Phone Doctor Plus is a utility app for iOS and Android that tests the hardware to ensure the phone is fully working. It's free and here I take the iPhone version for a test drive. It's good!

This app is useful if you suspect that there may be a problem with your phone. If a particular feature has been causing problems, like multitouch on the screen, audio, hardware buttons, cables and sockets, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and other components, this app tests them.

It is especially useful if you are selling an old Android phone or iPhone and want to ensure that it is working perfectly before handing it over. It is also useful if you have just bought a used phone and want to check it straight away to make sure the seller has not passed on a faulty phone to you.

The app is up to date and supports the latest phones, like the iPhone 12 for example. Not that anyone with the latest phone is likely to need this app. It is more likely to be used with phones older, such as a year or two.

Test the phone hardware

There isn't much to the app and there is simply a large button in the centre of the screen to start the tests. Press it and the app runs through a long list of tests to check that that hardware is OK.

Phone Doctor Plus tests phone hardware

Just a word of warning here, it will probably catch you out the first time you do this. It runs through the tests quite quickly and it asks you to perform various actions like pressing the screen or hardware buttons, plugging in earphones, a lightning cable, wireless charger and so on. If you don’t have them to hand, mine were in another room, then the test involving them will fail.

This is not a problem because individual tests or the whole lot, can be repeated at any time, so if your phone fails a test because you didn't have something it needed, you can retry it later.

Phone Doctor Plus testing the hardware buttons

Phone Doctor Plus tests the screen’s multitouch capability, the earphones and microphones (there are several), the earphone jack insertion detection, cameras, flash, home button, volume control, speaker, accelerometer, sleep/wake button, and several more features. It checks the iPhone proximity sensor and other hardware and sensors you may not have thought about or even knew it had.

Phone diagnostic test results

It is a comprehensive series of tests and the results are shown on a certificate when the app has finished. There is also a screen that displays all the tests and ticks and crosses indicate pass and fail. Any failures can be repeated.

The app has a useful status screen that shows the remaining battery time, the amount of storage space available, the CPU load, memory available, and more. The information is presented clearly and it is useful if you want to keep an eye on these items.

There is more to this than you might at first think and tapping each of the items shows a new screen where there are tests and details. For example, press the Available Memory item and it measures the memory performance and shows the memory usage including wired, active, inactive, free and so on.

Several items produce a similar display, but with different information. Available Network is slightly different and this enables you to monitor your data usage. The amount of data you have each month and the renewal date are entered. The app then monitors usage and you can see in the app how much is left, so you don’t use too much and incur charges from your phone provider.

Phone Doctor Plus is a great app for testing the iPhone and there is an Android version too. They enable you to view useful and important information and check that everything is working properly. It is well worth installing on your phone.

Title: Phone Doctor Plus (Google Play Store | iOS App Store)
Price: Free
Developer: Idea Mobile Tech Inc.
iOS: 8.0 or later | Android: 4.2 and up
Verdict: A great app for testing and monitoring your phone and tablet