[imagesource: PC Mag]

Every iPhone owner knows the panic that follows the seconds after you drop your phone.

If you’ve dodged the bullet that’s followed by a feeling of immense relief.

Not today, Satan.

A cracked screen is just one of the issues that repair shops deal with regularly. Sure, it pays to let the professionals handle things but not every phone issue has to end that way.

Tech gurus WIRED have put together an excellent “mega-guide to fixing your own iPhone” that deals with a number of common issues.

I’ll skip the really rudimentary stuff like turning your phone off and back on again (cue The IT Crowd memes) and updating your apps out of respect for your tech know-how.

The above can be tough if your phone won’t turn off or on the traditional way, meaning you need to do a force restart:

1. Start by pressing and quickly releasing the volume up button
2. Now, press and quickly release the volume down button.
3. Finally, press and hold the power button.
4. When you see the Apple logo on the screen, you can let go of the power button.

That will work from iPhone 8 models and up.

Another issue that often leads to repairs is battery health. Before you assume the worst, there’s an easy way to check:

If you find that your iPhone’s battery doesn’t last as long as it used to, you can check its health by going to Settings, Battery, Battery Health. This will show you what percentage of your battery’s initial charge capacity is left.

Image: NDTV

It’s easy to get a battery replacement, and it may even be free if your iPhone is still under warranty or you have AppleCare+, but you will need to visit an Apple Store or send your iPhone to a repair center.

Digicape, South Africa’s largest independent Apple retailer, offers free collection and deliveries of Mac, iPhone or iPad repairs from your home or office provided you’re within 35 kilometres of one of their service centres.

They have one in the Cape Town CBD and another in Pinelands so pretty much anywhere in Cape Town is free.

Another common issue is a phone dropped in water (or swimming in your pocket). Read these tips if that’s the case.

Finally, the last resort once you’ve exhausted your at-home fixing skills is the factory reset.

Important – make sure you back your phone up regularly before trying the below:

Once you have backed up, go to Settings, General, Reset, Erase All Content and Settings. Confirm and then set your iPhone aside for a few minutes for the process to complete.

If you restore your backup during the setup process and find that you still have issues, then try factory-resetting again, but this time, after it has been wiped and restarted, choose Set Up as New iPhone. If the issue is gone, it could be that an app or setting in your backup is causing the problem.

Ultimately, there are some things you should be able to do yourself and some that are best left for recognised and registered repair experts.

You can decide where you draw that line.

[source:wired]