When you get your telephone moist, your first thought might be to place it in rice. However please do not. You should not use rice to dry out a moist smartphone, interval. Consultants have been saying for years that the rice methodology truly works slower than merely setting the telephone on a counter. It may possibly even make the state of affairs worse by leaving goopy, moist grains caught in your telephone’s crevices. But this fantasy is so pervasive that Apple explicitly instructed individuals to cease doing it as late as 2024. Folks maintain doing it regardless of all of the warnings towards it. Working example, smartphone myths do not take a lot to get began and change into nearly unimaginable to debunk as soon as they do. And belief us, the rice fantasy is just one in a really, very lengthy checklist.
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Some myths are roughly innocent. Others might put your total digital life in peril. Listed here are 12 smartphone myths that all of us have to cease believing yesterday.
Clearing out your apps saves battery life
For many individuals, it is change into a kind of end-of-the-day ritual to open the app switcher and shut all of the background apps they’ve used throughout the day. The logic comes from computer systems — open background packages devour sources, so closing them frees these sources. Besides, smartphones work in another way.
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This one has been identified to be unsuitable for a very long time. Again in 2016, an Apple government confirmed there was no cause to do it. Apple’s assist web page on closing an app corroborates this, recommending it provided that an app is unresponsive. The identical goes for Android. The truth is, specialists say closing background apps in all probability makes issues worse. Smartphones are extraordinarily environment friendly with their restricted horsepower, routinely releasing up system sources by suspending apps as mandatory.
To really restrict which apps are operating within the background and consuming up sources, go to Common > Background App Refresh in your iPhone and toggle off any offending apps. On Android, go to Battery > Battery Saver and allow Adaptive Battery. If you wish to go even additional, go to the app’s setting web page and disable Enable background utilization. Simply remember that this might trigger notification issues.
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Charging in a single day hurts battery longevity
Typically, a fantasy begins nearly as good recommendation, then time goes by, and it turns into problematic. You have in all probability been instructed by tech-savvy individuals through the years that leaving your telephone plugged in in a single day will damage the battery. It was that your telephone was successfully topping itself off nonstop all through the evening — dropping from 100% to 99%, charging again as much as 100%, and advert nauseam — which is dangerous information for a lithium-ion battery’s well being. These days, although, optimized battery charging modes are commonplace.
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Optimized charging needs to be enabled by default, however simply in case, head to Settings > Battery > Charging and allow Optimized Battery Charging on iPhone. On Android, it is in Settings > Battery > Charging optimization. Your telephone learns out of your each day sleep schedule, charging as much as 80%, then ready to cost the remainder of the best way a couple of minutes earlier than you get up.
Actually, the larger challenge right here is that folks should not be charging their telephones to 100% and letting them drop to 0%. Lithium-ion batteries final the longest if you maintain them within the Goldilocks zone of 20% to 80% — or, for those who’re particularly devoted, 40% to 80%. Hopefully, new revolutionary battery applied sciences will make all this fussing with charging optimization a factor of the previous.
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Solely same-brand-name chargers (and cables) are secure to make use of
One more piece of knowledge that, if somebody instructed you this 15 years in the past, was in all probability true to an extent. Telephone producers used to ship proprietary charging bricks and cables with their gadgets and infrequently really helpful solely charging with same-brand {hardware} for security causes. Maybe you heard a secondhand story or two of somebody’s telephone dying after plugging right into a thriller charger. Occasions have modified.
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These days, you possibly can cost an iPhone or Android machine with out the proprietary brick or cable. Smartphones have improved drastically, with built-in protections to stop battery injury if a brick helps the next cost stage than the telephone. It is solely if you want fast-charge speeds that utilizing the best brick issues.
The actual challenge is utilizing low-cost bricks and cables from questionable corporations. In different phrases, perhaps skip that $5 charger you discovered on the gasoline station or on Alibaba. Purchase from a highly-rated third-party model like Anker. Put money into that iPhone 3-in-1 charger, and your telephone will thanks for it. This goes double for a wi-fi charger, which will be dangerous in your telephone’s battery even when it is a brand-name product.
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Any app from the Google Play Retailer or App Retailer is secure to obtain
One factor that almost all definitely just isn’t a fantasy is how harmful it’s to click on on unknown obtain hyperlinks. All it takes is opening one malicious executable in your desktop pc to blow the doorways extensive open for a hacker. Luckily, smartphones get most of their apps from the tightly regulated, carefully managed Google Play Retailer and Apple App Retailer, in order that they’re secure … proper? Not precisely.
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For years, each app shops have been negligent sufficient to permit outright malware and scams to be distributed by means of their platforms. In 2024, Zscaler discovered 90 malicious functions that had gotten 5.5 million downloads on the Google Play Retailer — and this is just one report in 2024. The state of affairs is not essentially higher on Apple’s famously strict App Retailer. In 2019, 18 malware-laden apps slipped by means of Apple’s defenses. In 2021, The Washington Publish reported that 2% of the highest 1,000 App Retailer apps had been successfully scams. We might maintain giving examples, however the proof makes the purpose: simply because an app is on the official retailer doesn’t suggest it is secure.
