logo
This Handy Device Can Clean Your Phone

This Handy Device Can Clean Your Phone

Buzz Feed14 hours ago

Bad news: Your phone screen is pretty gross. According to previous HuffPost reporting, phones can carry thousands of germs, even more than most toilet seats, and if you're putting those germs next to your face all the time, experts say it can even exacerbate acne, rosacea or other pre-existing skin conditions. So how can you make sure you're getting rid of that bacteria?
Enter: PhoneSoap, a nifty little device that uses UV-C light to sanitize your device and kill bacteria and viruses. Former HuffPost editor Danielle Gonzalez reviewed an older model of the PhoneSoap back in 2020, and confirmed with Dr. Charles Gerba, a microbiologist and professor at the University of Arizona, that UV light does work well to kill germs and sanitize your phone.
This third-generation model of the PhoneSoap has garnered 4.5 stars across over 15,000 ratings on Amazon. Available in six colors, the device is like a case for your phone that provides 360-degree disinfection in 10 minutes. The light from the UV-C bulb bounces off the reflective interior to hit every spot on your phone.
The PhoneSoap's interior dimensions are 6.8 by 3.74 by 0.78 inches, able to fit larger iPhone and Android models — just make sure to check the specs for your specific device. But that's not all; just because it's called PhoneSoap doesn't mean you can only use it for your phone. Germs collect on a bunch of high-contact surfaces like your headphones, jewelry, keys, credit cards and so much more. Depending on the size of your personal items, you can use the PhoneSoap to sanitize basically anything that fits.
But the PhoneSoap is still useful, as one reviewer points out: 'The UV light does the trick and sanitizes my phone. Second, every time I stick in ― which I do every day or so, whenever my phone needs charging, as the device charges my phone as well as sanitizes ― It reminds me to wipe the face of my phone down and remove all the oil and bacteria that accumulates each day. It's like having a new phone every day.' Other reviewers also mention that using chemical cleaners on their phones adversely affected their skin, making the PhoneSoap a great alternative.
Below, check out more promising reviews for the usefulness of the PhoneSoap and the peace of mind it can provide, or just go ahead and add it to your cart. Your skin will thank you.
Get it from Amazon for $51.95+ (available in seven colors).

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Why I keep my streaming separate from my amplifier — and the device which makes it possible
Why I keep my streaming separate from my amplifier — and the device which makes it possible

Tom's Guide

time26 minutes ago

  • Tom's Guide

Why I keep my streaming separate from my amplifier — and the device which makes it possible

