Is my speaker ruined. dirt

I had the same problem. Some folks say to dab a bit of some kind of stickum gently onto the speaker screen to get the dust and debris to cling to it, like a bit of the sticky edge of a PostIt note. Tried that—no luck. Tried vacuuming—no luck. Then with COVID, I was using alcohol wipes all the time at work in a pretty much deserted building, and I read that I should also wipe down my “third hand”—my phone. I did, without thinking about the speaker, and the sound is like new. This was not a liquid, but a moderately damp alcohol wipe. I think the fumes did something. I doubt that liquid alcohol entered the opening. Hope it works for you.

Hi Shannon!

To remove the dirt from the small ports on the phone, I’d recommend using a can of compressed air or “dust-off” to blow away any dirt, debris or dust inside. Additionally, you can try using a Q-tip dipped in a little rubbing alcohol (Isopropyl alcohol) to help clean the ports out, but you may have to pinch or flatten the Q-tip’s cotton so that it fits inside the ports.

I’m not too sure what to suggest regarding the volume booster app you’ve installed, unfortunately.

I hope this helps!

Before you use any solvents, take a clean, old soft toothbrush and gently scrub over the speaker ports. Its good to do this periodically because of lint and accumulations anyway. Normally the screen catches most debris, and the toothbrush will brush them out gently. Make sure it doesn’t have old, dried toothpaste residue, or you just exacerbate the issue. Compressed air may help, but don’t point it directly into the speaker as you can damage the diaphragm.