Apple issue warning to iPhone users about 'dangerous act' that millions of us are guilty of

A whole lot of misinformation tends to fly around about the best way to charge your phone.

Apple has spent years reiterating the fact that you're fine to charge your iPhone overnight - despite theories saying it's bad for the battery.

However, a recent TikTok has pointed out that while you're fine to charge your iPhone overnight from a battery life point of view, there are still some safety tips that Apple puts in the fine print that you should definitely pay attention to.

Tech content creator Scott Polderman draws attention to an important warning from Apple - that your phone needs to get proper ventilation while it charges for long periods.

This is easily solved by just leaving your phone out on a table or surface, but as Polderman points out, it means you should avoid having your phone actually in bed with you, since it could overheat under your covers.

As he puts it: "If you have the phone next to the bed plugged in and you fall asleep and it's under the covers or it ends up under your pillow and it can't get ventilation, that's when it can cause injury."

This isn't the only important bit, though - Polderman goes on to talk about charging cables and power adapters themselves, which Apple also says you should be cautious with.

"The second warning is about the charging cord. You do not want to have prolonged skin contact with the charging cord, especially if you're sleeping," says Polderman. This is again due to the risk of high temperatures, which could cause injury.

Of course, if you're using official Apple adapters and cables you shouldn't find that they heat up too badly - unless something's gone really wrong - but many of us use third-party chargers that we should still be careful with.

Apple's own guidelines confirm that everything Polderman is saying is pretty much true, too.

They're a little more technically worded, unsurprisingly, with cautions like: "Using damaged cables or chargers, or charging when moisture is present, can cause fire, electric shock, injury, or damage to iPhone or other property."

To Polderman's points, it says: "It’s important to keep iPhone, the charging cable, the power adapter, and any wireless charger in a well-ventilated area when in use or charging."

In fact, Apple is really happy to make this point over and over in the hopes that people listen, going on to reiterate: "Use common sense to avoid situations where your skin is in contact with a device, its power adapter, or a wireless charger when it’s operating or connected to a power source for long periods of time.

"For example, don’t sleep on a device, power adapter, or wireless charger, or place them under a blanket, pillow, or your body, when it’s connected to a power source."

Featured Image Credit: Tomasz Śmigla / Willie B. Thomas / Getty