YouTube video goes viral for drying iPhones when played

Let’s say you dropped water on your iPhone. Should you bury it in rice? Perhaps you should leave it to dry? Millions worldwide would play a YouTube video.

Surprisingly, some people play “Sound To Remove Water From Phone Speaker ( GUARANTEED )” on the video app to push water out of their devices.

It came out on February 29, 2020, and has gained 45,372,578 at the time of writing. However, note that The Verge got mixed results from the video when they tested the clip.

What’s the secret behind this YouTube video?

The video makes your speakers push air, taking water with it. Eric Freeman, a senior research director at the audio equipment company Bose, shared an explanation:

“The lowest tone that that speaker can reproduce, at the loudest level that it can play,” he told The Verge.

“That will create the most air motion, which will push on the water that’s trapped inside the phone. So those YouTube videos, it’s not, like really deep base. But it’s in the low range of where a phone is able to make a sound.”

READ: How to make your first YouTube video

Device repair website iFixit’s representatives, lead teardown engineer Shahram Mokhtari and Chayton Ritter from the editorial department, tested the YouTube video.

They used an iPhone 13 and non-Apple devices Google Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 3, and a Nokia 7.1. Consequently, they found that the video does eject water from devices, but some didn’t release enough to dry completely.

How do you dry an iPhone?

Most know the lifehack of burying phones in rice to dry them. However, Apple warned rice could damage your device further by coming into contact with its internal components. 

You can try the YouTube video instead or use these steps from the official support page: 

1. Tap your iPhone gently against your hand with the connector facing down to remove excess liquid. 
2. Then, leave your iPhone in a dry area with some airflow.
3. Charge your iPhone with a USB-C or Lightning cable or link with an accessory.
4. If the phone flashes the “Liquid detected in Lightning Connector” or “Liquid Detected” alerts, your wet iPhone still has liquid in its connector. Leave your device in a dry area with some airflow for a day.
5. Next, charge it with a cable or accessory.
6. If the phone is dry but still doesn’t charge, unplug the cable from the adapter, unplug the adapter from the wall, and then reconnect it.

The tech giant discourages users from drying their phones with external heat or compressed air. Also, avoid using paper towels, cotton swabs, and other foreign objects on your iPhone.