Safe to leave iPhone on for extended periods?

[AvalonBright]

Bit of a frustrating situation at the moment. My long-distance girlfriend is having to go without a computer for awhile, and our main method of communication is IRC via her iPhone.

I won't go into major details, other than that she has the iPhone online and in use for the majority of the day. Other than perhaps an hour or so during class, her iphone is on and active from when she wakes up until bed time, and even overnight it keeps IRC active while being in standby.

I'm admittedly not the tech-savvy one in the relationship, but I know when one compares desktops to laptops, the smaller computers often wear out more quickly with extended use.

I'm wondering if this is the case with such heavy use of her phone, as well. Being our only avenue of communication I tend to worry a bit about whether or not it's being worked too hard, though I have no idea if this is a legitimate concern or not. Can anyone shed some light on this?

 

[Intell]

They can be left on for years at a time, granted that they are plugged in or have a full battery. The only thing would be to restart the iPhone about once a month to keep it fresh.

 

[draz]

Mine only restarts when there is an iOS update... Otherwise it is on all the time.
Been doing this since the 3G.

 

[CalBoy]

I can't think of a reason why you'd (or rather she'd) have to power off any cell phone.

I've always kept my phones on 24/7, including the iPhone. So long as you keep your software updated and remember to charge it, you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[EricNau]

It's recommended to restart the phone at least weekly to ensure reliable performance. However, there's no reason why you can't leave it on 24/7.

You do need to worry about the battery, however. Follow this support article provided by Apple and you'll be fine: http://www.apple.com/batteries/iphone.html