What you should not do:
Experts have for years pointed out that’s a bad idea – and now Apple is officially warning users not to do it.
“Don’t put your iPhone in a bag of rice. Doing so could allow small particles of rice to damage your iPhone,” the company says in a recent support note spotted by Macworld. Along with the risk of damage, testing has suggested uncooked rice is not particularly effective at drying the device.
What you should do:
If your phone isn’t functioning at all, turn it off right away and don’t press any buttons. The next steps depend on your specific circumstances, but broadly speaking: dry it with a towel and put it in an airtight container packed with silica packets if you have them. Don’t charge it until you’re sure it’s dry.
For years, I’ve saved every silica packet in a coffee can. I stopped a while ago since I have a liter of them and the can is full.
Works great for drying things out.
I realize this is the advice in the article but wanted to point out that they build up quickly and come in just about everything that isn’t food these days.
You know that they’ve been absorbing moisture from the air since they were put in with the thing you got them with, right? So by the time you use them for this they’re saturated. You’d have to bake them to drive off the moisture and seal them to prevent them from absorbing more.
Not that any of this is particularly helpful for electronics with water in them. The damage comes from minerals dissolved in the water being deposited when the water evaporates, which causes shorts. You’d really have to rinse the board with distilled water or preferably isopropyl alcohol.
Sealed Illy coffee can for storage and excellent for drying out a phone with a moisture alert on the charging connection. You are probably correct about stuff that is thoroughly soaked but that’s not what I use it for as that scenario doesn’t seem to arise for me. I did once use this system to dry out my wife’s phone that was not working after our toddler dropped it into a bucket or something and it was fine for a couple years after but I’m guessing gaskets prevented any moisture from getting too far since we pulled it out immediately.