You’re standing over the sink. Or maybe a puddle. Your heart just did that weird fluttery thing because your phone—your expensive, lifeline-to-the-world phone—just took a swim. You grab it, wipe it off, and realize the speakers sound like they’re underwater. Because, well, they are. Your first instinct is probably to look for sounds to remove water from phone on YouTube or a specialized app. But does blasting a 165Hz tone actually do anything, or are you just making your phone scream while it dies a slow, salty death?
Honestly, it’s a bit of both.
The science here isn't magic. It's physics. Specifically, it's about acoustic pressure. When you play a specific low-frequency sound, the speaker diaphragm vibrates with enough force to physically push air—and the water sitting on top of it—out of the speaker grill. It’s like a tiny, invisible piston. Apple even patented this. If you have an Apple Watch, you’ve seen the "Water Lock" feature where it chirps to spit out liquid. That’s the gold standard. But on a phone, where the internals are laid out differently, the results can be... mixed.
How Low-Frequency Sound Actually Clears a Speaker
Let's get technical for a second. Most of these "water remover" sounds focus on a range between 140Hz and 165Hz. Why? Because that’s the sweet spot for maximum displacement of the speaker cone in most modern smartphones like the iPhone 15 or the Samsung Galaxy S24.
If the frequency is too high, the diaphragm vibrates too fast but doesn't move far enough to "thump" the water out. If it's too low, the speaker might not produce enough power to move the liquid. You need that rhythmic, pulsing pressure. Think of it like trying to get ketchup out of a glass bottle. You don't just shake it fast; you give it those specific, forceful thumps.
Apple’s official implementation in the Watch uses a specific "beep" that ramps up in intensity. For phones, third-party sites like FixMySpeakers or Sonic (a popular iOS app) attempt to replicate this. They use a sine wave. It’s a pure, clean tone that forces the hardware to its physical limits. You'll actually see tiny droplets "dancing" on the mesh before they get flung off. It's satisfying. Kinda gross, but satisfying.
Does it work for all liquids?
No. Not even close. If you dropped your phone in the ocean or a glass of orange juice, the sound trick might actually be your enemy.
Fresh water is one thing. It evaporates and doesn't leave much behind. Salt water, however, is a nightmare. As it dries, it forms salt crystals. These crystals are abrasive and conductive. If you use sounds to remove water from phone while there's salt inside, you might just be vibrating those crystals into the delicate voice coil of the speaker, scratching it or causing a short circuit once the moisture is gone.
Sticky liquids are worse. Syrup or soda acts like glue. The sound might push some out, but the residue will harden, and your speaker will sound "crunchy" forever. In those cases, the sound frequency is a secondary step to a very careful rinse with distilled water—though most people are terrified to put their phone back under a tap.
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The Myth of the Rice Bag
We have to talk about rice. Stop using it. Seriously.
The internet has loved the rice trick for a decade, but repair pros at sites like iFixit and engineers at Apple have been screaming into the void about this for years. Rice doesn't pull moisture out of the deep recesses of a phone. It's a "passive" desiccant, and it's not even a good one.
What rice actually does is introduce fine starch dust and tiny grains into your charging port and speaker grills. When that dust hits the water already inside the phone, it turns into a gunk that’s almost impossible to clean out. Most people think rice works because they leave their phone in it for 24 hours and the phone survives. The phone survived because it was water-resistant and dried out naturally, not because of the Uncle Ben’s.
If you want a real desiccant, use silica gel packets—the ones that come in shoeboxes. Throw those in a sealed container with the phone. They are orders of magnitude more effective than rice and won't leave your phone looking like a bowl of risotto.
Why Your Phone's IP Rating Isn't a Shield
Most modern phones are rated IP68. People see that and think their phone is a submarine.
The "6" means it's dust-tight. The "8" means it can survive immersion in water (usually up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes). But those tests are done in a lab with fresh water. They don't account for the pressure of a falling phone hitting the surface, nor do they account for the chlorine in your pool or the salt in the Atlantic.
More importantly, water resistance is a temporary state. The seals are made of rubber gaskets and adhesives. Over time, these degrade. If you’ve ever dropped your phone, even if the screen didn't crack, the frame might have shifted by a fraction of a millimeter. That’s enough to break the seal.
