7+ Home button doesn't work in waterproof dry bag case

[riseboi]

I supposed I shouldn't be surprised with the change to the home button, but it caught me off guard this morning when I went paddleboarding. Fortunately, I had on my Garmin Fenix so I was still able to control Spotify and see my text/email notifications. But, I still would like to pull my phone out during breaks so I can respond to texts/email as necessary without taking the phone out of the case. So my questions are:

1: Is the voice dictation function on the apple watch good? I like my fenix, but if I can respond to texts/emails with the applewatch, I might decide to pick one up.

2: Is there a case or brand that makes cases that allow for a lanyard to be attached to the case? The increased water resistance is nice, but the main reason I use my drybag case is because I can attach the lanyard to my waist PFD. Chances are, one slip out of my hand while on the water, and I'll never find it again.

EDIT: I should note, swiping and typing all still work, it's just that the lack of being able to use the home button make it more difficult to navigate to whatever app I want to use.

Thanks for any help

 

[Sunoo]

The best I've been able to come up with to use the iPhone 7 in a dry bag is to enable Assistive Touch. If you set the number of icons in the top level menu to 1 and set that to be "Home", it will give you an on screen button that activates the home button. In my experience, that works as expected in the dry bag, as long as you wake the phone with the power button or raise to wake.

I would much prefer to find something that I can put the phone in that allows the home button to function normally though, but I haven't had any luck yet.

 

[Gr81MB]

Has to be touching your skin won't work otherwise even if you touch it with your t shirt or shirt

 

[Sunoo]

Based on my limited testing, it does work through certain materials, plastic shopping bags for example do not prevent the home button from working (obviously TouchID doesn't work in that case though).

If it can work through a plastic bag, it seems a thin enough plastic in a dry bag would allow it to work as well.

 

[lordofthereef]

I've had the Watch two weeks and I personally feel dictation seems better through the Watch than the phone. I haven't tried responding to an email but I respond to plenty of texts and google hangouts messages daily and it is almost always spot on, even in Hungarian. It's really reduced the amount of time I spend using the phone, which I guess is a plus.

 

[Laurabeth]

The best I've been able to come up with to use the iPhone 7 in a dry bag is to enable Assistive Touch. If you set the number of icons in the top level menu to 1 and set that to be "Home", it will give you an on screen button that activates the home button. In my experience, that works as expected in the dry bag, as long as you wake the phone with the power button or raise to wake.

I would much prefer to find something that I can put the phone in that allows the home button to function normally though, but I haven't had any luck yet.

Can you give more detailed instructions on how to do this?

 

[Mlrollin91]

I use the Anker iP68 "waterproof" bag and have zero issues using the home button. Touch ID doesn't work as expected, but I can click the button without any issue.

 

[Newtons Apple]

I use a disposable ziplock bag and it even reads my fingerprint. Use these ziplock to protect the 7+ when off shore or on the jetski.

Ziplock bags are cheap and disposable. VERY water tight.

 

[Sunoo]

There are a bunch of company's offering iPhone 7-compatible dry bags on Amazon now. I haven't tried any of them yet though.

 

[NovemberWhiskey]

Use the assistive touch feature in accessibility settings. It brings up a soft home button to use while in the dry bag.

Do NOT rely on ziplock bags for serious water intensive activities. Don't even trust your dry bag for submersion.

 

[LCnMN]

Based on my limited testing, it does work through certain materials, plastic shopping bags for example do not prevent the home button from working (obviously TouchID doesn't work in that case though).

If it can work through a plastic bag, it seems a thin enough plastic in a dry bag would allow it to work as well.

[doublepost=1522769586][/doublepost]I like to use my phone while in the hot tub. The home button works fine on a ziplock bag but I thought I'd upgrade to a water proof case and the home button does not work. I shouldn't be too surprised since it also doesn't work on the water proof case on my mountain bike.

 

[sophiefrance]

Hi, I was looking for a solution to unlock my iPhone when it is inside a waterproof dry bag, because the home button didn't want to show me the "passcode page" because of the plastic between the phone and my finger. And of course, the same for the fingerprint...

The best solution I have found is to disable the "Passcode" for the time I am using the dry bag.

The steps : Settings -> Touch ID & Passcode -> Enter your passcode -> untick "iPhone Unlock"

Then, when the phone is locked, you just have to press the home button and it will unlock the phone

Don't forget to put your passcode back right after you take your phone out of the dry bag

Hope it will help someone

Sophie

 

[decafjava]

Hi, I was looking for a solution to unlock my iPhone when it is inside a waterproof dry bag, because the home button didn't want to show me the "passcode page" because of the plastic between the phone and my finger. And of course, the same for the fingerprint...

The best solution I have found is to disable the "Passcode" for the time I am using the dry bag.

The steps : Settings -> Touch ID & Passcode -> Enter your passcode -> untick "iPhone Unlock"

Then, when the phone is locked, you just have to press the home button and it will unlock the phone

Don't forget to put your passcode back right after you take your phone out of the dry bag

Hope it will help someone

Sophie

This is incredibly bad advice on an old thread. As others have said it is possible to use the home button when your phone is in the dry bag. One person even said Touch ID works, though that probably doesn’t work all the time. I know that the situations where you would use a dry bag (beach, hiking etc. ) are likely times to lose your phone or have it stolen. You are asking to get your personal data compromised if you follow this advice.

 

[sophiefrance]

This is incredibly bad advice on an old thread. As others have said it is possible to use the home button when your phone is in the dry bag. One person even said Touch ID works, though that probably doesn’t work all the time. I know that the situations where you would use a dry bag (beach, hiking etc. ) are likely times to lose your phone or have it stolen. You are asking to get your personal data compromised if you follow this advice.

Well, of course it is not safe if you loose your phone, that seems really obvious, and everyone knows that. And that's why I mentioned to turn on the passcode right after you remove the dry bag.

In my case, I will run a marathon in 5 days, and needed to have access to my running app while running, my phone in an armband. I really don't know how I would not feel the phone or the armband falling from my arm...

But of course you are more than welcome to give me a better solution if you have. Because in the previous comments, I can't see something efficient enough to solve the problem, as when running a marathon you can't be annoyed by this type of problem... So if "it doesn't work all the time" I am not interested...
Or maybe it's my english that is not good enough, and I haven't understood one of the answers...

So if there is an easy and better solution I take it.