I live in Florida so I don’t have to worry about cold weather (except for maybe one week a year). However the rest of the US and obviously other parts of the world have to deal with cold times coming soon, so you’d best prepare for it now.
Fortunately, the preparation is quite easy.
1. Know your phone’s minimum operating temperature.
I wrote about this last year. If you have a touchscreen-based phone, it will most likely not work at all when the ambient temperature is below freezing. And when I say “not work at all”, I literally mean the thing will shut down on you until the ambient temperature is above freezing.
2. Don’t use gloves on any touchscreen
Ice can scratch a touchscreen just as well as dirt particles you can’t see on the fingertip area of gloves. Take off a glove to use your touchscreen-based mobile electronic. If you can’t do that, use your nose. Yes, really. You may look stupid doing it, but it works.
3. Unpadded leather cases for any electronic = bad interaction with cold weather
Whether real leather or faux leather, there’s the risk that if the material is left touching the device and some condensation happens where things go cold, them warm up, then get cold again, etc., that material will stick to the electronic’s casing. On attempt to remove it, some paint may be taken along with it and/or a nice lovely big-ass “pull-off scratch” will be left behind.
Padded leather cases don’t have this issue unless the padding itself is really cheap and has a wet-sponge-like effect when frozen then unfrozen.
When in doubt, wrap your electronic in what’s known as “cheesecloth”, such as a guitar polish cloth. It’s called cheesecloth because it’s yellow and has “teeth” on the end that sorta/kinda looks like cheese. This cloth obviously won’t scratch, and even if completely frozen should not stick to the electronic whatsoever.
For you crafty types out there, making a cheesecloth “sleeve” is usually better for cold weather compared to a case because it fits loose, and is altogether better for cold weather on-the-go mobile electronics storage. Got a stapler (or staple gun) handy? Then you can make a cheesecloth sleeve in about, oh, two minutes. Not a pretty solution by any means, but a darned effective one.
Bonus: Make 10 of them, place an iron-on Apple logo patch on the front, and the 50-cent sleeve is then worth 40 dollars. I’m sure some moron on eBay would buy one for his overpriced iPhone. And yes, there are Apple fanboy idiots who would be stupid enough to buy it. Call it the “iCozy”.
I probably just gave away an idea that’s worth about 5 grand. Maybe more. Oh, well. Well, if anyone makes the iCozy, let me know so in true Apple style I’ll sue the bejeezus out of them. 
WAIT, NEVER MIND, some already did it and is cashing in on Apple fanboy/fangirl stupidity. You go, girl.
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