Use Ice at the Gas Station to Keep Your Phone From Overheating on the Road

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Smartphones can do so much for us on the road: navigate with GPS, play music, and act as a mobile hotspot for kids in the back seat, all at the same time. Obviously, you’ll want to keep your phone plugged in so it can charge while you work. And then, before you even notice it, your phone will feel hot to the touch and you’ll see the dreaded “iPhone needs to cool down before you can use it” message.

Why is your phone overheating

According to Apple , the iPhone will only work properly at temperatures around 95 degrees Fahrenheit. This is a fairly typical limit for smartphones; Samsung also lists 95 degrees as the maximum operating temperature for its phones.

Phones get hot under many conditions that can occur while traveling, including:

  • Sitting in direct sunlight
  • Using “multiple apps for an extended period of time,” says Samsung
  • Using GPS (or other resource intensive applications)
  • streaming video
  • Charging, especially wireless charging

When your phone overheats, it may limit its own functions to keep the temperature down. The screen may become dimmer, apps may run slower, and your phone may stop charging. If it gets hot enough, the phone may turn off.

How to protect your phone from overheating

Now that you know what causes overheating, you can simply do less of these things. For example, if your car has built-in GPS navigation, consider using that instead of your phone’s GPS. Or turn off the GPS altogether when you know all it will tell you is that you still have 300 miles to go.

In addition to cutting down on app usage, make sure your phone is out of direct sunlight if possible.

These steps may not be possible or may not be enough to keep your phone cool, which is why you may want to create a cooling station for long summer trips.

Try These Phone Cooling Accessories

Create a cooling station for your phone

This hack was born out of desperation. I was driving through Ohio (or was it Kentucky?) and my phone kept cutting off from the heat. I have already reduced my usage as much as was practical. At the next gas station, I did the following:

  • Grabbed the biggest styrofoam cup I could find in the coffee shop.
  • Filled it about 2/3 with soda ice.
  • Chose my snacks and such and asked for a bag for my purchases (I was given an ice cup for free).

Back in the car, I put the cup of ice in the cup holder and covered the ice with a plastic bag as a moisture barrier. I shoved the phone inside, half submerged in ice. From time to time, I unplugged the charging cable and turned it upside down so that the bottom end could cool as well. This system solved the problem: my phone worked successfully for the rest of the day on the road.

You can certainly plan ahead a little better, as I did on my next trip. Use a regular ice pack, wrap it in a towel to soak up the condensation, and just place your phone on top of it if it starts to get warm. Phones can also stop working if they get too cold , but you’re not trying to actually freeze the device – just adjust the temperature a bit on a hot day.

There are also cooling fans for phones , though I haven’t personally tested them. They are popular among gamers, but with one caveat: most of them need to be connected during the game. This isn’t a problem for road trips (although that means connecting two charging cables, one for the fan and one for the phone). So consider if your phone just needs a cool breeze and not a little arctic vacation.

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