Using sounds to remove water from phone is essentially a way to help the IP rating do its job. The seals might have kept the water out of the motherboard, but the speaker cavity is meant to be open to the air. That’s why it fills up. The sound is just clearing the "porch" of your house, so the water doesn't eventually seep through the "front door."
The "Siren" Method vs. Pure Tones
There are two main types of audio files you'll find online:
- The Pure Sine Wave: A steady, annoying hum.
- The Pulsing Siren: A sound that goes "wah-wah-wah" in varying pitches.
The pulsing siren is generally more effective. It prevents the speaker from getting too hot and creates a varying pressure wave that can dislodge droplets of different sizes. Small droplets respond to higher frequencies; big droplets need the low-end "thump."
Steps to Take Before Hitting Play
You can’t just hit play and hope for the best. There’s a process.
First, power the phone off. I know, you want to see if it still works. Don't. Electricity and water are a bad combo. Turn it off immediately. Wipe the exterior with a lint-free cloth.
Second, tap the phone gently against your hand with the speaker facing down. Don't shake it like a Polaroid picture—you don't want to force water deeper into the chassis. Just a gentle tap to get the bulk of the liquid out.
Third, and this is the weird part, leave it alone for a bit. Airflow is your best friend. A small fan blowing across the speaker port is better than a hairdryer. Never use a hairdryer. The heat can melt the adhesives that provide the water resistance in the first place, and the high-pressure air can actually force water past the seals and onto the logic board.
Once you’ve done the basic drying, then you turn it on and use the sounds to remove water from phone.
When Sound Fails: The Signs of Corrosion
Sometimes the sound trick doesn't work. You play the tone, you see the water come out, but the audio still sounds muffled or "tinny."
This usually means one of two things:
- There is still water trapped behind the protective mesh.
- Corrosion has already started.
Corrosion is the real killer. It’s a chemical reaction that starts the moment water touches metal and a current is present. This is why "it works fine now" is a dangerous mindset. A phone can work perfectly for three days after a dunk, and then suddenly refuse to charge on day four because the copper pins in the charging port have turned into a green crust.
If the sound trick doesn't restore your audio quality within a few sessions, you need to stop. Repeatedly blasting the speaker while it’s struggling can tear the dampened material of the speaker cone.
Professional Alternatives
If you're dealing with something more than a splash, there are vacuum systems designed for phones. Some repair shops have a machine called a "Redux." It uses a vacuum chamber and controlled heat to lower the boiling point of water, allowing it to evaporate out of the phone's internals without damaging the components.
It’s basically the "sound trick" on steroids. It’s much more effective because it pulls moisture from everywhere, not just the speaker cavity. If you have a $1,200 flagship, a $50 professional dry-out is a better investment than a YouTube video.
A Quick Reality Check on Apps
Apps like "Sonic" or "Water Eject" (for Shortcuts on iOS) are great because they give you control over the Hz frequency. You can manually slide the frequency up and down.
If you're using one of these, start at 165Hz. If you don't see anything, slowly slide it down toward 130Hz. You'll feel the phone vibrate in your hand. That vibration is the key. You're looking for the "resonant frequency" of that specific speaker housing. It varies slightly from phone to phone.
Actionable Next Steps
If your phone just got wet, follow this sequence exactly:
- Pull it out immediately. Every second counts.
- Power it down. Disregard the "it looks fine" feeling.
- Remove the case and SIM tray. This opens up more pathways for air to circulate and moisture to escape.
- Dry the outside. Use a microfiber cloth or even a clean T-shirt.
- The Manual Tap. Gravity is free. Use it. Tap the speaker-side down against your palm.
- Use the Sound. Once the exterior is dry, turn the phone on and go to a site like FixMySpeakers or use a "Water Eject" Siri Shortcut. Crank the volume to max.
- Airflow. Set the phone in front of a fan (not a heater) for at least 4 to 5 hours.
The most important thing to remember is that sounds to remove water from phone are only for the speaker and microphone areas. They do nothing for the battery, the screen, or the charging port. If you see moisture inside your camera lens, the sound trick won't help you—that's a sign that the internal seals have failed, and you need to get it to a pro before the logic board begins to rot.
Check your charging port after a few hours. If your phone warns you about "Liquid Detected in Lightning/USB-C Connector," do not bypass it. Don't use a wireless charger to "get around it" either. Let it dry completely. Patience saves phones; panic kills them.