If you are an iPhone fan, chances are that you’ve dealt with a cracked screen at least once in your life. Smartphones are generally made of acrylic or glass which aren’t impervious to damage when they receive the impact of a drop.
Yes, having a cracked iPhone is embarrassing, but did you know there are risks associated with using a cracked phone screen?
The Touch Screen Might Stop Working
If your iPhone has a broken screen, it’s not going to get any better with time. The first function that you will likely use is your phone’s touch screen capacity. This may mean that your phone takes longer to respond to finger gestures, or even stops responding altogether.
Cracked screens also allow debris, finger oil and dust to work their way into the cracks, damaging the phone even further.
Your Phone is No Longer Protected
Your iPhone screen is the conduit between the inside parts of your device and the outside elements of the world that can damage them. For example, if you have purchased a water-resistant iPhone, a cracked screen kind of makes this feature a lost cause.
You Might Hurt Your Finger
Dealing with broken glass can put your fingers at risks when you try to operate the touch screen. If your iPhone screen has major crackers, you put yourself at risk of injury.
You Might Hurt Your Eyes
When your iPhone’s Hi-Def display breaks, you’re left with an eyesore. Looking at the screen and viewing content becomes extremely difficult. You’ll find yourself squinting your eyes, making checking your phone a lot harder than what it should be.
“I dropped my iPhone before and the screen didn’t crack, why did it crack this time?”
If you have dropped your device the first time, chances are it won’t shatter. But if you have slippery hands and drop your phone on repeated occasions, you’ll be out of luck.
Other Factors that Influence if Your iPhone Will Crack or Not:
- Did your phone fall face down? You may walk away with less damage because the stress of impact is spread across the whole surface of the device. However, it would almost certainly incur damage that you couldn’t see yourself, which would cause cracks in the future.
- Did the phone drop onto one of the corners? The entire force of the drop will impact one small point. With every drop, these invisible cracks become larger until a big fall causes your screen to shatter completely.
What to Do After You Have Cracked your iPhone Screen
Stay Safe
You’re dealing with a lot of sharp shards of glass. The only thing worse than a cracked iPhone screen is a cracked iPhone screen and an ER bill because you have cut your hand on broken glass. Take a piece of clear tape used for packing and put it over the screen.
Assess the iPhone Damage
If the damage is minor, you might luck out at the Apple Store if you ask them to make an exception for you and fix the screen. Most likely, this won’t happen though – Apple doesn’t cover physical damage to iPhones, even if you have AppleCare+ you’re still going to have a service fee.
Decide Where to Fix it:
- Fix it at a local iPhone Repair Shop
You can easily find a go-to repair store that offers a warranty, has experienced techs and uses only the best quality parts.
- Use a Mail-In Repair Service
If you don’t live close to a town and want to save some money, you can enlist the help of a mail-in repair service. However, returns can take up to a week, even longer.
- Fix it Yourself
This option isn’t for the weak of heart. Each iPhone has dozens of small components packed inside, making it easy to make a mistake or leave something out of place. You’ll also need a special toolkit to even get inside of your iPhone in the first place.
Decide not to Fix it:
Sometimes, it might be best not to do anything. If you are not planning on giving your iPhone to someone else, trading it in, reselling it or upgrading it, you might be better off just dealing with a cracked iPhone.
Ultimately though, most people are going to want to fix their iPhones. In this case, you need your phone repaired quickly, and aren’t extremely tech savvy, your best bet is a local third party iPhone repair store.
iPhone cracks happen – right now, across the world, hundreds of people are dropping their iPhones as they speak. What will you do next time you drop your phone and your luck runs out, leaving you with a cracked screen?