There are plenty of ways to get music from your phone to a pair of speakers. You might use an aux cable, plugged into the RCA ports on the back. Perhaps your device has Bluetooth built-in Bluetooth connection. Maybe you've got something like the Wiim Amp Pro, with built-in streaming capabilities. But if you're looking for a way to get the best possible sounding music to your speakers, there's only really one way. A streaming separate, like this one — the Bluesound Node Icon ($1199 @ Amazon). It's a streaming device that's filled with all kinds of dedicated circuitry and what I can only assume is some form of black magic. Here's why it (and other devices like it) are the only way I'll play digital tracks over my HiFi system. There are cheaper options out there, but the Node Icon is one of the best ways to stream high-quality tracks to some powered speakers or a HiFi stereo system. It's filled with high-tech audio gadgetry and has a large screen on the front to show you what you're listening to. Wide compatibility with a number of different streaming systems is the icing on a delicious cake. There are two goals with a HiFi separates system. The first is to get as close to the sound of the artists intent as possible (AKA: I like this sound more than all the others). The second is to make your components do as much work as possible, each with it's own dedicated job. That means nothing should be pulling double duty, ideally. It's why you'll find the really expensive setups have separate power amps for each speaker, then a pre-amplifier that sends the signal to them, followed by a separate device for each feature. A CD player that plays CDs, a tape deck that plays tapes, and a turntable that plays records. You can get super granular with it, and many do. A streaming separate is part of this ethos. It's sole job is to send a streamed audio signal to your amplifier or powered speakers, without having to do anything else. That means it can dedicate all of the power it consumes to that one job. So what's in the Bluesound Node Icon? Beyond power circuits, there are buckets of excellent audio gear inside to make sure your streamed tracks sound as good as possible. That means a top-quality DAC to send an analogue signal to your amp, a WiFi connection to receive the music, and loads of extras to make sure it's doing the best job possible. Could you pack all those bits and bobs inside an amplifier or even a pair of speakers? Yes, you could — but then you'd be compromising based on space and power. If you want a similar streaming section in an amp, you'll find it in the NAD M10 V3 — but then you've got the space and power restrictions. So we've established why you might want one and how it all works. But why did I choose this option? While the sound quality is priority number one for a HiFi system, it still needs to look cool. I like a mish-mash of devices from different manufacturers, although they all need to look cool in their own right. That's why there's a large, metal smothered amplifier at the core, an aluminum finish turntable, and now this — an enscreened streaming device. That screen makes the whole thing feel thoroughly modern. It's 5-inches across, so it's smaller than a smart phone, but you can still see the readout from across the room. Bright lights have a tendency to wash it out slightly, but it's still a nice option. The glowing touch controls look nice, but my goodness do I still wish they where physical — glass touch surfaces look awful when covered with finger prints. But that's all superficial. There's a whole lot more to the story. I want my speakers and amplifier to dictate the sound of my music for the most part, so the streaming device needs to give them a solid sonic base to work with. If you're not going to spend a thousand dollars to get that sonic base then the likes of the Wiim Ultra are excellent ways to get extremely close — but ultimately, the more proficient Node Icon has won it out for me. It allows my speakers and amp to extract more detail from the hi-res tracks from Qobuz, and its DAC seems to do a slightly better job at resolving music. To most the difference is going to be negligible, but pair it with capable gear and the differences become more noticeable. Then there's the ease of use. It connects to the BluOS whole home streaming solution, which lets you control the device alongside other Bluesound and BluOS devices. It's good — it connects to your best streaming services of choice, and plays music in different controllable zones. Personally, I use Roon. The Node Icon is Roon ready, which means I just need to add it to my system and I can control it alongside the rest of my WiFi connected audio system. All of the track data appears on the device, and I've had few problems making everything work as a cohesive whole. For most people, some form of the best Bluetooth speaker is going to suffice. You don't have to worry about streaming standards, amplifiers, or any other kind of extraneous nonsense that get audiophiles like me foaming at the mouth. But for those of us that are excited by the likes of hi-res streaming, Dirac Live room correction and making a big stack of audio devices so that we can hear an iota more detail in the cymbals when listening to The Wall, then the Bluesound Node Icon is a piece of audio gold. It's certainly found a home in my listening setup. If you're interested in adding streaming to your HiFi but you don't want to spend buckets and buckets of cash, then you should also check out any of Wiim's streaming devices or Bluesounds cheaper options. Even those will sound better than something built in.

I've been testing Adobe's Project Indigo camera app — and I might ditch the iPhone's camera app for good
I've been testing Adobe's Project Indigo camera app — and I might ditch the iPhone's camera app for good

Tom's Guide

time41 minutes ago

  • Tom's Guide

I've been testing Adobe's Project Indigo camera app — and I might ditch the iPhone's camera app for good

