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Is your phone overheating regularly? Here's how you can fix it

If it’s happening often, it’s recommended you fix it asap.

SOMETIMES YOUR PHONE will heat up a little. When it does, that just means it’s busier than usual and isn’t anything major to worry about.

When it becomes prevalent, even when it’s dealing with basic everyday tasks, that’s when it becomes a problem. A phone that’s hot for too long can end up damaging it in the long run so it’s worth nipping it in the bud as soon as possible.

The likely reason why this happens is because you have far too many apps running in the background, putting an unnecessary strain on your phone’s CPU.

Checking battery usage in settings can give you an idea of which apps are causing the problem, but you should go further than that.

What you want to find out is when your phone started overheating, and what apps you installed or updated during that time.

If you’re an iPhone user, you can check the diagnostics section to see what apps have been crashing on your phone.

Go to Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & Usage > Diagnostics & Usage Data for a list of every situation where an app crashed.

There will be a few entries here already, but if a specific app keep appearing regularly, then it’s likely you have a problem with it.

If you want to keep it, it’s better to turn off background app refresh – both for offending apps and those you don’t use – and location settings so they only run when required. Otherwise remove it entirely.

If you’re on Android and you feel this is too much work, downloading an app like Cooler Master or EaseUS Coolphone can make the process a little easier. 

Read: There’s a hidden ‘low light’ mode buried deep in your iPhone’s settings >

Read: Twitter’s answer to live-streaming has arrived on Android >

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32 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John McDonnell
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    May 27th 2015, 12:06 PM

    The journal app is killing my battery. ..

    350
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    Mute Gary O'neill
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    May 27th 2015, 12:15 PM

    My battery never runs out and my phone never over heats. Most likely because I have an Apple iPhone.

    43
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Joe Bloggs
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    May 27th 2015, 12:32 PM

    You are funny Gary

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    Mute Bilbo Baggins
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    May 27th 2015, 12:42 PM

    First thing i thought when i saw the headline, Had to delete the Journal app a while back it overheats the phone and wipes the battery on it every time it’s opened.

    Be hard for you battery to run out Gary when you have it plugged in all the time sure ;)

    113
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    Mute Byyys
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    May 27th 2015, 12:50 PM

    If you’re an iPhone user… i love that! why not talk about Android or other phones?!

    45
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    Mute Medusa
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    May 27th 2015, 3:48 PM

    The Journal app itself is probably one of the worst for draining power and over heating.

    23
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Alan Dooley
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    May 28th 2015, 2:14 AM

    Couldn’t agree more about the Android journal app. It hogs Cpu and kills battery.

    1
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    Mute Egg Head
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    May 27th 2015, 12:19 PM

    Do these tricks only work on phones or could they apply to women too?

    79
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    Mute Martin Byrne
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    May 27th 2015, 12:14 PM

    The journal really needs the attention of a strong development team to resolve that issue.

    70
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    Mute david garland
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    May 27th 2015, 1:51 PM

    Download Clean Master from the play store.. It will warn you when your phone is overheating and will cool it down for you. It also clears out useless junk files and speeds up your phone..

    27
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    Mute yourman
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    May 27th 2015, 1:04 PM

    Get the Greenify app in the playstore if your on android , a lot of apps keep running even when you close them .this app hibernate’s the apps you list to close .will save your battery to.

    12
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    Mute Drew
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    May 27th 2015, 12:21 PM

    Old iPhones used to just shut down if they overheat, the new ones bring up a flash screen and tell you they’re too hot. It happened to me in the Middle East two weeks a go.

    10
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    Mute Graham Finlay
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    May 27th 2015, 12:16 PM

    Looks like a HTC One M9 in the picture, if you have one get used to it.

    9
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    Mute Darach Malone
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    May 27th 2015, 12:29 PM

    Nonsense. I have it nearly two months now and no such problems. You should review your usage of your phone first before criticising it.

    16
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    Mute Graham Finlay
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    May 27th 2015, 12:52 PM

    I have it two weeks and I use it the same as my last phone with common well tested apps. It heats up a lot and it’s a known issue.

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    Mute Brian Lynch
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    May 27th 2015, 2:41 PM

    Snapdragon 510 chip is to blame for that. They get so hot they crack the glass on the cameras. Check online.

    1
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    Mute Sam McCormack
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    May 27th 2015, 9:35 PM

    Think you mean the 810 chip Bryan.

    2
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    Mute ger power1
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    May 28th 2015, 12:10 AM

    Your app “thejournal.ie” is the only app that kills my phone ! With the amount of people complaining about the same problem id like to see an article next week in relation to how you have addressed this matter.

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    Mute Eileesh Buckley
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    May 27th 2015, 3:22 PM

    I have a htc one that I had to stop using as it kept frying the SIM card when it overheated, and the two apps most likely to cause overheating were Google navigation and a Tetris game. Navigation also overheats the htc desire 610 . I switched to an iPhone 6+ recently and so far it seems to be coping with anything I use though the rte player app regularly fails nothing has caused major heat from the phone yet.

    1
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    Mute Michele Kealy
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    May 27th 2015, 1:31 PM

    Galaxy did, changed to Sony and so far OK..

    1
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