how to turn iPhone xs off forever when the screen is black

August 30, 2022 11:42 PM

My iPhone xs has a completely dead, black screen. It is, however, holding on to life because the alarm is going off. I can snooze it by pressing the side button, but then it just comes back in ten minutes.

It was also connecting to the AirPlay in my car last night and playing some music that I honestly had no idea was on my phone to begin with but back to the point-

I have tried googling but all I can find is how to restart it by pressing up and down on the volume and then long-hold on the side button- which isn't what I want. It may be restarting but I can't see it if it is (see totally dead, black screen) and the alarm is still coming back every ten minutes. I don't care about fixing the screen or fixing the phone, I just want the alarm to stop going off and I would genuinely just throw it into the ocean at this point but that would be littering and the dolphins might steal my identity.

I've tried plugging it into my Macbook btw to see if I can manage it in iTunes (is that even still a thing?) but nothing happened.

posted by cilantro to Technology (7 answers total)

Why not put it in say the freezer to deaden the sound and let the battery run out? What about smashing it with a hammer until it gives its last breath? Put it in a sink full of water? Douse it with lighter fluid and burn it until it won't burn anymore. I guess there are many many fun ways to destroy the thing. Seems like the easiest would be to let the battery die and then just put the phone in a drawer.

Are you hoping to wipe it after the alarm is turned off or is stopping the darn alarm sound really your end goal?
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:56 PM on August 30, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I’m not 100% sure if this would stop the alarm, but have you tried remote wiping it? Also has the added benefit of dolphins not stealing your data.
posted by sincerely yours at 12:04 AM on August 31, 2022 [1 favorite]

Can you just let the alarm play itself out while you go out for a walk or take a shower or something? Or does it not stop automatically after X minutes? (Mine takes 10 minutes to give up and notify me I've missed an alarm.)
posted by trig at 12:17 AM on August 31, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Ah remote wiping through iCloud- that didn't even occur to me. Let's hope it works (though the alarm just went off again as I am typing this, even though it's showing as "erase pending" in iCloud, so who knows what might happen).

If not, then maybe I'll donate it to those people who smash things in hydraulic presses, or do one of your ideas, JohnnyGunn. Though I should probably be a good citizen and have it recycled once I can be sure all my data is wiped.

I almost always have a full or nearly full battery so chances are that it was at close to 100% when the screen died so no telling how long the battery might hang on. I did hope it would stop after a while, Trig, but when I tracked down the sound this morning it will have already been going for an hour at least so I probably have some stupid setting on that says RUN THE ALARM FOREVER.
posted by cilantro at 12:32 AM on August 31, 2022

Forever? Drop the Hammer!
posted by fairmettle at 1:29 AM on August 31, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: So- wiping through iCloud worked, BUT, not at first. It somehow decided not to connect to my wifi anymore in spite of still playing alarms and connecting to bluetooth and playing music and probably sending embarrassing messages to people I haven't spoken to in fifteen years, so I briefly stuck my SIM card back in and then it was located and wiped within a few minutes. Thank fuck, because that alarm sound spikes my anxiety every time it goes off!

Thanks for the resolution, sincerely yours, and for the other great suggestions everyone <3 now I can safely recycle it or, more likely, put it in a doom box where it will live for the next ten years until I throw it out in a mad decluttering rage.
posted by cilantro at 1:40 AM on August 31, 2022 [7 favorites]

Now that the device is disarmed (so to speak) note that Apple safely recycles old devices for free, although you do need to have a printer, find an appropriate box and be able to get to a UPS store or drop point. I recently used this service as it was easier than dealing with the e-waste people in my town.
posted by aramaic at 11:59 AM on August 31, 2022 [2 favorites]