Sometimes you can take measures at home to prevent needing an iPhone repair or an iPad repair. Here are some of those options that could save you time and money:
1. The rice method: This is perhaps the most popular DIY solution for water damage. Let's say some water finds its way into your device. This forces you to find the quickest and most efficient way to extract that water. Enter the bag of rice. By submerging your iPhone or iPod in a carefully sealed bag of uncooked rice, you allow the rice to absorb the moisture that's in your device and therefore hopefully get it working good as new. But you have to be patient with this method. For good measure, leave the device in the bag for at least 24 hours.
2. The cotton swab (for earpiece jack): Sometimes you'll find that your headphones don't work when you want to listen to music. Let's say you swap out the pair for another set of headphones, only to discover those don't work either. Chances are that your device's jack has been, well, jacked by dust. As Joel Johnson pointed out in Popular Mechanics, the presence of accumulated dust in an iPhone or iPod jack can lead the device to believe that the dust is the headset. Thus, your legitimate headphones won't be recognized. To prevent this trickery from overtaking your device, take a cotton swab, put a little drop of rubbing alcohol on it and swish it around inside.
3. The reset (for all devices): Apple devices can carry out myriad tasks, but sometimes the complexity of their operations slows them down. If you've ever experienced an iPod randomly skipping through songs or an iPhone that won't open a certain app, you know what we mean. But you may be surprised how many problems can be solved simply by restarting your Apple device. For iPhones, iPads, and iPods, the process is the same across the board. Just hold down the button on top of the device (sleep/wake) until the Apple logo appears (usually this takes about 10 seconds). That's all you have to do, and it's a process that can solve most of your device's little hiccups.
4. The battery drain (for all devices): This may not be a repair option, but it can prevent a device from needing one in the future. Many Apple customers only charge their batteries when it's convenient for them. Get home from work, juice up the iPhone for a charge and then remove it half an hour later before heading to dinner. The problem with this method is it doesn't account for the battery's needs. Imagine eating only a third of a meal before it's taken away. Sure, you'll be hungry at first, but eventually your stomach will shrink and you'll learn to accept the smaller portion – but you'll also lose weight. A battery works the same way. The more you accustom it to partial charges, the more it will deliver only partial battery results, and battery power will deteriorate over time. To prolong battery life, you have to work around the battery's needs too. One good method for the iPhone is to only charge it at night. That way it'll get a full charge, and the battery will likely be mostly drained from a day of use.
Sometimes situations present themselves where a DIY option just doesn't make sense. A cracked screen, for instance, most likely puts you in the market for an iPad screen replacement. And if the four methods above fail, you can always look into the iPhone or iPad repair options offered by iResQ.