To think the new Pokemon Sleep app is potentially dangerous?

[PhantomUnicorn]

It literally advises people to go to sleep with their phone on their pillow next to them.

am i wrong in thinking its just teaching kids to put themselves at risk of setting themselves on fire?

Surely one of the most basic safety things we teach kids is not to have your phone in your bed while you sleep, especially if its on charge?

on charge of I don’t agree with but I often drift off listening to true crime and murder documentaries on my phone….

Don't believe this rumour

Rumour implies an untruth.

The article itself even confirms the app tells you to sleep with your phone in your bed.

Is it one of the most basic things though? Sounds paranoid imo. I’ve had my phone on my bed every night for about 15 years so I hear my alarm and it’s never been an issue.
I’ve never known anyone to have a phone spontaneously combusting.

I've literally never heard of not having your phone next to your bed on charge - isn't that where the entire world keeps their phone overnight? What about every other electrical appliance? Lamps? Alarm. Clocks? Televisions? Most people have bedrooms full of the things

The Samsung Note 7 is the phone that infamously had cases of spontaneous combustion and made worldwide headlines because if it. Even that was a total of just 35 cases out of millions sold. Your phone going on fire overnight is an absolute minute risk and not one to worry about.

There are lots of warnings about leaving a phone charging under your pillow. The advice is not to.

No one is talking about charging, including the OP.

No. But some people reading this thread might be

DS has just asked for this and I am not happy with it. The app states it should be plugged in and NOT on a hard surface but on the mattress. I've agreed to try it but I'm not sure.

I might go unplug it when he's asleep. The charge cable doesn't reach easily as it's a cabin bed.. I am a gamer but gamification of children's sleep .. hmmmm.

Problem with Pokémon is that it's massive for autistic kids and they're totally obsessed. Saying no is v hard.

Wonder if the game designers are parents! (Doubt it)

My son has just asked to use this. It is a fire risk if the phone is charging on your bed as that is more flammable than a bedside cabinet and also nearer to you to cause burns before you are awake & aware. There is an accessory called Pokémon Go plus +. I will let him use that with the smoke detector in his room. I work for the fire service & we have had phones and other devices catch fire in bedrooms and on beds. The other risk is rechargeable scooters & bikes.

Yes, I just charge my phone before bed, I don't fancy it getting all hot charging.

As long as your battery lasts all night for your Pokémon to rest it's grand 😄

It's not a fire risk to charge a phone in bed. That's just a facebook myth. Yes, you probably shouldn't put it under your pillow in case it overheats. But they normally only catch fire if you've replaced the battery with some bootleg Chinese one, which you can't easily do now that the majority of phones are sealed units.

There have been loads of sleep tracker apps which require the phone to be on the mattress next to the person - granted it does seem a bit weird this one is marketed at children.

We've got rid of it. We have parental controls set so the phone can't be used from a time at night until morning. This meant that it didn't work so I woke up to ds having an utter meltdown because he hadn't made any progress over night. I'm not having an app cause stress over sleep. I think it is poorly thought out. The priority is clearly an addictive game not children's best health interests.

@BertieBotts I'm not sure the fire risk is a myth. @Wimpod said s/he works for the fire service.

^It's not a fire risk to charge a phone in bed. That's just a facebook myth.*

I think London Fire Brigade would disagree.

Unless you're using a cheap, dodgy charger it's fine.

It is not a Facebook myth - plugs, charging cables, damaged phones do catch fire - look at reports on house fires - you need to use official chargers etc and check for damage

Ok sorry, I'll rephrase.

Normal changing of a phone is no more of a fire risk than any other electrical item.

The FB posts seem to suggest that phones will get hot enough during normal charging to spontaneously combust, which is not true. Something has gone very wrong when that happens.

It's true that damaged or bootleg electronics of any kind can be a fire hazard, but then they're hazardous everywhere, not just in bed. I understand that it's probably a more common item for people to have accidentally bought a non official one maybe without realising.

It's unlikely that the fact of being in bed alone would increase charging temperature to the point that it's dangerous. In fact, most phones overheating will simply shut down and not continue to get hotter. You probably shouldn't charge a phone under a pillow, because that will trap heat, but again, most of the time not a huge problem as the phone will just shut down. Lying openly on a mattress won't heat the phone any more than it lying on a bedside table etc.