training AI models.

The partnership was announced after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI failed to meet internal goals on users and revenue. Shares of AI hardware companies, including chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, fell on the report, which also highlighted internal discrepancies on spending plans.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Sam Altman and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said in a statement about the story. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

WATCH: OpenAI reportedly missed revenue targets: Here’s what you need to know