Getting Poor Reception on Your iPhone? Try This Simple Trick

3 Min Read Published: Sep 2nd, 2019

Updated: Sep 5th, 2019

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If you’re experiencing cellular reception and subpar connectivity on your iPhone, you aren’t alone. Many users have reported poor performance from their devices.

While many of these issues are easily fixable or eventually patched by Apple, there are other cases in which the problem tends to be more persistent. In these cases, there’s a simple trick you can use that may bump the performance of your iPhone’s connectivity. Here’s what you should know.

Apple’s Cellular Issues

Apple has always had some trouble when it comes to cellular performance. Just think back to the iPhone 4 and the so-called Antennagate controversy.

Essentially, the iPhone 4 was found to be subpar cellular performance when held in the left hand. Largely, that was because a user’s hand would then cover the device’s antenna gap.

Despite initial reports that it was software-based, the problems didn’t stop. The controversy escalated and eventually lead to a class-action lawsuit — and it didn’t really die down until 2012.

While Antennagate is in Apple’s past, there have been recurring reports of cellular reception issues for almost every one iPhone it has released since then.

Continuing Problems

Apple has changed its antenna placement and design since the iPhone 4. But that doesn’t mean that newer smartphones are immune to reception issues.

If you do a quick Google search for iPhone XS reception problems, you’ll find a slew of user reports indicating poor signal strength or subpar performance for both Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity.

There’s no clear answer explaining why this is the case. And while Apple has seemingly alleviated some issues with current software updates, the problem still appears to be pretty persistent.

What Should You Do?

Truthfully, there isn’t a lot you can do if you live in an area with less-than-stellar cellular reception and cellular technology infrastructure.

While iPhones and other smartphones will perform as expected in areas with strong reception quality, they may suffer if you’re in an area with poorer performance. There is, however, something you can try.

Back in 2016, the Nordic Council of Ministers comissioned testing of a slew of popular smartphone models — including the iPhone SE, iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

What they found consistently was that smartphones held in the left hand tended to have poorer signal strength and reception than devices held in the right hand. (Again, this didn’t matter in areas with good reception, but it made a big difference in areas with poor reception.)

While the antenna technology in the iPhone XS has undoubtedly changed since the iPhone 6s days, the ongoing reception issues suggest that Apple’s (or any smartphone manufacturer’s) antenna issues aren’t quite solved.

So if you’re desperate for a solution, it may be worth holding your device in your right hand and seeing if that mitigates reception problems. It’s worth noting that using a hands-free method will achieve a similar result.

More Ways to Resolve Poor iPhone Reception

Be sure to take advantage of your iPhone’s Wi-Fi Calling feature. Instead of using cellphone towers, Wi-Fi calling routes your phone calls through the internet for optimal call quality. Wi-Fi Calling is a key feature if you live or work in an area with constant subpar reception.