No, don't put your wet phone in rice. Here are 7 common phone myths, debunked.

Americans are on their phones for four hours and 25 minutes per day on average, according to a 2023 Reviews.org survey. But despite that fact, those trusty hand-held devices can be a bit of a mystery to many smartphone users. Smartphones have only been around for about 30 years (though not taking off widely until the early 2000s) but that fact, combined with how quickly their technology evolves, means there are some major misunderstandings about cellphone use among the American public.

Certain phone myths persist, even though scientists, health experts, and manufacturers have told customers otherwise. From not leaving your phone plugged in overnight to rice being the secret to successfully drying out a wet phone, some common misconceptions about smartphones seem true—but research says differently.

To set the record straight, Visible partnered with Stacker to review research from universities, scientific journals, and news sources to identify seven common myths about phone use that have been debunked. Many of these misconceptions were once rooted in fact, but as technologies rapidly develop, they've since become outdated. Meanwhile, others are just plain untrue.

Read on to find out which of your long-held beliefs about charging, cleaning, and maintaining your phone you need to retire.