The iPhone 14 I am writing this on has been swimming. Not on purpose. My niece, age four, was very interested in whether it was waterproof. The official answer is "IP68 to 6 metres for 30 minutes", which apparently translates in toddler-language to "let us find out".
The phone survived. The speaker did not. For about 48 hours every audio call sounded like the other person was talking through a duvet. Here is what worked and, more importantly, what was a waste of time.
What does not work
Rice
This is the one everyone has heard. "Put the phone in a bag of rice overnight." Apple\'s own support guide explicitly warns against it: small grains and rice dust can get stuck in the ports, and rice absorbs water from air at roughly the same rate as nothing. Open air would do the same job.
I tried it anyway out of stubbornness. After 12 hours in rice, the speaker still sounded muffled. The rice was now slightly damp. The phone had grains of rice stuck in the Lightning port (this was a 14, so Lightning still).
Hair dryer or heat gun
Tempting. Definitely heat-related drying speeds things up. But:
- You can warp the speaker membrane.
- You can fry the battery if you hold heat on it for too long.
- You can push water deeper into the device if you blow hot air at the speaker grille.
Skip it. The damage you can cause is real and the benefit is marginal.
Compressed air or vacuum
Same problem in the other direction. Compressed air can push water further in. A vacuum can stress the seals. If you must, use very gentle suction, and not over the speaker grille - over the Lightning/USB-C port instead, holding the phone speaker-down.
What does work
Step 1: gravity and patience
Before any tools, do this. Wipe the outside dry with a soft cloth. Power the iPhone off. Hold it speaker-side down (or stand it that way) for an hour. Most water that is going to come out by itself does so in the first 60 minutes.
This is mundane and feels insufficient. Do it anyway. Half of "muffled speaker after a splash" cases resolve here without any technique at all.
Step 2: sonic ejection
This is the technique Apple Watch has built in - the "Water Lock" feature that plays a low tone after you have been swimming. The vibration physically pushes water droplets out of the speaker chamber.
You can do the same thing on iPhone with an app, including ours. The mechanism is simple:
- Pick a frequency in the 100-200 Hz range. Low enough that the speaker moves a lot of air, not so low that the speaker cannot reproduce it cleanly.
- Set volume to around 75-90% of max. Not max, because at full output the speaker is stressed and you can damage it over long sessions.
- Hold the phone speaker-down so gravity helps the water exit.
- Play the tone for 15-30 seconds.
- Tap the back of the phone gently against a clean dry cloth between bursts to dislodge stubborn droplets.
Most cases clear within 1-3 cycles. After about 30 seconds of cycle 1, water droplets start appearing on the cloth I was tapping against. After cycle 3, audio quality was indistinguishable from before the swim.
Step 3: time
If the speaker is still slightly off after the sonic technique, leave the phone face-up in a dry room for a few hours. There is sometimes a trace amount of moisture in deeper parts of the speaker assembly that the sound alone cannot move; it evaporates on its own in 4-6 hours at room temperature.
Do not put the phone back on a charger until it has dried out completely. Charging while the Lightning/USB-C port still has moisture in it can corrode the contacts.
When the speaker problem is not water
A muffled speaker that does not clear after the steps above might be something else:
- Lint in the grille. Use a soft-bristled brush (a clean toothbrush works) at a downward angle. Do not poke anything into the grille.
- Bluetooth audio still routing. Check Control Center - sometimes the phone is still trying to play through AirPods you forgot were in your pocket.
- Software audio bug. A reboot fixes more issues than you would think. Hold the side button and a volume button until the power slider appears, then power-cycle.
- Speaker hardware failure. Rare on iPhones under 3 years old, more common on older devices. If everything else fails, an Apple Store appointment is the next step.
One last thing: dry off Apple Watches and AirPods first
If they were in the same swim, deal with the Watch and the AirPods before the phone:
- Apple Watch: has the built-in Water Lock cycle. Trigger it now, hold the Watch speaker-down.
- AirPods: open the case, tip each bud upside down, gently tap against a soft dry cloth. Leave the case open in dry air for at least an hour before using them again. Most AirPods that "die after the pool" are actually fine after 24 hours of drying.
The phone is the easiest of the three. The AirPods are the hardest. Plan accordingly when toddlers are nearby.