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My home button is having issues too, it just happened a few days ago. Sometimes it will work fine, other times it had to be pressed really hard to work. This is really frustrating as I use my phone for everything and either im going to have to wait for a repair or buy a new one. I'm going to do the software reset thing hope that works. I'll post with my findings if i remember.
 
To those having trouble, try a blast of compressed air to shift the lint and crap that accumulates under the button.
 
Update!

UPDATE!!!


I ended up restoring the phone, and now the home button works perfectly. This MUST be a software issue.

FYI I had ver 2.2.0


Before I had to slam the button hard most of the time, I could even push it and hear it click with out it working until I press very hard

now I can press is so lightly it doesn't even go NEAR clicking and it still works.
 
Update: It is now messing up again so cleaning the phone did nothing. It worked great for a few mins but now its back to the same old crap.

seems a little better thought :(
 
hey i know a solution to this.
JUST HOLD IT HORIZONTALLY to earth i mean.
if you hold your iphone vertically to earth so that your head doesn't have to be downward, you're going to have problem with home button.
i know this, because i had same issue and was looking for a solution. hehe.
if it still doesn't work, your iphone is broken.
 
Problems Fixed!

Had several issues including: home button doesn't work, no sound from speakers, and iPhone would not be detected by PC. Everything else worked fine except those three components. After searching for hours to see if anyone knew what the cause of these issues were I finally took the phone and lightly yet firmly banged the lower part of the phone. To my surprise all three issues were resolved. In the immortal words of Lev, Russian cosmonaut from Armageddon.. "American components, Russian components.. All made in Taiwan!!" Sometimes violence is the answer... go figure.. :D
 
I just got a refurb 16gb and I'm having issues with the home button as well. I guess I'll try it out for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. A pamphlet inside said that I could do 1 exchange within the 30 days. :confused:
 
I found that the ribbon cable that I lifted to replace the screen has a large copper pad on the bottom and the adhesive that Apple uses when putting it together helps to keep it from touching the the metal plate area were the battery sits.
attachment.php

When the ribbon cable is lifted the adhesive is broke and the battery ribbon cable will ground out on the battery plate area. This will cause the home button not to work.

I all found that Apple has used a double layered plug on this ribbon cable and most people dont know to push it back in all the. This will require some preasure but dont rip the cable.
attachment.php
Can you put arrows by these parts. I'm having a hard time understanding What is what and where they go.
 
hey i know a solution to this.
JUST HOLD IT HORIZONTALLY to earth i mean.
if you hold your iphone vertically to earth so that your head doesn't have to be downward, you're going to have problem with home button.
i know this, because i had same issue and was looking for a solution. hehe.
if it still doesn't work, your iphone is broken.
what r u talking about?
 
refurbished?

Do you have a refurbished IPhone, if so, the ribbon that contains the mic, internal speaker, and the charging port, also contains the home button, and is fragil, and will crack or break in several places including the home button, mic and speaker. this is a flaw that i have been dealing with, i have replaced this three times already, due to the same issues, non responsive home button.:apple: this bites, and i feel is a manufacturing defect that should be recalled, but i am just a tech, and not a mac certified wig. so there you go lol
 
any one know how to fix this problem with the home button grounding off trying to put my my iphone back together but the home button sound and charging isnt working what do you put under the ribbon????
 
Same problem here...

My home button has always been a little wonky but lately it seems to have gotten a lot worse. I can hardly use the double-click feature for the iPod at all. If I'm in another app, and attempt to double click, almost always it will exit the app... very frustrating when using apps that don't remember their exact state upon closing...I have to press the button pretty hard to get it to respond at all. My friends 3G's do not behave like this; my first gen iPhone did not do this.

I've restored the software and the problem persists. I'm going to bring it to Apple and ask for a replacement.
 
Same problem

June 22,2009... I have a 3g 5 months old. Just upgraded the os to 3.0 and the home button doesn't work. Pretty sure it was failing prior to the upgrade though. I reset my phone and still have the problem. I plan on bringing this to the apple store and showing them this thread. Without the home button a blackberry bold is starting to look nice.
 
Same problem - home button not working at all anymore

I recognize the problems you guys encountered about having to press the home button hard before it works.
I experienced the same (double clicking the home button was activating the music player)........

My iPhone's home button died this weekend. I contacted T-mobile (Dutch iPhone operator) about the problem and they said I had to go to a T-mobile store to get it fixed. They said it would be repaired for free, but since i've read various experiences on the internet now, I will keep my fingers crossed.

