New South WalesLaw: Drivers can use any function of a phone but only if it's "in a cradle fixed to the vehicle and doesn't obscure your view of the road" according to the NSW department of Transport. Voice control is allowed if the driver doesn't touch the device.
A flat plastic disc with adhesive backing to
stick to your
dash, like this one.
Some creative ideas for phone mount placements include:
- smooth plastic surfaces on the front panel of the dash, e.g. around the stereo or next to air vents.
- smooth plastic surfaces on elevated center consoles.
5 safe places to put your smartphone while driving
- Windshield mount. This is probably the most widespread and commonly used smartphone-mounting option.
- Dashboard mount. With the addition of an adhesive puck, most windshield mounts can be converted into dashboard mounts.
- HVAC vent mount.
- DIY mount.
- No mount at all.
Try lifting an edge with a plastic knife or a credit card to avoid scratching your phone. Use a little Goo Gone or Goof Off to help dissolve the adhesive if necessary; it won't hurt the plate or the back of iPhone. The magnet is in the base only, not the metal plate that goes on back of phone.
While your screen or data isn't threatened by magnets, your phone's compass is. Magnets can affect the internal magnetic sensors located inside the smartphone and may even slightly magnetise some of the steel inside your phone. This magnetisation could then interfere with the compass on your phone.
Apple recommends that third-party manufacturers avoid using magnets and metal components in cases and other accessories. For best camera performance, avoid accessories that use magnets or magnetic metal.
Magnets have no adverse affect on the life-span of batteries, they can neither drain nor charge an iPhone battery. You might find that a lot of the time you have a lot of apps running in the background or you are over-charging your accsessory, which will drain the battery life.
Battery: Most phone batteries are unaffected by household magnets. The presence of a very strong magnetic field can cause the battery to work slightly harder to supply the right voltage and thus wearing the battery out faster. However, even a strong horseshoe magnet would not be enough to drain your phone's battery.
Will the magnet hurt my phone? We still get asked every day -- "Will a magnet hurt my phone?" The simple answer is "NO." Apple iPhone and Android devices use NAND flash memory, which is immune to magnets. They do not use magnets for storage; instead, they use integrated circuit assemblies as memory to store data.
A magnetic field strength of 200 mT or above can cause permanent damage. A magnetic field strength from 20 to 200 mT can cause temporary malfunction.
Your question: “Do magnets affect GPS?” No. The GPS satellites are thousands of kilometers away from you in Earth orbit and are unaffected by any magnet you may have on you.
Short answer, No. Old phones used an analog signal that modern cell towers don't use anymore. New phones use a highly compressed higher frequency digital signal and so do all the towers. They make a nice paper weight.