Key Points:
- The easiest ways to cool your smartphone off in 2026 include taking the case off, moving it out of sunlight, closing apps, unplugging from a charger, and lowering screen brightness.
- Modern smartphone chargers are fast, but they make the phone incredibly hot very fast due to their high wattage. It's all a chemical reaction.
- You don't really need to worry about iPhones or Android phones overheating most of the time, so long as you're ahead of the curve as it happens.
It's the hottest summer on record seen in the UK to date. We've experienced consistent heatwaves, which have taken a toll on our bodies and even our handsets. To beat the heat, we've put together Talkmobile's definitive ways of how to cool your phone down when it gets too warm outside. We're going over quick and easy methods, why they work, and what else you can do when the temperature starts to rise, so you can use your Talkmobile SIM Only plan with peace of mind, even in scorching conditions with confidence.
10 ways to cool your phone down in 2026 explained in brief
| Method | How to do it | Why it works |
| Strip the case off | Remove the case from your smartphone | This purges any trapped heat, meaning the phone's metal/plastic chassis can cool down in temperature |
|---|---|---|
| Remove from direct sunlight | Move the phone to a shaded/cooler area | This stops the overwhelming power from the sun heating the phone anymore |
| Close high-draining apps | Close graphically or processor-intensive applications | This lowers CPU and GPU activity, which reduces internal thermal performance and results in a cooler device |
| Unplug the charger | Disconnect from a power source. Fast or wireless chargers can generate considerably more heat than standard bricks. | Charging your phone creates a chemical reaction, and this does generate heat. Stopping it reduces it. |
| Activate Flight Mode | Toggle Flight Mode to disable wireless radios on the motherboard | Without the power-hungry wireless signals (such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 4G/5G) enabled, the phone will run cooler |
| Introduce a gentle air stream | Place the phone near a fan or AC unit | This introduces cold air, which helps to quickly reduce the heat and cool the surface and internals of the phone down |
| Clear background apps | Physically close all apps you aren't using presently | This prevents background CPU usage from heating the smartphone |
| Update your operating software or specific apps | Keep your phone upgraded to the latest software version | Software bugs and glitches can introduce instability, which can mean more CPU/GPU use and a hotter phone |
| Lower screen brightness | Turn the peak brightness down on your iOS or Android phone | A dimmer display means reduced power draw, which means that the phone will be cooler as a result |
| Keep your tech items separate | Don't stack your phone with your laptop, TV, games console, etc. | This ensures that the devices don't cook each other through a process called thermal compounding. Batteries get hot, and things can spread. |
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Why these 10 methods to cool your phone work in detail
Stripping the case off
Most modern smartphones use passive cooling through the glass, plastic, or metal chassis, which keeps the heat away from the core components. Cases don't always provide optimal airflow as their primary function, so taking it off for a few minutes can help the chassis naturally cool down (just be careful not to drop the phone!).
Get the phone away from direct sunlight
It sounds simple, but it's easier said than done. Leaving a phone out in the sun, such as next to a hot window, in a boiling hot car, or outside in general, can mean the device can quickly absorb a lot of surface heat. Moving into the shade, or a cool area, gets around this problem. It's something you should be keenly aware of.
Close high-draining apps
Intensive apps, such as 3D games or big productivity workflows, demand a lot out of a smartphone's CPU and GPU. BY closing them, it gives the processor a break and means that it can start cooling down after being on overdrive for (potentially) hours on end.
Unplug your phone from the charger
Modern fast-chargers can reach as much as 90W or more. While this means that fast-charging phones are here, it also means that the bricks themselves generate a blistering amount of heat. This is a similar situation with Qi Charging or Apple MagSafe, as the heat can quickly ramp up after mere minutes of use. If you notice your Android or iOS device getting unusually warm in the weather, inside or not, unplug and move the device somewhere else to preserve its longevity. Each charge is a chemical cycle reaction, after all.
Lower screen brightness
Today's modern smartphones feature peak brightness and high refresh rates, which (when maxed out) can drain the battery fast and cause stress on the hardware, meaning things get hotter much faster. OLED, Mini-LED, and LCD panels can vary, as it's ultimately just heat behind the glass, so by lowering the brightness and reducing the power draw.
Placing the phone near an air source
You may not have air conditioning in your home, but you're likely to have a fan. If your phone is too hot, put it near a fan to cool the surface of the device down.
Clear background tasks
After power-hungry apps are closed, if you're still suffering with a hot phone, then just close every other app, and it should cool down.
Update apps and software
Software incompatibilities can cause instability, which ultimately means that your smartphone will need to work harder. It can be tough to know what software is causing the problem, so you should check through your main software settings.
Separate your tech
If your phone is getting hot, you need to keep it away from your laptop, TV, game console, etc. This is because of the thermal conduction. Essentially, it's a way to heat everything else up as a consequence. Put your phone in another room and you shouldn't have that issue.
