New Android app lets you test your phone's water resistance

Android developers are some of the most resourceful characters in the tech world, and they've now come up with the Water Resistance Tester – a novel (and slightly bonkers) app that claims to test the integrity of your Android phone’s IP67/IP68 rating by accessing the device’s internal barometer.

With that in mind, you'd better hope that the water seals on your best Android phone are still intact, as this new app promises to sound the alarm if they're not. It's quick, free to download and should let you see if your phone gets a passing grade without having to submerge your device in a pool of water.

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First spotted by Android Police, developer Ray Wang has designed the Water Resistance Tester app to read your device’s internal barometer and assess how far the IP-rated ingress protection seals built into your phone are still intact. Many high-end phones like the Samsung Galaxy S21 now have in-built barometric pressure sensors, which makes this app possible.

Of course, this isn't a foolproof methodology for measuring phones' water resistance, and it's open to varying degrees of accuracy. Despite this, the developer says that two Reddit users have since confirmed that it works reliably by way of the same method that Samsung's own service technicians use to measure the IP rating of its technology.

This app comes with no special guarantee to assure you that your phone will survive should you dunk it in a deep and unforgiving trench of water after the app indicates a positive result for your handset. We'd advise all users to exercise caution and take the results as a steer, not as an all-clear to get your handset wet!

Still, Android Police notes that Google Play Store reviews attest that phones without a factory IP rating do indeed return a negative result on the app, and "those that had protection but had had a screen repair" now report that the phones' seals are no longer functional. Make what you will of those findings when making your own decision, but it's certainly a nifty (and far less invasive) way of gauging a phone's water resistance should the need arise.