Why is my phone overheating and how can I stop from happening?

What factors make a smartphone prone to overheating?

First thing first, let’s explore some of the critical factors that tend to cause overheating issues to mobile phones. Please note that a little hike in the temperature of your smartphone is normal but if you feel your phone is “really hot”, this is when you should take notice and look for ways to cool down it down.

Here are some of the crucial factors that cause overheating to your smartphone.

Direct exposure to sunlight and warm environment

It is most likely you have already observed the intense heat sunlight causes your phone upon  sunlight is the most common cause of overheating, so do not forget to cover your mobile phone whenever you go outside.

Apart from sun exposure, your mobile phone can also overheat by just sitting in warm environments for prolonged periods of time, so watch out and keep your device out of the heat!

How to calculate your phone’s temperature

After going through a range of factors that may cause over-heating, another thing that is good to know is how to find out your phone’s temperature. In the case of Android phones, this is actually pretty simple with battery optimization apps available on Google Play Store. Just install any one of these apps and get onto checking your phone’s temperature as the good weather continues!

Methods to stop your phone from getting hot

After you are done with the diagnosis and now know you do indeed have an over-heating issue you can follow these methods to avoid it happening again:

Charge your phone correctly

Did you know that using your phone while charging causes your mobile phone to produce more heat? You can   leaving your smartphone alone while it is getting charged.

Secondly, usage of an incompatible charger with a smartphone also makes it prone to overheating. Some strong charging units/adapters are designed for specific mobile phones and the use of different ones can cause these issues.

Avoid exposure of mobile phone to direct sunlight

As mentioned above sun and phones do not get along. Make a habit of avoiding having your mobile phone in direct sunlight - like leaving your mobile phone on a chair outside. Mobiles don’t like this. Don’t do it.

Use low brightness

High brightness when exposed to direct sunlight will produce also more heat. So always set brightness to its low setting when in the warm. If you face difficulty seeing the screen with low brightness, we would advise you to invest in an anti-glare screen to avoid this issue as well.

Close unused apps

Your phone’s processor tends to release more heat when it works at its full capacity when multiple apps are running concurrently. For example, if you are not using certain opened tabs on the browser then get these tabs closed. Moreover, we would specifically advise you to close processor-intensive apps like heavy video games before you put your mobile on charging – this can make a big difference. Android phone users can also get help from certain third-party apps available on Play Store that automatically put the unused applications on 'sleep’ mode, saving your battery life and most crucially decreasing the likelihood of it overheating.

Install antivirus software

If you own an Android phone and it somehow developed an over-heating issue out of nowhere, then it is possible that your Android could be damaged through some sort of virus or malware. So, to eradicate this option entirely it is better to install anti-virus software just to be sure.

Keep your phone’s apps updated

Another one to watch if your phone starts to overheat for no apparent reason then it may be possible that it could be affected by a bug from an old app. Always maintain your phone’s apps by keeping them up to date with their latest versions. This is crucial to avoid overheating issues and allow you to get the best performance out of your mobile phone.

Turn off Unnecessary settings

Several phone settings, like GPS and Bluetooth, cause your phone’s processor to “  can lead to overheating issues. To prevent this, always remember to turn off energy-draining settings.

Try not to use the mobile phone’s camera too much

Sometimes, you see a system message on your mobile screen which states, “phone overheats camera” and even with the best camera phones you may encounter this issue. This issue usually happens when you keep on using camera for a continuous long duration video. So, if your smartphone is overheating and you have been capturing video for more than 5 minutes, stop the video recording and close the camera app sharpish.

Wrapping it up

Mobile phone overheating is not an alarming issue in most cases but could potentially be life threatening. So, make a habit of following all the hacks mentioned in this guide to save your phone (and maybe even yourself!).