YOU’LL probably get dozens of notifications on your iPhone every day – but there are some alerts you should pay extra special attention to.

If you ignore them, you risk a slower iPhone, hefty bills, and even permanent damage to your pricey gadget.

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The Sun has pulled together a list of three important alerts that you should never overlook.

IPHONE STORAGE ALMOST FULL

First up is the message iPhone Storage Almost Full.

Some of you might never have seen it, but it might be worryingly familiar for others.

It means that you’re running out of space on your iPhone, which is usually because you’ve got too many apps, photos, and/or videos.

That might sound annoying, but not exactly phone-breaking.

The bad news is that if you let your iPhone storage drop too low, it can several impact your phone’s performance.

It can slow right down (even if you’ve got a fancy new device) and even switch off entirely.

Apple says you’ll want to make sure you keep at least a gigabyte of storage space free to avoid these effects.

“For best performance, try to maintain at least 1GB of free space,” Apple explains.

“If your available storage is consistently less than 1GB, your device might slow down as iOS or iPadOS repeatedly makes room for more content.”

IPHONE NEEDS TO COOL DOWN

If you’ve used an iPhone in a hot country or during the height of summer, you may have seen an iPhone temperature warning screen.

It’ll pop up on your iPhone in the form of an alert with a thermometer icon.

The pop-up will block out your whole screen, and a message will read: “Temperature: iPhone needs to cool down before you can use it.”

This message is an inconvenience because your iPhone can’t be used for anything other than emergency calls.

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But it’s very bad for another reason: your battery health.

Excessive heat is one of the biggest dangers to your battery – and can permanently damage it, reducing its lifespan.

Your battery will naturally get worse over time, holding less charge than when it was new.

In fact, you can check this under Maximum Capacity in Settings > Battery > Battery Health.

WHY DO BATTERIES GET WORSE OVER TIME?

Here’s what you need to know

• Most gadgets run on lithium-ion batteries
• Over time, the amount of charge this type of battery can hold gets smaller
• That means you need to charge your device more often because they hold less charge
• Batteries have two electrode points – the cathode and the anode
• To charge a battery, the ions inside the battery are forced from the cathode to the anode
• When you use a battery, it moves in the reverse direction
• This process wears away at the structure of the anode, reducing its ability to function correctly
• But the process also builds up a kind of salt on the cathode when charging
• As this build-up grows, the battery will accept less charge over time
• It’s estimated that between 500 and 1,000 full charge-cycles will reduce a battery’s maximum capacity by roughly 20%

Picture Credit: Apple / The Sun

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You’d probably expect to hit around 80% Maximum Capacity after around 500 charging cycles, which usually takes about two years.

But if you let your iPhone get hot very regularly, your battery can degrade faster.

That means if you don’t want to fork out for a new iPhone, you’ll eventually need to buy a battery replacement.

Depending on your model, they’ll usually cost £100 or less – check out our iPhone battery replacement guide here.

IPHONE BATTERY SWAP – HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?

Here’s how much you’ll pay for iPhone battery replacements in the UK and the US..

iPhone 5 Series

iPhone SE Series

• iPhone SE (1st gen) – £N/A / $69
• iPhone SE (2nd gen) – £65 / $69
• iPhone SE (3rd gen) – £65 / $69

iPhone 6 Series

• iPhone 6 – £N/A / $69
• iPhone 6s – £N/A / $69
• iPhone 6s Plus – £N/A / $69

iPhone 7 Series

• iPhone 7 – £65 / $69
• iPhone 7 Plus – £65 / $69

iPhone 8 Series

• iPhone 8 – £65 / $69
• iPhone 8 Plus – £65 / $69

iPhone X Series

iPhone XR/XS Series

• iPhone XR – £85 / $89
• iPhone XS – £85 / $89
• iPhone XS Max – £85 / $89

iPhone 11 Series

• iPhone 11 – £85 / $89
• iPhone 11 Pro – £85 / $89
• iPhone 11 Pro Max – £85 / $89

iPhone 12 Series

• iPhone 12 mini – £85 / $89
• iPhone 12 – £85 / $89
• iPhone 12 Pro – £85 / $89
• iPhone 12 Pro Max – £85 / $89

iPhone 13 Series

• iPhone 13 mini – £85 / $89
• iPhone 13 – £85 / $89
• iPhone 13 Pro – £85 / $89
• iPhone 13 Pro Max – £85 / $89

iPhone 14 Series

• iPhone 14 – £95 / $99
• iPhone 14 Plus – £95 / $99
• iPhone 14 Pro – £95 / $99
• iPhone 14 Pro Max – £95 / $99

iPhone 15 Series

• iPhone 15 – £95 / $99
• iPhone 15 Plus – £95 / $99
• iPhone 15 Pro – £95 / $99
• iPhone 15 Pro Max – £95 / $99

iPhone 16 Series

• iPhone 16 – £95 / $99
• iPhone 16 Plus – £95 / $99
• iPhone 16 Pro – £109 / $119
• iPhone 16 Pro Max – £109 / $119

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It’s a great way to breathe new life into an iPhone, giving it like-new battery life and better performance too.

But you want to avoid letting your battery get too hot, so you can put off a battery replacement for as long as possible.

So if you see the iPhone’s Temperature pop-up, move the device to a cool place as soon as possible – away from direct sunlight.

LIQUID DETECTED

The third alert to watch out for is Liquid Detected – ignoring it could permanently break your iPhone.

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There are two different pop-ups that might appear for you.

There are several different alerts that can appear depending on what you’re up to – but they’ll usually indicate that you’ve got water in your charging port, or on the connector for your cable or accessory.

It’ll say something like: “Charging Not Available. Liquid has been detected in the Lightning connector. Disconnect to allow the connector to dry. This may take several hours.”

Apple says you should ignore the warning if it’s an emergency. Otherwise, you’ll risk seriously damaging your iPhone.

Don’t put your iPhone in a bag of rice.

Apple

“If you charge your iPhone while the Lightning or USB-C connector is wet, the pins on the connector or cable can corrode and cause permanent damage or stop functioning, causing connectivity issues for your iPhone or accessory,” Apple explained.

“Although you shouldn’t charge your iPhone when it’s wet, you might need to in an emergency.

“If you reconnect your iPhone to the cable or accessory, you have the option in an emergency to override the liquid detection and charge your iPhone.”

The best thing to do is just let your iPhone dry out naturally.

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Leave it in a warm and dry place – but don’t apply any external heat, like blasting it with a hairdryer.

You shouldn’t put a cotton swab or paper towels in the charging port either.

And to bust a longstanding myth, Apple says: “Don’t put your iPhone in a bag of rice. Doing so could allow small particles of rice to damage your iPhone.”

Read The Sun’s guide to why you shouldn’t use rice to dry your iPhone.