By JANIE HARRIS

News Editor, EIC

We all drop our phones. Sometimes they crack, sometimes they don’t, but did you ever think your phone could explode?

On Wednesday, April 15, freshman graphic design  major Tyra Alston said she dropped her iPhone 6 in Nielson Dining Hall, otherwise known as the café. After inspecting the phone for damage and not seeing anything too distressing, she placed her phone on the table and walked away to pick up some food. When she returned, her phone had “exploded.” 

“I was in shock,” said Alston. “If I would have had it in my hand any longer, it would have burned my fingers off.” 

Alston walked away uninjured, but she is not the first person to report an “exploding phone.”

Just last month, CNN reported that a man from New York said that his iPhone 5c exploded in his pocket, leaving him with severe burns. Over the past year or so, people all over the country are reporting that their phones are exploding. 

And it is not just iPhones. In 2014, Fox News reported that a Texas girl’s Samsung Galaxy S4 exploded under her pillow. The phone melted and ruined a part of her bed, but she and her family were fine. 

Alston said, “I’m not sure what caused it, but the battery just exploded on the inside.”

Batteries are exploding in phones, so how do we prevent it? 

In 2014, Digital Trends reported that there are three main things that cause a smartphone’s battery to malfunction—over heating, over charging and applying large amounts of pressure to the phone. 

Digital Trends said, “The biggest recommendations we have are to use the official charger with your phone, don’t leave it plugged in for days and keep your smartphone out of your back pocket. For heaven’s sake, don’t sit on your $300 to $800 pocket computer.”

Alston has sense received a new iPhone 6 after she and her mother spent an evening arguing in the Apple store in the Mall of Georgia. Alston said the reason they ended up replacing her phone for free was because she could have been injured. 

The Navigator reached out to Apple to get a response but never heard back. 

As for how she feels about having a new iPhone, Alston said, “I haven’t dropped it yet, but I am really nervous about having a new one [an iPhone].”