The takeaway right here is to “drive defensively” on-line. Keep away from the worst cybersecurity errors, whether or not it is utilizing easy passwords or thoughtlessly clicking on hyperlinks. Test an app’s person opinions and use widespread sense. When you’re getting a bizarre intestine feeling, heed it and maintain your distance.
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Megapixels are all that matter
Smartphones have given DSLRs a run for his or her cash previously decade, and also you solely want a handful of images tricks to take nice photographs. Factor is, progress has stagnated. Low-cost Android telephones can take glorious pictures, whereas flagship gadgets from this yr produce solely marginally higher footage than their predecessors from 5 years in the past. Regardless of this, cameras stay the marquee promoting level of nearly each smartphone nowadays, and the massive statistic they all the time give attention to is the megapixel depend. For the layman, it appears pretty simple: extra megapixels, higher footage. However this is not essentially true.
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Extra megapixels do produce greater, extra detailed photographs. Zooming in, you will see that extra element in a 24 MP image in comparison with a 12 MP one. Nonetheless, what actually makes a superb smartphone image is the onboard processing. The Google Pixel would not essentially have the most important or greatest digital camera sensor, however it did win the highest three spots in Marques Brownlee’s blind smartphone digital camera take a look at.
It is not about how a lot cash you spend, both. The $1,200 Sony Xperia 1 V produced among the worst portrait pictures in Brownlee’s testing. On the finish of the day, what issues is selecting a smartphone with processing that produces footage you want, not a smartphone with top-of-the-line digital camera specs.
Enabling airplane mode expenses your telephone sooner
Except for having a telephone that helps quick charging, there’s not a lot else you are able to do to hurry up charging. That’s (some may say) until you disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, activate low energy mode, set display screen brightness as little as it should go — and most significantly, activate airplane mode. Airplane mode is touted as a one-tap solution to do most of that with out making a shortcut or altering an entire bunch of settings that you will have to revert later. Or is it?
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CNET examined this concept method again in 2014. In response to them, enabling airplane mode solely lowered charging time by about 4 minutes, and in some circumstances, 11 minutes. That may appear to be an open-and-shut case, however there are a few issues to contemplate.
One, airplane mode is not technically charging your telephone sooner. It disables settings (like Wi-Fi and mobile) that devour power, permitting extra energy to go towards charging. However these settings are going to devour various quantities of power relying on how robust your Wi-Fi and mobile sign is in a given place. Two, this take a look at was performed 10 years in the past. Smartphones have change into rather more environment friendly since then, and the take a look at would have to be replicated on dozens of contemporary smartphone fashions to succeed in a definitive conclusion. Lastly, most smartphones take about an hour to cost anyway — making an 11-minute enchancment nearly negligible — and you would be robbed of the smartphone’s performance within the meantime.
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Blue gentle retains you awake
Over the previous decade or so, it is come to gentle (pun supposed) that blue gentle out of your telephone’s display screen disrupts your circadian rhythm, making it tough to go to sleep after publicity to it. To fight this, smartphone producers launched darkish mode and options like Night time Shift on iPhone that give your display screen an orange hue that will help you sleep higher. It appeared like we had the issue solved — till current analysis. A 2019 research by the College of Manchester recommended that blue gentle has much less affect on sleeping patterns than yellow gentle, and a 2023 research revealed in Nature Human Habits concurred. We could have gone on this blue-light-eradicating craze based mostly fully on earlier, misunderstood analysis.
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So what’s holding us awake, then? Quick reply: screens, no matter coloration. It is smart when you consider it. Gentle (just like the solar) tells your physique to get up and be alert, so shining a brilliant gentle in your face — your display screen — clearly is not going that will help you really feel sleepy. Get away from these screens a few hours earlier than bedtime. Learn a ebook, hearken to some enjoyable music, and provides your poor eyes a break for as soon as.
5G can damage you
When 5G began rolling out in 2019, it was presupposed to revolutionize cell knowledge. As an alternative, many individuals disable it as a result of it drains battery. What 5G did revolutionize, nonetheless, was a brand new period of disinformation — significantly the scary concept that 5G emits harmful radiation that causes most cancers and complications. To all of the individuals who consider this, let’s be abundantly clear: 5G has no confirmed, conclusive adverse well being results. None. Nada. Zilch.
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Some research have claimed to discover a hyperlink between 5G and potential well being points, however they have not been replicated sufficient and are sometimes contradicted by different research. This is not to say extra analysis will not change the paradigm later, however extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. A raft of impartial, replicable research could be wanted earlier than anybody can credibly declare that 5G is dangerous. Anybody who champions the declare of hurt regardless of that is both appearing in dangerous religion or is dangerously misinformed.
People have been uncovered to electromagnetic radiation from cell towers (and plenty of, many different sources) for many years, and there is nonetheless no proof that it is hurting us. When you’re anxious about dangerous radiation, then you might be a lot better off specializing in sporting sunscreen. The proof is indeniable: UV rays from the solar injury your DNA and enhance your pores and skin most cancers danger.
