Android Phone Overheating? – Here is How to Fix the Problem

It is common for smartphones to become hot as the hardware components like processor, memory and battery produce heat. A typical heat coming from the phone is normal and part of the regular phone operation. However, overheating of Android phone is an issue which could cause injury to the user. If your phone is frequently getting overheated, then you must analyze the issue and take steps to deal with it. Here is a complete guide to solve the overheating problems of your Android phone.

Overheating in Android Phones

There are many reasons for your phone to get overheated and the first step to fix the problem is to identify the cause. Once the reason behind the overheating is known, dealing with the problem becomes a straightforward task. However, it is not easy to find the problem and, in most cases, you need to try out different options before finding the root cause.

1. Overheating While Charging

The typical heat-up of the phone on charging is quite normal. However, here are the things to take care while charging:  

• If your phone overheats when charging, the charging adaptor is probably the culprit. People spend thousands of dollars to buy a quality smartphone. Surprisingly, they will not spend few dollars to buy correct charging cable from the manufacturer.
• Check if you are using the company recommended adaptor and make sure the specifications of your phone and charger are compatible.
• Also, check the charging cable and connectors for any damage.
• Avoid using the phone while it is charging. Especially, do not do resource intensive tasks on the phone like video calling or playing HD games. This will not only prevent overheating but also ensure your safety.
• Read your phone’s instruction manual and charge the phone only for the required time.

2. Playing Heavy Games

Generally, phone gets overheated when you use it beyond its specifications limit. Playing heavy games will use all the resources like processor, memory, and battery resulting in overheating of your phone. If you primarily use the phone for playing games, then make sure to have correct specifications that support HD games.

• You can check the phone’s specifications and the requirements for the game apps and play only the supported apps.
• It is a good idea to give a break instead of playing HD games endlessly.
• Constantly update game apps because newer versions are often energy efficient.

Note: If you are not able to find your phone’s specifications use third-party apps like Inware or DevCheck Device & System Info for finding all specifications.

3. Using Too Many Apps

Although Android automatically closes inactive apps after a particular time, it is recommended to close the unnecessary apps manually.

• To do that, swipe up your finger from the bottom of the phone.
• The next screen will show you all the open apps running on your phone.
• Just touch, hold and swipe up the app screen to close it.
• If you want to close all the apps simultaneously, swipe right to reach the left end, and press the “Clear all” button.

4. Possible Malware in the Phone

Check your phone for any malware or virus running in the background which results in overheating of the phone. There are plenty of antivirus apps available for Android in Google Play store. Install a good antivirus or anti-malware app and scan your phone thoroughly.

5. Update Android Regularly

Sometimes running an app on outdated Android version can create conflict resulting in app crashing or overheating. Google continuously releases Android updates for fixing problems and introduces new functions. Make sure to update your Android which can help to manage your phone’s resources efficiently. Similarly, update the apps also to the latest version to avoid conflicting with OS.

6. Phone Cooling Apps and Gadgets

In general, you need to protect the phone from direct sunlight and use it within the temperature as recommended by the manufacturer. For this you need to find the phone’s temperature and resource usage. Fortunately, there are various phone cooling apps available to monitor the temperature of your phone. Phone cooling apps display the temperature of your phone in real-time. Moreover, these apps will scan your phone and show the apps and games that cause the overheating problem. You can use these apps to kill overheating apps and protect your phone.

• Cooling Master: CPU Cooler from Howe Later Team is one of the popular cooling apps to reduce CPU usage and cool down the phone.
• You can view the phone’s temperature on the main app’s interface.
• Press the “Detect Now” button to scan your phone and find the apps that cause overheating.

• A list of potential apps heating your phone will appear on the screen.
• You can press the “Cool Down” button to run the cooling process.
• In few seconds, the heating apps will be closed and your device will cool down.

In addition, you can consider physical phone cooling gadgets to cool down the phone while playing heavy games or apps.

7. Change Battery Settings

If your phone is still overheating, change the settings of the phone to low energy consumption. For example, turn off one or more wireless features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, mobile data, or hotspot. Turning off not-in-use features on your phone will extend its battery life and solve overheating problems.

Moreover, there is a handy “Battery Saver” feature in the latest version of Android. You can access it in the quick access tray by swiping down two fingers from the top of the phone. Long press on the “Battery Saver” to open its settings where you can configure the options for optimal battery usage.

Although the primary purpose of “Battery Saver” is to extend battery life, it may also solve the overheating problems. Because when the phone is on battery saver mode, it limits or turns off background activities and other features, eventually releasing the load from the phone processor and cooling it down.

8. Miscellaneous Tips

There are other tips you can try to solve the overheating problem of your Android phone.

• Some phone covers are made of a material that traps the heat inside and overheats the phone. Remove your phone cover and see if it makes any difference. Always use high-quality phone covers, which can help venting the phone’s heat properly.
• Check the pattern for how long it takes to overheat the phone. Periodically, restart your phone and see if that helps to resolve overheating problems.
• Monitor if the phone overheats when opening a specific app or playing a specific game. If this is the case, you may need to get in touch with the app’s developer or delete that app causing problem and find an alternative.
• If the problem of overheating persists, consider factory resetting your phone. This will work especially if your phone is very old accumulated plenty of apps and junk files over period. Check out our article on how to reset Android phones to factory settings for more details.

Finally, if the overheating issue is not going away, visit the official service center and get your phone examined by the technician for any hardware issues.