For most people, the camera app that comes pre-installed on your phone is perfectly capable of producing good photos. Sure, there are third-party options with advanced features, but those are for serious pros who know their apertures from their ISO. But having a more capable camera remains a tempting idea, or one that can offer something more unique-looking with only minimal effort on your end. It's this that I was hoping to find when I recently installed Adobe's Project Indigo, and why I took dozens of comparison shots against the native iPhone Camera app to figure out what it's all about. Project Indigo is a free iOS camera app available for iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max onwards, or the iPhone 14 (not Pro) onwards. There's no Adobe sign-in required yet, or entry fee or subscription to be paid, but also sadly no Android version. Adobe says that is coming though, with future updates adding features like portrait mode, video capture and panorama mode. Yes, there's a lot missing from Project Indigo at the moment. But the main goal of the app is still there — fixing the "smartphone look" of most photos taken on phones, those which are designed to look best on smartphone screens but can look odd in other situations. It offers more freedom beyond that too, with lots of manual Pro controls (which remain visible or hidden as you prefer) and the option to save your images as both JPEGs and raw DNG files for more potential during editing. As well as DNG being an Adobe format, the benefit to shooting like this is that these photos take up less storage space than an Apple ProRAW shot, and you can access it on any iPhone 14 or later model. ProRAW remains exclusive to Pro iPhones at the time of writing. Project Indigo can act as a regular point-and-shoot camera app, except with "mild tone mapping, boosting of color saturation, and sharpening," making for less exaggerated-looking shots that should in theory capture the world around you more honestly. Take this shot of the square outside Paddington Station. The paving stones on the floor, the buildings surrounding the square, even the sky look brighter, and arguably more appealing, in the iOS Camera version. But there's still something to be said for the more muted but still clear and colorful image that Project Indigo has produced. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. In this ultrawide of a sculpture, the iOS Camera helps the whole scene stand out, brightening the surrounding trees and buildings. But all of that is balanced out, if not outweighed, by how well Project Indigo captures the reflection of the office block within the shiniest part of the sculpture. With Project Indigo set to its automatic night mode settings, you still get a dark shot, as I did of this potted plant. It doesn't suddenly reveal the hidden color of a subject like a regular smartphone's night mode can, including the iPhone's. But I do like the moody vibe that the dimmer image has. The Night mode section's pro controls menu also houses the long exposure feature, which I think is an unintuitive spot for it to live, given how long it took me to find it. But it makes sense given how long exposure shots are captured. Just like normal Night mode, it lets you pick how many frames you want to take and then combines them to create fancy-looking shots where moving objects become attractive blurs of activity. I was hoping to capture a beautiful shot of me pouring water into a mug with this mode, and while it's not my most artistic work, you can see the water stream. The best the native iPhone camera can do is turn a Live Photo into a long exposure, which uses far fewer frames and barely shows off the water as a result. One of Project Indigo's most unusual claims is that it helps make pinch-zoom shots more effective — as in photos taken at arbitrary magnifications rather than the native zoom of your phone's cameras - by combining multiple images. As someone who often feels hemmed in by the 3x or 5x zoom of modern phone cameras, this stood out to me a lot, so I tested it twice. Firstly, I went for a 2x shot, which on an iPhone 16 Pro Max uses the main camera. Holding up this ice cream cone to the phone, it is easier to see the lines in the ice cream from when it was dispensed from the soft serve machine in the Project Indigo shot, thanks to better contrast. But the exaggerated highlights of the iOS Camera do pay off here, making the chocolate sauce look shiny and appetizing. I then moved to 10x, double the zoom of the iPhone's 5x telephoto camera. Aiming the phone at this pub sign, Project Indigo's plainer style undersells the color of the paint, and of the flowers in the planters beneath. But that avoids losing detail in areas like the top of the sign under the spotlight, or generating a lot of noise in large areas of blocky color like the outside of the sign or the metal crest above, like the iOS Camera. The last unique trick I'll cover here is Project Indigo's ability to remove reflections, something Adobe also offers in Photoshop. Sadly, iPhones can't remove reflections by themselves, even if they have the latest Apple Intelligence photo editing features. So this shot through a window at Paddington Station looks infinitely better in the Project Indigo example. My one complaint here is that Project Indigo, like a good student, shows its working when processing reflections. It does this by leaving both the original image and the "negative" it generates of the removed reflections in your iPhone camera roll, clogging up your timeline with unnecessary pictures. As you can tell from the name and the blueprint-style app logo, Project Indigo is not finished yet. But I am going to keep using it, and try to further understand how the Adobe team's photo processing decisions can give more creative control and versatility to my photography. But I can't just uninstall the iOS Camera app just yet. I still need to take videos from time to time, or portrait-effect shots to make my selfies look at least somewhat attractive. Still, I am excited to see how Project Indigo continues to develop into a fully-featured camera app. But fingers crossed that Adobe doesn't start charging for this, otherwise I'll be reassessing my enthusiastic praise going forward.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store