Water eject — sound to push water out of your phone speaker

Water eject

Turn the volume up, point the speaker down and press Start. The tone is generated in this page — nothing to install.

Mode

Volume up to max, case off, speaker facing down.

Length
Wave

Using headphones? Turn the volume down before you start.

Water eject is a low tone played through your phone’s speaker so the vibrating membrane pushes droplets out of the grille. This tool plays 165 Hz — steady, then pulsing, then steady — for 30 seconds to 2 minutes, in Safari on iPhone or Chrome on Android.

Use it when sound turns muffled after rain, a shower or a swim. The sections below cover iPhone and Android, what the tone does and doesn’t do, and the drying steps phone makers recommend alongside it.

Water eject on iPhone

Water eject on iPhone works from this page in Safari, with no shortcut to install. iOS has no Water Eject setting of its own: the feature Apple builds is on Apple Watch, and the iPhone “Water Eject” people share is a third-party shortcut for the Shortcuts app.

  1. Step 1

    Turn off Silent mode

    Use the Ring/Silent switch or the Action button, then press the volume-up button until the level is at the top.

  2. Step 2

    Take the case off

    Apple suggests removing cases and screen films when speaker sound is poor. They can cover part of the grille.

  3. Step 3

    Point the bottom speaker down

    Hold iPhone so the grille next to the charging port faces the floor.

  4. Step 4

    Press Start and wait

    The tone runs 1 minute by default. Keep Safari open on this page until the ring completes.

  5. Step 5

    Check, then repeat

    Play a voice note. If it still sounds muffled, run the tone two or three more times.

Apple’s own advice for a muffled iPhone speaker is simple: place iPhone speaker-side down on a lint-free cloth and see if water drips out. Apple adds that water in the port might degrade speaker performance until it evaporates, so a tone that clears part of it and time that dries the rest work together.

Water eject on Android

Water eject on Android works the same way in Chrome, Samsung Internet or Firefox. Turn media volume to maximum, remove the case, hold the phone with the bottom speaker facing down and press Start.

Android browsers also support vibration, so the tool offers a “Vibrate the phone too” option there. On Samsung phones, a wet charging port can block charging with a moisture alert — that is a separate problem the tone doesn’t touch, covered in water in the charging port.

Sound to get water out of your phone

Sound gets water out of a phone speaker because a speaker is a small air pump. At a low frequency the membrane travels furthest on each cycle, pushing droplets that sit in the grille outward. Pulses add repeated starts and stops.

Apple relies on the same idea in its own hardware. On Apple Watch, turning off Water Lock plays sound to clear the speaker.

“A series of tones plays to clear any water that remains in the speaker.” — Apple Support, on Apple Watch Water Lock

Here is exactly what this tool plays, so you can compare it with any other water eject sound.

PartSoundShare of the sessionAt 1 min
1Steady 165 Hz sine toneFirst third0:00–0:20
2165 Hz in pulses: 0.6 s on, 0.3 s offSecond third0:20–0:40
3Steady 165 Hz sine toneLast third0:40–1:00

Need a different frequency? The Custom tone mode plays anything from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. For grit rather than water, the online speaker cleaner adds a low-frequency dust mode.

How to get water out of a phone speaker

Getting water out of a phone speaker takes three things in order: gravity, sound and time. The tone moves what sits in the grille; drying takes care of what is further in.

Gravity first

Tap the phone gently against your hand with the port facing down, as Apple suggests, before you play any tone.

Then the tone

Run 1 minute of water eject with the grille down. Two or three rounds are normal for a soaked speaker.

Then airflow

Leave the phone in a dry place with some airflow. Apple says a fan blowing cool air may help.

Phone makers are clear about what not to do. Apple says not to dry an iPhone with an external heat source or compressed air, not to push a cotton swab or paper towel into the port, and not to put it in a bag of rice, because small particles can damage it. Samsung says water evaporates from the charging port in about 1 to 2 hours on its water-resistant phones.

For the rest of a wet phone — charging port, camera and the first minutes after a drop — the guide on drying a wet phone goes step by step. AirPods are different hardware with their own instructions: see water in AirPods. If the top earpiece sounds muffled on calls, the call speaker cleaner explains what a browser can and can’t reach, and the left and right speaker test shows which end of the phone is quiet.

This page sends no audio anywhere — see how the tool handles privacy — and about SoundTowel explains how the guides are sourced.

Common questions

Why is there no Water Eject on my iPhone?
iPhone has no built-in Water Eject button. Apple builds water-clearing tones into Apple Watch, where turning off Water Lock plays a series of tones. The Water Eject found on many iPhones is a third-party shortcut for the Shortcuts app, which plays a low tone much like the one on this page.
Does the Water Eject app or shortcut actually work?
A water eject app or shortcut works on water sitting in the speaker grille, because a low tone makes the speaker membrane push air outward. It does not dry water inside the phone, the charging port or the camera. If the sound stays muffled after a few rounds, Apple's advice is to let the remaining water evaporate.
What frequency is the water eject sound?
The water eject sound on most web tools, including this one, is a 165 Hz sine tone. No phone maker publishes an official frequency, and Apple does not say which tones Apple Watch plays for Water Lock. What matters more is a low tone at full volume with the speaker grille facing down.
Is it safe to play a water eject tone at full volume?
A water eject tone is meant to be played at full volume through the phone's own speaker, and each session on this page stops after 2 minutes at most. Stop early if a rattle gets worse. With earbuds or headphones connected, turn the volume down first, since loud sound through earbuds can damage hearing.
When won't a water eject tone help?
A water eject tone won't help when liquid got inside the phone body, when the charging port is wet, or when the speaker was damaged. Sugary or salty liquids need rinsing with fresh water first, according to Apple and Samsung. A speaker that stays silent after the phone has dried needs service, not more tones.