Summertime means spending more time outdoors, and a connected society means we bring our devices with us wherever we go. This can present problems, though, as the sun, heat, and the elements can cause harm to our precious gadgets; they can overheat with prolonged exposure to the sun, the screen can be hard to read due to sun glare, and there’s always the risk of dropping your device in sand or in the water while at the beach. Don’t worry, there are simple remedies and quick fixes to get your device working properly again. Let’s take a look:
Preventing Overheating
So you’re listening to music at the beach and, all of a sudden, your cell phone or other device gets really hot and presents a notification saying that it’s overheating. This has happened to me quite a few times, but there is a quick remedy. Assuming you brought a beach bag and towels, shirts, or other articles of clothing, put your phone in the bag and put an article of clothing on top of it. Leave it in there for a half hour or so, or until the overheating alert goes away. This will keep your device out of the sun and the article of clothing will absorb the heat, giving your device a chance to cool down. If you’re comfortable leaving your device hidden in the bag, or if you trust someone in your party to guard your belongings, take a quick dip in the water while you wait for the device to cool down. If not, you may choose to disconnect for a bit so you can focus on your tan, read, or even take a quick nap (just be careful so as to not burn yourself!). In any case, your device will be ready to use soon enough, so you can get back to your tunes!
Overcoming a glare
Similarly, we all know how difficult it can be to read the screen on your device while in direct sunlight. Whether you’re reading an ebook on your tablet, or messaging or using social media on your cell phone, the sun can get in the way, causing a glare. And don’t even try to use your device if you’re wearing sunglasses… it just won’t work. So what can you do? Lucky for you, there are a few options to overcome a glare on your screen so you can reconnect. First, you might want to try increasing the brightness. It’s worth noting, though, that having your device at full brightness can kill your battery faster. You may also choose to invert the colors on your screen (i.e., a black background with white text). To do this, go into your device’s Accessibility settings. For iPhones and iPads running iOS 11 or later, go into Settings > General > Accessibility > Display Accommodations > Invert Colors. Click on “Invert Colors” and select either “Smart Invert” or “Classic Invert”. For Android devices running Android 5.0 and higher, go to Settings > Accessibility > Color Inversion. This also makes using your device at night easier on your eyes because, instead of a bright white screen burning your retinas, it’s a more inviting black screen. Another option is to buy an anti-glare screen cover that has a matte finish They usually cost around $10 or so and you should buy one when you have the time. In the meantime, just play around with either of the previous two options until you find a comfortable screen setting that’s easy on your eyes.
Repairing sand and/or water damage
Unfortunately, you may accidentally drop your device in the sand or water, which can cause damage. Sand can scratch your screen and even work its way into the charging port and/or headphone jack. For this, we suggest getting a screen protector which will bear the brunt of the damage. This protective cover will scratch and crack before your device’s physical screen does. To get sand out of the port or jack, we suggest using a pressurized air duster to force out the sand. For water damage, the first thing to do is, obviously, to immediately remove the phone from the water. Refrain from plugging it in to charge, as doing so can cause it to short circuit, effectively “bricking” the device. If the device is in a case, which it should be, take off the case and remove the SIM card using a deconstructed paperclip or other small, cylindrical apparatus to open up the SIM card slot. Next, place your device in a bowl of uncooked rice overnight or, if for some reason you have them laying around, surround your device with those indedible silica gel packets you commonly find in a box of recently purchased shoes. These draw out moisture to keep your articles of clothing safe from humidity. After letting your device dry out overnight, put in the SIM card and try turning on to see if it works. If it powers on and seems to work fine, or if it doesn’t work at all, you may want to take it to the Apple store for iPhones or to your phone’s data carrier store. There they will have tools to open up the device and inspect the inside to either rule out water damage or tell you that, unfortunately, the damage is extensive and you should look at purchasing a new or refurbished model. If the latter is true, you’d better hope you have a recent backup of the device’s data on your computer or in the cloud.
Using your devices at the beach can be risky. Hey, stuff happens, from overheating, to a glare problem, to even sand or water damage. There are remedies to fix these problems, though, so all is not lost. For all your IT and device needs, questions, comments, and concerns, contact M&H Consulting by phone at 1-(866)-964-8324, or visit our website at http://www.mhconsults.com.
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