this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2024
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What you should not do:

Experts have for years pointed out that’s a bad idea – and now Apple is officially warning users not to do it.

“Don’t put your iPhone in a bag of rice. Doing so could allow small particles of rice to damage your iPhone,” the company says in a recent support note spotted by Macworld. Along with the risk of damage, testing has suggested uncooked rice is not particularly effective at drying the device.

What you should do:

If your phone isn’t functioning at all, turn it off right away and don’t press any buttons. The next steps depend on your specific circumstances, but broadly speaking: dry it with a towel and put it in an airtight container packed with silica packets if you have them. Don’t charge it until you’re sure it’s dry.

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[–] tabular@lemmy.world 55 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Stop putting your wet iPhone in rice, says Apple. Instead buy a new one because we make repairing it artificially expensive by restricting the manufactures from selling parts and we just replace the whole motherboard every time!

[–] Evilcoleslaw@lemmy.world 15 points 9 months ago

Last I heard Apple won't even do out of warranty repair work if the device is water damaged. They just tell you to buy a new one.

[–] itsgroundhogdayagain@lemmy.ml 50 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Now I feel silly for eating all those packets

[–] PlasticExistence@lemmy.world 28 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You should! They're meant to be crushed and snorted.

[–] lowleveldata@programming.dev 16 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Oh no! I have been doing it wrong all the time shoving it up my ass

[–] Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

And here I thought they went in the pee hole

[–] BBQThunder@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

Whoa, man. Way too far, there. Just freebase that shit like all the cool 90s kids!

[–] Lmaydev@programming.dev 2 points 9 months ago

Boofing is always better

[–] Chef@sh.itjust.works 42 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Just pick up one of these:

[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 35 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] bandwidthcrisis@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

One day I'm going to make my fortune by writing a silica gel recipe book.

[–] atrielienz@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Oxygen absorber absorbs oxygen but not air or moisture whereas silica gel absorb moisture. Therefore, oxygen absorber is recommended if we want to maintain the level of humidity in the packaging and extend the freshness of food product.

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[–] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 32 points 9 months ago

I'll be honest, I half expected them to start selling apple brand "high absorbancy" rice.

[–] LemmyFeed@lemmy.world 24 points 9 months ago

Haha yeah right. That's just what big silica wants you to think.

[–] cholesterol@lemmy.world 24 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Given that iPhones have had at least IP67 rating since 2016, you probably just want to dry it off and move on.

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 6 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

The problem is rice getting jammed in the usb port when the phone refuses to charge with a warning the port is too wet to charge

[–] uphillbothways@kbin.social 24 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Everyone knows the appropriate solution is drying the device in your microwave.
-brought to you by terrible advice duck or whatever

[–] jerrythegenius@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Wasn't there something with the iphone 5 where people thought they could charge it in the microwave?

[–] SkyezOpen@lemmy.world 33 points 9 months ago (1 children)

IPhone wave. A 4chan trolling campaign.

[–] jcg@halubilo.social 11 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Man, I can't believe people fell for this. Seeing it now, the copy on the "ad" is just horrendous.

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[–] creed10@lemmy.world 22 points 9 months ago

I was almost convinced the answer was going to be "buy a new iphone"

[–] LanternEverywhere@kbin.social 20 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

But silica packets stop doing anything once they've absorbed moisture, and so aren't reusable once they've been exposed to normal air moisture. (Unless you've baked them to reactivate them). Is that not right? Because basically no one has a box full of re-baked silica packets hanging around ready for emergency usage.

[–] AtmaJnana@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Hey it's me. I'm the guy with a bunch of bags of re-baked silica packets. I'm sure I'm in a minority, though.

[–] DreadPotato@sopuli.xyz 6 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I have 1kg of silica beads I reuse all the time.

there are dozens of us...DOZENS!

[–] LanternEverywhere@kbin.social 2 points 9 months ago (4 children)
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[–] HorreC@kbin.social 2 points 9 months ago

I have like a gallon bucket of the stuff right now, Mind you its for drying out filament (3d printer), but if you are near and got a wet phone, look me up.

