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 40 points 4 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 13 points 4 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 38 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Now I feel silly for eating all those packets

[–] PlasticExistence@lemmy.world 22 points 4 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] lowleveldata@programming.dev 13 points 4 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 4 months ago (1 children)

And here I thought they went in the pee hole

[–] BBQThunder@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

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

[–] Lmaydev@programming.dev 2 points 4 months ago

Boofing is always better

[–] Chef@sh.itjust.works 30 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Just pick up one of these:

[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 25 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] bandwidthcrisis@lemmy.world 7 points 4 months ago

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

[–] atrielienz@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago (1 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.

[–] RedAggroBest@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It's jerkey, specifically dried meat, pretty sure they're silica packets

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[–] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 25 points 4 months ago

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

[–] creed10@lemmy.world 21 points 4 months ago

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

[–] LemmyFeed@lemmy.world 20 points 4 months ago

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

[–] cholesterol@lemmy.world 16 points 4 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 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 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

[–] grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world 16 points 4 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.

[–] uphillbothways@kbin.social 14 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 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 8 points 4 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 23 points 4 months ago (1 children)

IPhone wave. A 4chan trolling campaign.

[–] jcg@halubilo.social 7 points 4 months ago

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

[–] turbowafflz@lemmy.world 13 points 4 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 8 points 4 months ago

clog ports and speakers

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[–] LanternEverywhere@kbin.social 13 points 4 months ago (3 children)

But I thought silica packets stop doing anything once they've absorbed moisture, and so aren't reusable once they've been exposed to normal air moisture. Is that not right?

[–] AtmaJnana@lemmy.world 8 points 4 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 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

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

there are dozens of us...DOZENS!

[–] LanternEverywhere@kbin.social 1 points 4 months ago (2 children)
[–] AtmaJnana@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Keeping things dry. Mostly electronics and machine parts.

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[–] Tristaniopsis@aussie.zone 13 points 4 months ago (2 children)

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

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[–] Donk240978@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 4 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 6 points 4 months ago

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

[–] BeatTakeshi@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

How will I make puffed rice now?

[–] sbv@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 months ago

What about puffed silica packet? Delicious with mustard.

[–] WolfLink@lemmy.ml 4 points 4 months ago

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

[–] MonkderZweite@feddit.ch 3 points 4 months ago (4 children)

Wouldn't salt be better anyway?

[–] Lmaydev@programming.dev 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Better at drying it or damaging it with tiny particles?

[–] MonkderZweite@feddit.ch 1 points 4 months ago

Right, salt is ionic.

[–] Infiltrated_ad8271@kbin.social 2 points 4 months ago

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

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[–] Teknikal@lemm.ee 2 points 4 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.

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