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Public Wi-Fi is inherently unsafe to make use of
By no means open banking apps or delicate accounts on public Wi-Fi, individuals usually say, until you are utilizing a VPN. In any other case, hackers will intercept your data, steal your cash, and go away you excessive and dry. Besides … no, not likely. This was true when HTTP (unencrypted internet site visitors) was the norm and Wi-Fi protocols had been weak. Lately, the overwhelming majority of internet sites use HTTPS (encrypted internet site visitors), and most internet browsers warn you earlier than connecting to an unencrypted web site. Additional, trendy gadgets notify you if the community safety is weak. Utilizing HTTPS on correctly configured Wi-Fi networks is usually sufficient to remain secure on public Wi-Fi.
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The actual risk is not hackers lurking on reliable public Wi-Fi networks — it is hackers pretending to be reliable public Wi-Fi networks. This is named an “evil twin” assault. In response to NordVPN, hackers go to locations with free public Wi-Fi and create a false community with the very same identify — or higher but, present a free community the place none exists.
When you hook up with an evil twin, the hacker redirects you to pretend web sites that mimic those you utilize, like your electronic mail or checking account. They skim your credentials if you attempt to log in, utilizing them to entry your accounts. Evil twins pop up anyplace you’d anticipate finding free Wi-Fi — airports, universities, even your close by Starbucks — and it is nearly unimaginable to distinguish a official community from an evil twin. Principally, it’s best to keep away from public Wi-Fi as a lot as fairly doable. If you cannot keep away from it, at the very least do not log in to delicate accounts or providers whereas utilizing it.
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You’ll want to put your telephone in airplane mode throughout a flight
Except for placing luggage underneath seats, buckling up, and watching drained flight attendants educate you easy methods to strap on an oxygen masks, you recognize you will inevitably be required to place your telephone in airplane mode. We have been instructed for years that cellphone alerts intervene with delicate tools, conjuring a scary picture of the aircraft dropping out of the sky simply since you had been too lazy to toggle it on. However is there any fact to this? No, not likely. In response to CNN, smartphones not set to airplane mode do not pose a risk to the airplane’s signal-sensitive gear. There was some concern within the early days of cellphones about this theoretical interference, however research have but to exhibit any points — even after the rollout of 5G, which has to date confirmed innocent regardless of its proximity to airline frequencies.
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One cause for airplane mode could also be to keep away from disrupting the flight crew. In response to Britannica, smartphones sometimes provoke audio artifacts that, whereas not dangerous to the aircraft, can annoy the pilots. One more reason could also be to stop thoughtless individuals from being extra disruptive than they already are. Think about how annoying it might be to have an entire bunch of loud, chatty passengers taking calls throughout a flight that is already uncomfortable. It is a recipe for so-called “air rage.”
The EU has already allowed in-flight telephone utilization, so it might solely be a matter of time earlier than the parable will get debunked and the U.S. permits the identical. Till then, the most important cause to allow airplane mode (except for complying with the flight crew) is to avoid wasting your battery. Your telephone wastes a ton of power looking for alerts, which might go away you with a lifeless battery on arrival.
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You needn’t restart your telephone
We have mentioned how environment friendly telephones are and why it is pointless to shut background apps until they’re misbehaving. However this has led to a different fantasy that requires debunking: your telephone by no means must be restarted apart from updates. This is not true. Telephones, like computer systems, have apps that undergo reminiscence leaks, expertise bugs, and do not all the time reach clearing RAM or resolving points. These issues can accumulate and worsen efficiency. Restarting is a fast and simple solution to clean up a sluggish telephone.
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So how usually do you have to restart? About as soon as per week is right. It solely takes a minute, so set a reminder to take action every weekend. One more reason for this weekly restart comes from the NSA. Ostensibly, sure kinds of cyberattacks will be thwarted simply by powering off commonly. Restarting retains your telephone quick and guarded in a single easy step.
Updating your telephone slows it down
We saved the most effective for final: The largest fantasy that wants debunking is that this – updating your telephone slows it down. Through the years, we have seen numerous seeming confirmations that smartphone producers quietly gradual older gadgets in an effort to get individuals to purchase new ones. Apple famously obtained busted massive time with “Batterygate,” the place it confirmed it was slowing down older iPhones. Many individuals took this as a cue to cease updating their telephones to stop being throttled by software program updates. Nonetheless, this fantasy is a misunderstanding of a well-intentioned determination, and heeding it places you in grave digital hazard.
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It is arduous to defend Apple’s anti-consumer practices, however so far as Batterygate goes, they had been in the best. Worn-out batteries in previous gadgets do not simply lose capability; additionally they put out much less present, which might trigger random shutdowns. To stop this, Apple underclocked older gadgets. Changing the battery on an previous machine is all it takes to convey it again to most efficiency.
Updates do not simply embody new options and bug fixes — additionally they patch identified vulnerabilities. Failing to replace places you on the mercy of hackers, who scan for susceptible gadgets inside quarter-hour of a vulnerability changing into public. Lastly, the apps you utilize will ultimately drop assist for outdated working programs. Belief us, updating your telephone is in your greatest curiosity.
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