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iPhone 4 home button

Recently I swapped mine at an apple store after having problems with my home button too. They exchanged it in under 10 minutes no problem. Home button works perfectly now.

They even give you an extra 90 days warranty which is a bonus. Great if you want to get an iPhone 5 in september without worrying if it will break.

But I did notice slight scratches on the metal band at the top. So look out for any scuffs before you accept it.
 
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jamesgooner said:
Recently I swapped mine at an apple store after having problems with my home button too. They exchanged it in under 10 minutes no problem. Home button works perfectly now.

They even give you an extra 90 days warranty which is a bonus. Great if you want to get an iPhone 5 in september without worrying if it will break.

But I did notice slight scratches on the metal band at the top. So look out for any scuffs before you accept it.
Click to expand...

So they didn't swap it for a new one? Is this usual? I don't fancy being given a 2nd hand one
 
Random hero said:
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So they didn't swap it for a new one? Is this usual? I don't fancy being given a 2nd hand one
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure it's refurbished. Screen looks brand new front/back and the genius guy said the battery is a new one and of course the home button works!
 
OK, this may sound ridiculous, but saw a post that said to do the following and it worked for several people. Complaint was you had to really push home button hard to get it to work reliably.

That was my symptom and figured it had to be hardware problem. However, after doing this, home button worked fine.

1.) Open any application

2.) Press and hold the power button until the slide to shutdown swipe bar appears.

3.) Release Power button

4.) Press and hold Home button Lightly (on the screen with the shutdown slider)
until screen returns to icon screen (this took at least 20s on my phone).

5.) Enjoy your functioning home button!!!

This procedure apparently recalibrates the home button after normal wear or heavy use.

Nothing to lose!
 
GaryREM said:
OK, this may sound ridiculous, but saw a post that said to do the following and it worked for several people. Complaint was you had to really push home button hard to get it to work reliably.

That was my symptom and figured it had to be hardware problem. However, after doing this, home button worked fine.

1.) Open any application

2.) Press and hold the power button until the slide to shutdown swipe bar appears.

3.) Release Power button

4.) Press and hold Home button Lightly (on the screen with the shutdown slider)
until screen returns to icon screen (this took at least 20s on my phone).

5.) Enjoy your functioning home button!!!

This procedure apparently recalibrates the home button after normal wear or heavy use.

Nothing to lose!
Click to expand...

Interesting idea! As you said, there's nothing to lose. My problem is just in the early stages, so it's REALLY intermittent yet. I just tried this; we'll see over the course of the next few days if it does anything. If not, my next steps are here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1223292/

A lot of these issues may be dust related. The above thread details one way of handling that, and it will not void your warranty. It's worth pursuing before going in to the Genius Bar, or if going in is out of the question due to distance.
 
thanks, step 4 took about 3 seconds to complete, I'll let you know how it works later in the day :)
 
I just got my 4 replaced today, the home button got so bad that it sometimes took 4-5 presses for it to do anything.

It definitely seemed like they are well aware of the problem. The guy didn't even look at it and just replaced it right away.
 
Mine gets flaky every now and then but get better and works normally for weeks.
I tried the vacuum cleaner last time it acted up and it worked better immediately. There was also a post on the apple support forum about working some alcohol into the button. Everyone seems to have had good luck with that also.
 
I went to the Apple Store today, phone is out of warranty, genius dude said that I am out of his window for replacement, so he said he could clean it or give me a replacement for $199 (with three month warranty). I took the cleaning for now. It is not perfect but definitely better.
 
Try this people... and report back.

Plug in your phone to your computer as soon as you do, hold the home button down and the voice control will appear, press cancel and it should reset the home button like new.
 
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Mine had the same problem and luckily I had a month left on my warranty. I took it to the apple store and they replaced it on the spot, no questions asked!
 
does my situation warrant a "problem" with the home button?

it won't respond if say i pressed anywhere near the upper part of the button. just about everywhere else works and responds accordingly. it hasn't yet, but i just don't want that dead area to "spread" to the rest of the button down the road if i can attend to it now. thanks.
 
Take your iphone cable and plug it into the bottom of your phone. no need to plug into the computer. now grip the part right where it is plugged into the phone and slightly bend it up towards the screen...just a little...bam guaranteed to work!!! use at your own risk cause i'm not responsible if you break anything.
 
Come on guys. Why is everyone suggesting lame fixes to start voice control, half button presses? They don't work. I had huge problems of unresponsive home button. The only way to solve this problem if you are out of warranty is to replace the home button and flex cable assembly by opening your phone. I have to stress: both home button and flex assembly need to be replaced. I followed iFixit guide to replace home button. Google it. It can be a bit tricky but end result is totally worth it. Also interesting observation was that there was no dust/dirt under home button of my iPhone 4.

My home button is now working like new since 2 months. Search for home button assembly on eBay or sw-box. Make sure home button is already glued on the flex cable before buying the part.

Remember! This is the only permanent fix.
 
That happened to me as well with my old iPhone 4, I guess I was obsessive about closing apps to save battery... I will stop doing that on my new 4S
 
Here is my story, I thought I'd share with you what happened to me:

I bought a pretty good looking iPone 4 off of ebay a couple days ago, and it seemed that everything was fine. Then only after a couple hours I already noticed the Home Button behaving kinda weirdly. Sometimes it took one click as two and sometimes it didn't respond at all. This happened about once out of 10 times. It started to bug me so I made a genius bar appointment and went to the semi near apple store, hoping that they would replace it. When it was my turn he asked me what the problem was, I told him my Home Button (he finished the sentence for me: is not responding correctly?) and I was like: Yes! He didn't even look at my phone, got a refurb one out of a box, handed it to me, installed everything for me and send me away. I was so happy, since the iPhone I bought originally had a few scratches on the screen and back, and now everything is so damn flawless! SO if you have the problem, do not hesitate and go to a nearby Apple Store!
 
I don't know what they do when you are out of warranty. It seems like they know the issue though, and might replace it because it is clearly not your fault and could have been occurring when you were still in warranty as well. I'd say: Try it out once you are close to one again.
Most important rule when dealing with Apple Geniuses: Be honest and polite! Then you might get what you want, even when Apple doesn't have to do it.
 
My home button isn't working properly either, but it's the opposite. It's TOO sensitive. I don't even have to push the button down. In fact, more inconsistently, I can activate home button functions just by pushing the bezel. It's bizarre.
 
Nothlit said:
This happened to me with my iPad. Eventually, through some troubleshooting of my own and a visit to the Genius Bar, I discovered it is usually the result of an app crash which leaves it in this misbehaving state. Holding down the home + power buttons together for 10+ seconds until the device resets has fixed the problem for me every time.
Click to expand...

tried this and it seemed to work...will need to give it a few more hours to verify...
 
none of that worked for me or my friends but i found something that does work and has worked ever since. take your iphone cable and plug it into the bottom of your phone. no need to plug into the computer. now grip the part right where it is plugged into the phone and slightly bend it up towards the screen...just a little...bam guaranteed to work!!! use at your own risk cause i'm not responsible if you break anything.:p
 
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Mine was doing the same thing to but jailbroken AFTER a complete restore and now factory it is now working again

weird
 
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