Can’t Hear Me Now? How to Unfreeze an iPhone

You’re happily typing away on your iPhone – and then it freezes. This is one of the most frustrating issues to encounter, aside from shattered screens, when we’re using our phones. With the amount of money we’ve invested in these pieces of technology, it can also be stress-inducing.

However, there’s no need to stress for long. Read on for our top tips on how to unfreeze an iPhone and continue with your life!

Why is My iPhone Freezing?

If your iPhone has frozen once, it’s probably frozen several times before. There are a few possible causes and ways you can prevent the issue in the future.

• Old iOS version – Keep your iPhone up-to-date, as these updates typically contain bug fixes and new or updated security measures.
• Low internal memory – Delete apps that you don’t use frequently and back up your photos to the cloud to gain more memory space. Press and hold on an app’s icon to activate the ability to delete it.
• Overworked phone – You may notice your phone getting hot if you’re playing graphically intensive games or apps.
• Too many apps – If you have a lot of apps running at once on your phone, this could be another reason it’s freezing. Close the apps that you’re not using throughout the day.

Water Contact

If your iPhone has been freezing after getting submerged in water, you’ll need to do some specific steps to recover it. Electronic circuitry affected by water could cause freezing.

Starting with the iPhone 7, Apple has made its phones water-resistant. However, they can still be prone to water damage if submerged for more than 30 minutes.

1. Don’t try to charge or turn on your phone for at least 24 hours after it’s been in liquid. If the phone is still on after you’ve retrieved it, turn it off. This is to reduce the chances of the electronic circuitry inside your phone short-circuiting.

2. Take off cases and covers that can trap moisture. Remove any headphones, ports, chargers, USB cables, or accessories. Wipe off as much of the exterior as you can.

3. Use silica gel to thoroughly dry your phone. Put your iPhone in an airtight plastic bag and surround it with silica gel packets for at least 48 hours. If you can’t buy silica gel packets quickly, put your phone in a bag of uncooked rice.

Avoid enriched rice, as it will leave residual powder on your phone. As soon as you buy silica gel packets, transfer your iPhone to them.

4. Wait at least 72 hours after you’ve dropped your iPhone in water before trying to turn it on or charging it. If possible, replace the iPhone’s battery.

1. Frozen Apps

If you’ve determined that it’s just the app you’re using that’s frozen, you don’t need to do a hard reset. Instead, double tap on the “Home” button and swipe until you’ve found the frozen app. Swipe it upwards off the screen to completely close it. This problem is usually resolved when you load the app again.

2. Soft Reset

If you tap on the “Home” button but can’t return to your home screen, you’ll need to do a soft reset. Press and hold the “sleep/wake” button on the side of your phone until the red slider appears to power off your device.

After it’s been off for a few seconds, power it on again. This helps because it’s clearing out your iPhone’s temporary memory cache. Normally your iPhone does this automatically, but this method allows you to do it manually.

3. Hard Reset

This is the quickest way to unfreeze your phone if the previous method isn’t working. Hold down the “sleep/wake” button on the side of your iPhone and the “Home” button at the same time. After 10 seconds, the Apple logo will appear on your screen, notifying you that your phone has been reset.

You can also try this if your iPhone isn’t turning on or not coming out of standby mode.

4. Charge Your Phone

If your phone still won’t turn on, try charging it for a few minutes. It may not have been reporting the battery charge correctly. You don’t want to go to the Apple store to find that your phone only needed to be charged!

5. Restore on iTunes

If your phone remains frozen after all the above methods, you can restore it via your computer. Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes. It should come up as connected. From there, you can click “Restore” on the Summary pane.

6. Recovery Mode

This is the last resort if you’ve tried every other method but found nothing helps. Turn your phone off and leave it off for at least 20 seconds. Afterward, connect your phone to your computer with a USB cord while holding down the “Home” button at the same button.

Once the “Connect to iTunes” screen comes up, you can release the “Home” button you’ve been holding. At this point, you can use iTunes to restore your phone to factory settings.

Although this will wipe your iPhone completely clean as if you’ve just taken it out of the box, you can restore many of the apps you’ve been using and contact information through iTunes.

How to Unfreeze an iPhone: Recovery is Possible

iPhones have become portable and oftentimes necessary parts of our lives. They’re a big investment, and when you notice that something is wrong, buying a new one should be the last resort.

After reading these steps on how to unfreeze an iPhone, you’re now better equipped to troubleshoot issues that arise!

Are you having more issues with your iPhone that you can’t diagnose? Contact us today for a free quote!