What the heat does to your phone

Phones, tablets, and laptops left out in the heat can all be impacted by heat. The internal components of your phone or any device will become damaged, causing data loss, dead batteries, and in some cases the lithium battery will leak, or bubble up and expand or explode. Not only is this damaging to your device – for obvious reasons – it can be damaging to you. Un-anticipated explosions generally don’t mix well with much. Luckily, a large portion of phones out today have a warning screen to let you know before this happens.

Keeping your phone cool

If you’d like to never see that screen (or if you see it and want to know how to fix it) here are a few steps to take to ensure the safety of your device, and yourself.

1. Avoid leaving your device in your car. Heat rises much fast on the inside of a closed up car. Make sure your devices are not left behind, and don’t forget about your GPS!
2. Turn your device off, or turn off any apps, Bluetooth, wifi, or LTE. iPhones are programmed to do some of this when the initial warning screen comes on. However, if you need your device on and the temperature is rising, closing any unnecessary programs will let the battery relax a little, and not heat up so quickly.
3. Keep your devices separate. Carrying around your iPad, iPhone, and GPS in your bag? Keeping them all together is bound to conduct more heat than just your phone. Try to keep them as separate as possible to allow maximum air flow to each device.
4. Don’t cool it too fast. If your phone overheats, your initial reaction is going to be to rush it to the coldest place you can find. However, rushing the cooling process can cause condensation to get trapped on the inside of the devices and inevitably, water damage.

Preventative products and accessories

Surprisingly, there are very limited temperature resistant cases out there. Even the Otterbox, that makes cases that protect your phone from nearly everything, doesn’t have a heat resistant option.

I eventually found a company called Salt that makes the first thermally-protective cases for Apple products that are resilient to extreme heat AND cold. Their stylish thermal technology was inspired by NASA spacecrafts designed to withstand the heat of a launch, and the cold of outer space. Hopefully they start making cases for ALL devices soon!

When the going gets hot

If your device does overheat make sure you do not touch it. It can burn you. Try following the steps above to cool it down. If the battery does leak, you will begin to notice corrosion coming out of the battery compartment, or on the battery itself inside the compartment. The bad news is after battery leakage occurs, it’s difficult to ensure no other part of your phone is damaged. Cleaning so close to the inside is likely to cause water damage – and where you can’t reach with your cleaner, the acid probably did already and is wreaking damage on your phone’s components.

The good news is that at Gazelle, we don’t mind! We will still purchase your phone from you, so you don’t have to worry about the hot, hundred dollar mistake you made. You can use the trade-in to purchase a nice [cold] new phone.

What are some ways that you keep your phone cool and calm?

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The post Temperature Warning: How to Protect Your Phone From the Heat Allison Smith appeared first on Gazelle The Horn.

After countless instances of pulling my phone away from my face to find a thin layer of my makeup on my phone, or a sweaty cheek print after leaving the gym, I decided that maybe my phone isn’t as clean as I thought it might be and decided to look into it.

The Dirty Truth

I’m horrified to tell you that I was correct. Phones are disgusting. I came across a study on The Ministry of Health conducted by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine that tested phones for germs and stated:

“Lab tests of phones have found staphylococci, e-coli and MRSA bacteria, flu viruses, pink-eye and 27- to 42- thousand times the amount of fecal-related bacteria that is allowed in one ½ cup of drinking water.”

What is even scarier is the ease of which these germs transfer to your hands, and inevitably your mouth, eyes, and everywhere else. GROSS. The good news is there are plenty of ways to prevent this bacteria playground from forming and growing.

How-To- DIY Style

What you’ll need: A lint-free microfiber cloth, Q-tips, isopropyl alcohol, and water.

1. Take off your phone cover and screen protector if you have them. There is no cheating in this cleaning game, and these phone accessories should be cleaned too.
2. Dilute the alcohol to roughly 60% water and 40% alcohol.
3. Dampen your cloth with the solution and wipe down your entire phone. For smaller areas dampen a Q-tip and wipe those areas. Do use caution to not overly soak your Q-tip and cloth, or use too much force reaching areas. It could mush water inside the phone and cause irreversible damage to components inside the phone.

Things to keep in mind: Don’t put any liquid directly on your phone. Water damage can and will happen and can be even more of a headache. Window and other glass cleaner contains harsh chemicals that can damage your touch screen, and using a paper towel instead of a lint-free microfiber cloth can scratch the surface.

How-To- Lazy (and poorer) Man’s Way

There are some products out there to make this process a little less painful. Wireless Wipes are pre-packaged, scented, cleaning wipes designed for your phone. At around $3 per pouch it’s not bad.

How-To- The Cream of the Cleaning Crop

For those germaphobes that I have officially terrified to no end, I introduce you to the Phone Soap Charger. This $60 device uses UV-C light to destroy bacteria on your device, while also charging it! It even gets those nasty germs that have become resilient to chemicals and other cleaning methods.

Preventing the Problem

While cleaning your phone is absolutely something you should be doing, there are things you can do to keep germs off your phone from the get-go. Keep your hands clean, wash them frequently. DO NOT bring your phone into a bathroom, or a gym. Try to refrain from sharing your phone with other people. Susie may want to talk on your phone, but she doesn’t want your face germs, I PROMISE.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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The post Cleaning Your Cell Phone: The filthy reality Allison Smith appeared first on Gazelle The Horn.

For the over-full mailbox- PaperKarma- Free

This app allows you to finally get rid of all that pesky junk mail you receive everyday in your mailbox, and cuts down on the amount of paper you throw away without a second glance. It’s also insanely simple. All you do is snap a photo of your unwanted junk mail, submit it through the app, and POOF, just like magic you are off whatever horrible list you accidentally signed yourself up for. If only they did this for email.

For an over-all green upgrade- Zero Carbon- Free

Curious about your carbon footprint, and ways to improve it? ZeroCarbon can tell you, and show you tactics to tackle your emissions down to nothing. Enter your information into the calculator, and the app does the rest for you.

Don’t know your exact electrical consumption? Neither do I! ZeroCarbon can fill in the average for you based on you location. Once your CO₂ emissions are calculated, you can pull up the “Reduce” tab, and discover ways in which you can lower your number, and how much it would be lowered by.

On top of that, this app can answer questions for you such as: What exactly is a carbon footprint? How is this data calculated? And, What is our goal for CO₂ emissions per person? Pretty neat, if you ask me.

For the chemically conscious cleaners- Green Shine- $2.99

There are hoards of nasty, hazardous chemicals in our everyday cleaning products. Green Shine helps you find alternative ways to cleaning that are better for you and the environment.

Click through the menu to find exactly what it is you need to get done and this app will find the greenest way to do it. Usually, this involves using nontoxic, common household products you already have lying around. Who knew items like salt and vinegar could make your house glow?

For quick and environmentally friendly disposal

Did you know some of your used stuff around the house may still have some value? Services like Twice allow you to get cash for clothes you no longer wear. Gazelle helps you earn cash for electronics that are no longer good for you, but may be perfectly good for someone else. Score!

1800-Recycle helps you get rid of those items that are truely junk. When you allow this app access to your current whereabouts, a map pops up of all the closest recyclers near you and exactly what they accept. If you don’t feel like wading through every location near you, you can search their database based on what specifically you are looking to get rid of. They even give you a brief low down on the difference between Plastic 1 and Plastic 7.

These are only a few of the apps that will help you on your earth-conscious quest to be good to the enviroment. What are some of your favorites?

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The post Best Apps To Help You Be Better To The Environment Allison Smith appeared first on Gazelle The Horn.