why waterproof phones (e.g. IP68) can only stay underwater for a limited time, and not indefinitely
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IP68 is an engineering standard that says a phone can be submerged up to 1.5m for 30 min.
So the stupid answer is simply that the phone doesn’t have to do any better than that to get the cert so it won’t, especially if the process of making it more waterproof costs more money.
The more broad answer is that a standard is a minimum spec under controlled conditions. If your phone has some wear and tear (a crack, been exposed to temperature extremes, etc) then it may not hold up in water at all. But it’s also possible that the engineering that was used holds up to a higher standard, but only claims a lower standard for liability reasons.
The simple answer is there is no time limit.
The limit is only there because the certification only requires a certain amount of time. In reality if it can stay there for more than 5 minutes, it can stay for much longer, at least for days.
If it stays longer, there is a chance that the adhesive degrades or exposed metal parts rust away, causing the phone to leak eventually. Before that happens, the phone is properly sealed against any liquid intrusion, including the goretex-sealed baro vent.
Let’s say you can overhead press 150lbs, can you hold that up for 30mins?
The water pressure can be resisted, but only so much. Pressure builds with depth, but time can also degrade the seals.
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