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[–] grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world 20 points 9 months ago (1 children)

For years, I've saved every silica packet in a coffee can. I stopped a while ago since I have a liter of them and the can is full.

Works great for drying things out.

I realize this is the advice in the article but wanted to point out that they build up quickly and come in just about everything that isn't food these days.

[–] Tristaniopsis@aussie.zone 15 points 9 months ago (2 children)

SHOVE IT UP YOUR ARSE FOLLOWED BY AT LEAST 6.5 SLICES OF TOASTED SOURDOUGH.

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[–] turbowafflz@lemmy.world 15 points 9 months ago (13 children)

How exactly do small particles of rice damage a cell phone? I can't think of any realistic way for that to happen

[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 9 months ago

clog ports and speakers

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[–] Donk240978@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 9 months ago (5 children)

I found if the car is nearby, place the wet phone over the windscreen de-mister vent and then run the aircon through that vent. Doesn't have to be hot air to dry it as long as the compressor for the aircon is running... Aircon dries out the air before blowing it through the cabin so you will have bone dry air circulating around the phone pulling the moisture out by evaporation. About 10 mins is plenty. Best done idling in the shade. Don't want to sun damage the phone while trying dry it out...

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[–] JaymesRS@literature.cafe 7 points 9 months ago

I have been putting the rice in the phone. That must have been the problem.

[–] WolfLink@lemmy.ml 6 points 9 months ago

Good thing I have just as many silica packets lying around as I do rice…

[–] BeatTakeshi@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

How will I make puffed rice now?

[–] sbv@sh.itjust.works 4 points 9 months ago

What about puffed silica packet? Delicious with mustard.

[–] MonkderZweite@feddit.ch 3 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Wouldn't salt be better anyway?

[–] Lmaydev@programming.dev 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Better at drying it or damaging it with tiny particles?

[–] MonkderZweite@feddit.ch 2 points 9 months ago

Right, salt is ionic.

[–] lud@lemm.ee 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Here, restaurants sometimes (honestly pretty rare) put rice in the salt dispensers to keep the salt dry, so I doubt salt is great at that.

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

Salt absorbs water, and then it does something called caking. Which means it glues into large clumps of crystal when wet then dried, instead of reverting to tiny cubes. The idea of the rice has nothing to do with moisture but to prevent the clumps after the salt dries with a physical barrier. If you shake it in place after it dries, the rice also mechanically break the lumps. It's an old restaurant trick because they use commercial table salt, which is specifically made for and restaurants has no anticaking agents (usually some form of silicate) and no iodine, so it's taste is not metallic. That's how all salt used to be. But modern household table salt does include it, and as result doesn't cake and it remains granular no matter the moist.

[–] Infiltrated_ad8271@kbin.social 3 points 9 months ago

If they were to recommend it, I'm sure there would be people who would end up breading it with salt.

[–] Teknikal@lemm.ee 3 points 9 months ago

I've kinda figured out from YouTube repair videos Immediately disconnecting the battery then using pure alcohol and cleaning the components is probably the best solution.

Unfortunately by the stage I could even open my phone and remove the battery it would probably be wrecked anyway by my attempt to do so.

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 3 points 9 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


No matter how your phone gets soaked – you’re caught in a downpour, you drop it in the bath or you fall in a pool – perhaps the best-known folk remedy is to put the device in a bag of rice.

Doing so could allow small particles of rice to damage your iPhone,” the company says in a recent support note spotted by Macworld.

Along with the risk of damage, testing has suggested uncooked rice is not particularly effective at drying the device.

The fix may have its origins in the history of photography: the Verge traces the method back as far as 1946 as a way to maintain your camera.

The next steps depend on your specific circumstances, but broadly speaking: dry it with a towel and put it in an airtight container packed with silica packets if you have them.

There are a few more instructions for iPhones dropped in water that are worth memorizing – because even if many of today’s phones are water-resistant, liquid disaster has a way of sneaking up on you.


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