There are probably many people who have accidentally wet their smartphones by using them outdoors or near a water source and getting caught in a sudden downpour. For such occasions, a film has been released on YouTube that can play the “sound of water running out of a smartphone”. The IT news site The Verge is currently testing whether this film is really effective.

Testing the YouTube videos that promise to remove water from your phone – The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/27/24228925/remove-water-phone-youtube-vergecast

Below is the film by David Pierce of The Verge. Titled “The Sound of Water Being Removed from a Phone Speaker (Guaranteed),” it features a fantastic animation of swirling stained glass and a deep, low hum that lasts for about two minutes.

Sound to Remove Water from Phone Speaker (GUARANTEED) – YouTube

At the time of writing, the film has been viewed over 45 million times and many users have posted comments about how their smartphones got wet, such as “I took my smartphone into the shower or bath and it got wet,” “I splashed a glass of water on it,” and “I put my smartphone in the sink while washing dishes.”

Pierce also said that in early 2024, when a relative dropped his smartphone into a river on a trip, his companion played this film and the smartphone was safely saved from falling apart. Since then, he has been wondering: “Does the film really have the effect of draining water, even though the waterproofing and water resistance of mobile phones has improved so much in recent years?”

So when Pierce asked Apple, Google and Samsung, he was only directed to a support page that said what to do if the smartphone gets wet. However, Eric Freeman, senior research director at audio equipment maker Bose, said, “Speakers actually push air out, so if you can push enough air out with enough force, you might be able to push the water out of its place as well.” Smartphone speakers are small, but Freeman said it’s entirely possible they could push the water out by playing bass at high volumes.

This principle is actually used in the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch uses a system that vibrates the inside of the speaker to drain water from inside. The following article explains how the system drains water.

How can the Apple Watch, which you can wear while swimming, drain the water that gets in? A slow motion film that shows

So Pierce, iFixit lead disassembly engineer Shahram Mokhtari, and iFixit intern Chayton Ritter conducted an experiment to see if you could play a movie on a wet smartphone to see if the water could escape from the movie.

Four models were used in the experiment: iPhone 13, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 3 and Nokia 7.1. Pierce and his team prepared water with a dye that reacts to ultraviolet light and soaked each smartphone in it for about a minute. After removing the smartphone, they gently drained the water and played a movie, left it overnight and then exposed it to ultraviolet light to check how much water remained.

As you can see in the GIF animation below, the effect of the film was to spray a large amount of water droplets from the smartphone of each model. Pierce reported that “it was clearly effective.”

However, smartphones have other openings besides the speaker, such as the SIM card slot and USB port, so simply playing sound through the speaker does not mean that all the water will drain out. Only the Pixel 7 Pro had almost no water left, while the iPhone 13 and Pixel 3 still had some water left and the Nokia 7.1 was “more or less ruined.”

Below, the iPhone 13 is exposed to ultraviolet light, and the areas where water has entered and remains glow green. Mokhtari also pointed out that “the seal on the phone changes over time, so it can be damaged without you noticing.”

Reporter Pierce summarizes: “The waterproof and water resistance of mobile phones is getting better and better,” “the waterproof and water resistance of mobile phones may deteriorate over time,” and “the probability of failure may further increase if the phone is immersed in sea water or water mixed with detergent rather than fresh water.” However, since the effect of the film has been confirmed, we recommend bookmarking the film as a last resort in case of emergency.

Pierce also mentioned that everyone he consulted advised him “not to take your smartphone into the bathroom.”