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Can't hear callers?? iPhone 4

R

Ruffian829

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 17, 2008
319
2
I did a search for this but couldn't find anything...

randomly my phone seems to have stopped working property tonight- I cannot hear ANYTHING through the earpiece speaker- I can hear through the headphones and the speaker phone but that is it. It worked fine earlier today but it just stopped working. I got it the day the iphone 4's came out (can't remember exactly when that was? no idea if its still under warranty??)

I did not drop it or anything :(

I made an apt for apple tomorrow- but any suggestions in the meantime? (via googling I saw somthing that said to plug in the headphones and unplug a few times and the earpiece will start working again? i tried that with no luck)
 
Had this recently too, I also tried the plug in and out of the earphones for it not to work then I read it happens with Apps such as: Last.fm, WunderRadio etc

Basically apps that use the backgrounding ability with sound, so I opened both last.fm and my radio app and did the plug in and out of the earphones and swapped between the apps with music on so the sound changed and got it back into normal mode.

Basically the phone gets stuck to thinking the earphones are still connected. Apple knows of this bug apparently and should be fixing it.
 
vlug- I tried that (I did have an app running in the background that played the radio) but it did not work. I didn't listen to that app today the last time I listened to it was yesterday before this all started. Prior to this happening I had made phone calls, and not used any music or anything. Anyways I tired the plug and unplug with that app and also w/ the ipod and it didn't help. I shut down those those apps and restarted the phone- didn't help. I updated software, didn't help.

anything else? :mad: sooo frustrated!! a $400 phone really shouldn't just stop working like this!
 
What app's do you use that use background music?

I suggest keep playing with swapping between Music apps, stop/pause them and maybe try make a call with the phone whilst one of them is playing in the background.

I was totally stuck thinking the plug/in and out trick wasnt going to work when I got it to do it. I was using last.fm and wunderadio.

As its clearly a software issue then backup and restore the firmware totally that should hopefully kick it out of the bug rather than having to visit an Apple Store.
 
vlug said:
What app's do you use that use background music?

I suggest keep playing with swapping between Music apps, stop/pause them and maybe try make a call with the phone whilst one of them is playing in the background.

I was totally stuck thinking the plug/in and out trick wasnt going to work when I got it to do it. I was using last.fm and wunderadio.

As its clearly a software issue then backup and restore the firmware totally that should hopefully kick it out of the bug rather than having to visit an Apple Store.
Click to expand...

I'll try the backup and restore... I was using the 96.9 talk radio app- nothing too popular I'm sure. And I think the ipod was also on in the background... possibly anyways. I've been playing with them, stop / play, headphones in / out. When they are out I can hear the apps playing... but still no phone call (separate speakers- makes sense I guess). Arg.
 
I did a back-up and restore- nada. Same problem. Is it possible this isn't software??
 
Unlikely you seem to have all the symptoms of this bug.

Try turning the volume up or down, does you iPhone show the Volume level with (headphone) in brackets under it telling you its in that mode?
 
vlug said:
Unlikely you seem to have all the symptoms of this bug.

Try turning the volume up or down, does you iPhone show the Volume level with (headphone) in brackets under it telling you its in that mode?
Click to expand...

no, it says Ringer on top and thats it.
 
I did everything those threads said... I dont get the feeling that its stuck in headphone mode as it doesn't say "headphones" (although it does when I have them plugged in) and because I didn't even use my headphones today and it was working fine earlier :(
 
This thread was so helpful (much moreso than the apple forum!)

Good news, you more than likely don't have to bring your IPhone 4 back. I've had mine for months and it literally just stopped working two days ago I.e when I made calls I could only hear the other person if I changed to speakerphone mode. I was so so frustrated and ready to throw the phone in a river!

However after reading this forum, I thought about what new apps I've started using in last couple of days and the only one was- Scrabble (I also starting using a TV app but I think I'd been using that before phone stopped working).

Anyway, I simply closed these apps on the phone (not deleted!) by double clicking the circle at the bottom of the phone, pressing on the relevant app until it starting wobbling, and then taking it off (this does not delete the app from your phone, it just stops it from running, which apparently also helps your battery life).

I'm not down with the technical lingo so I don't know what the logic is behind it but this worked instantly.

Hope this helps others.
 
Ruffian829 said:
I did everything those threads said... I dont get the feeling that its stuck in headphone mode as it doesn't say "headphones" (although it does when I have them plugged in) and because I didn't even use my headphones today and it was working fine earlier :(
Click to expand...

Try a can of compressed air. Spray it into the mess area of the front display. That has helped before. Just make sure the tip of the nozzle is 4-6 inches away from the display. Hope it helps.
 
Just an update (this was a long time ago!) I brought my phone back and they gave me a new one no problems what so ever.
 
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