Why you don’t need to dim your screen and 9 other smartphone myths

Over time, our smartphones almost became mythological creatures of so many “legends” that came into existence. Is it really good for your eyesight to dim your phone screen? Do smartphones really cause various diseases? These are just a few questions that generate epic discussions all over the place.

We, from awesome.club, we looked at a number of claims about cell phones that at first glance seemed true, but later turned out to be just someone’s vivid imagination. We’d love for you to take a look at them with us.

You might believe that keeping the night brightness mode on your phone even during the day helps not to strain your eyes. However, some ophthalmologists disagree and claim that when the screen is dimmed instead of adjusted to the brightness settings correctly, you strain your eyes more. This is because you will need to concentrate more and your eyes will have to work twice as hard, which can also cause headaches. The ideal brightness of the screen is the same as the light around it, so the two lights mix and the incidence is natural for the eyes.

the smartphones they are called “smart phones” because they have advanced features, including the ability to recognize that the battery is fully charged. Your phone will usually shut off current input without your help, just as it shuts off when the battery is at its lowest point. If you care about your battery life, just don’t let it go to zero too often, and “feed” it while it’s still alive.

That statement sounds very logical, and you might think that the more apps that are running in the background, the harder your phone works. In fact, as stated by Apple, closing apps to save battery life doesn’t help and can even make things worse. All apps are closed automatically, and if you interfere and close them manually, it can make your phone drain more power.

When buying a phone, we are usually guided by the number of megapixels to know if the camera is good. But this feature is only really important for professional photographers and their cameras. For those who often take pictures with their phone, what makes the photo quality closer to ideal is not the number of megapixels, but its size. In this case, the best megapixels are the biggest, so less can be fit into a single image.

Placing a phone in rice after dropping it in water seems reasonable as rice is known for its ability to absorb moisture. But in reality, the tiny rice particles can clog the cell phone parts and damage them further. Using a hair dryer is another bad idea: it may even dry your phone a little, but it can overheat and make the situation worse. Both methods are used because people want to do anything to save their phone. The best idea is to leave it on a shelf to dry.

You may have heard that a cell phone and a credit card don’t make the best of neighbors, because the card’s magnetic stripe can be demagnetized by the phone. This can happen with a fridge magnet or a magnet clasp, but never because of your phone. Its magnetic field is too weak to affect your card. Some people never put cards and phones together, just in case they get stolen, which makes more sense than the legend of degaussing.

The World Health Organization has been concerned with this statement since 1990 and, to date, 25,000 articles have been published on the subject. The WHO states that there is currently no evidence that low-intensity electromagnetic fields can harm human health in any way. However, the WHO also states that if a person is too close to the antenna or radar that produces electromagnetic waves, the risk may increase.

A smartphone has on average ten times more bacteria than a toilet. Disinfecting the screen reduces the risk of contracting viruses and skin conditions such as acne. But are disinfectant wipes safe for your phone? Apple says yes. Also, there is a device that uses UV-C light to sanitize phones and doesn’t damage screens.

This belief became popular in the early 2000s. People used to create fake “experiments” where they “boiled an egg” using the waves coming from a cell phone. In reality, phones cannot cook eggs or popcorn, because they cannot create the amount of energy needed to do so. Even if all the waves from the phones were microwaved, the egg wouldn’t even reach body temperature before the battery died.

Free Wi-Fi hotspots, offered as a nice bonus in many public places, are very tempting to use. But it is not safe to do your banking and input any password while using public Wi-Fi. Traffic at these points is not protected, which means that anyone can easily see which pages you are visiting and what data you have entered. It’s best to use public Wi-Fi only for visiting entertainment sites or surfing for information.

What was the last thing you learned about smartphones that led you to Google to find the truth? Do you believe that smartphones are bad for health?