I dropped my phone in the toilet and it's still in there

I'm looking at it. It's looking at me. Somebody has to go in. — Houseguest, 2017

In one 2018 survey in Australia, 8% of people said they'd dropped a phone in the toilet. The phone makers had already met them partway. Since 2016 the big phones have been rated to survive about three feet of fresh water for half an hour. Apple's warranty still doesn't cover water damage, though, and an iPhone has a little marker inside that turns red when it gets wet. So the phone will tell on you. Nobody likes a snitch.

For now: skip the bag of rice. Apple says the grains can damage the phone.

The full file

The phone makers got in trouble over the swimming. In June 2022 an Australian court ordered Samsung to pay A$14 million over ads showing Galaxy phones in pools and the sea. Samsung admitted that if you charged one while it was still wet, the port could corrode and quit. More than 3.1 million of those phones were sold in Australia.

Apple got fined too. In November 2020 Italy's competition regulator fined it €10 million: the iPhone ads promised water resistance down to between 1 and 4 meters for 30 minutes, depending on the model, which held only in lab tests with still, clean water, while the warranty didn't cover liquid damage at all.

Here's what Apple says to do instead of rice. Unplug it. Tap the phone gently against your hand with the port facing down. Leave it somewhere dry with some air moving. Wait at least 30 minutes before you charge it; drying all the way can take up to 24 hours. No heat, no compressed air, nothing stuffed in the port. And wash your hands.