iPhone Speaker Cleaning Tips

iPhone speakers get clogged with dust, dirt, and other detritus from daily use. Periodically iphone speaker cleaning them is a good idea to keep your phone’s sound quality at its best.

A soft brush or electronic putty cleaner can help remove stubborn bits of gunk from hard-to-reach corners of your iPhone speaker grilles. Masking tape is also a great tool for getting rid of dust and other bits of dirt stuck to your phone’s speaker grilles.

Water Remove App

Whether you’ve accidentally dropped your iPhone into a bowl of water, or you regularly take it into the shower or pool, water can sometimes get stuck inside the speaker grilles. It can muffle the sound of music and cause a variety of problems if not removed quickly.

Thankfully, there’s a Siri shortcut that uses low-frequency sounds to eject the water from your phone’s speaker grilles. It’s free to download and works on all iPhone models that support Siri shortcuts.

After adding it to your shortcut library, just tap it and let the shortcut do its job. Once it’s done, your iPhone’s volume will be lowered to 50% and the device’s screen will show a completion-notification.

The app isn’t a direct replacement for the native Speaker Cleaner feature in iPhone, but it does a decent job of removing water from your speaker with its loud, vibrating tone. Just make sure you disconnect any Bluetooth speakers or earbuds while using the app, and position your phone with its speaker facing down for it to be effective.

Clear Wave App

If you have an iPhone with a water-resistance rating, you can use the Clear Wave App to clean the speaker. It’s free to download and works in seconds on both iPhones and Android devices.

In automatic mode, it will make your phone emit a series of sine waves that shake moisture or dirt off your speaker. You can also toggle the frequency if you want to clean your speaker in manual mode.

Another helpful speaker cleaner is Sonic, which is a free app that will shake water and dirt out of your speakers. You can get it from Google Play or the Apple Store.

The app is a free shortcut, but you have to enable untrusted shortcuts in iOS 15 or higher. Once it’s on, you can just tap the water drop icon to start playing a sound at 165-1.7 Hz. You’ll know it’s working when you hear small water droplets coming out of your speaker grilles.

Painter’s Tape

If you’re planning on painting your iPhone, it’s important to choose the right tape. It will help you create a clean paint edge that looks great.

Painter’s tape, also known as masking tape, is a pressure-sensitive adhesive that peels off cleanly without leaving glue residue on surfaces. This makes it a useful tool to remove dirt from the speaker on your iPhone.

To use it, tear off a small strip of the tape and roll it into a small loop (you can wrap it around your finger to make it easier). Then, roll the sticky side back and forth over the speaker to pull up dirt and grime.

You can also use a soft brush to clean the speakers and microphone. To start, dip the tip of the brush into rubbing alcohol. You can also use compressed air. However, be careful not to overdo it, as it can damage the internals of your iPhone.

Toothpicks

Toothpicks may work, but Apple doesn’t endorse them and they could harm the internals of your iPhone if used incorrectly. They should be used on the bottom speakers near the charging port only if you can visibly see they’re clogged and need to be cleaned.

To use the toothpick method, insert the pointed end into the speaker holes gently and without pressure. Stop pushing soon as you encounter resistance and tilt it sideways and upward, until any debris pops up.

Another way to clean your iPhone speakers is to use specialized cleaning putty or Blu-Tack. These substances are sticky and help pick up lint, dirt, and other materials that can build up in the speaker holes over time.