I expect it to be a free repare, and if not, I will fight for it, since the iPhone is simply too expensive to break done within a year and blame the owner for it

Greetz from Holland
 
I think I found how to fix the home button. And perhaps the cause?

It seems that if you give your iPhone/iPod touch a few "love taps" on the sides down by the home button using your palm it kind of "reseats" the home button to where it is supposed to be located. I believe the cause of the home button becoming hard to press or inoperable is HEAT! I have left my touch inside my car for the last month and ran into this problem. (It is summer time) After reading about people who dropped their devices and suddently everything seemed back to normal, I tried this method. My home button feels like day one! I can even feel it click under my thumb! Try this at your own risk and watch how hard you tap it. Good luck!
 
I Fixed It!!!

Clean your head phone jack and data port. Pop the sim card out and put it back in.

Sure, it sounds ridiculous; but here is what happened.

I ran into the unresponsive home button problem and thought I was going to have to head to the Apple store. First I thought I would check the moisture indicators. My phone has never been dropped in liquid or had anything spilled on it, but I know from past experience (with a Razor) the moisture sensor can be tripped from humidity or the like. Looking into the head phone jack to inspect the moisture indicator, I discovered a significant amount of lint and other such gunk. I tried blowing it out to no avail. I found myself a small needle and cleaned the gunk out. I cleaned out the data port as well for good measure, but there wasn't much junk in there. I was relieved to find that neither the data port or head phone moisture sensors were tripped.

Then i popped out the sim card for fun (there is just something about that little hole that screams "poke me with a needle"; seeing as I had one in hand anyway, I obliged).

To my great surprise, my home button was suddenly working like new. I have no idea wether it was cleaning out the ports or popping out the sim card that did the trick. Perhaps others can narrow the solution down.
 
ticks me off

that they know about this problem and they don't just fix it without all the bs, if this was a car we would have already had a government mandated recall. Iphone is extremely successful but their manufacturing and engineering really leaves something to be desired. I spent two hours at the "Genius Bar", is that an oxymoron??, without any help. Now I had to wait three days to take it back in and them to tell me what I already knew was wrong with it. By the time I have wasted my time with them, it would be cheaper based on the cost of the phones relative to my salary rate, to just buy a new phone. Apple's strategy is obviously not to do anything if they can get by with it.
 
Same problem here

Same problem here. iPhone bought in Italy last September. In London Apple Store they told me this is covered by the warranty, but they can't replace my mobile cause it was bought in a different Country. This pisses me off. I live in London now, and I can't go back to Italy just to replace an iPhone.
 
bad home button in 1st gen iPhone

My home button has become a problem on my 1st gen iPhone after 18 months of heavy usage. I dropped my phone many times (no case!), once from 3 meters onto hard steel. So I am really impressed with the build quality. My case is now quite banged up and the glass has a few scratches, but the home button got gradually worse is my feeling. Sometimes it still works on the 1st push but mostly I have to press hard 5 times or so.
I read all the home button discussions and it seems pretty clear that there are multiple causes for a poorly (my case) or non-funtioning home button. Hoping to find something I took my phone apart but did not see anything noteworthy. Only the liquid detector was all red although I never had it submerged. Makes me wonder how reliable that indicator is...
I even pried up the screen to remove the home button (first loosening it with a razor blade). Ther was some dust, but testing showed that the contacts of the button underneath are my problem. When pushing the metal foil in the center (as the home button does) I reproduced my problems. However when I pushed the foil off-center it worked on the first push. This makes me think that the contact area has deteriorated in the center. Since I did not see any way to get to it for cleaning I bent the little thin metal disk which is attached to the black button cover a little hoping it would come down off-center on the metal foil. Unfortunately i had no other material to replace the metal disk. For now the function of my home button has improved but it is still not like new. I will see if I can place something under the black home button cover which will reliably push the metal foil off-center.

I wish there would be an option to replicate the home button function somehow (not just rebooting) for instance by shaking the phone! With all these bad home buttons that should be worth a heck!
 
I had this problem, but luckily i was 3 weeks in my warranty! i took it into the apple store and they replaced my display! thank god it was in warranty, or it would have cost me £139!! pah!
 
1st gen looks different

When I took my 1`st gen iPhone apart it looked like the button is part of a larger assembly and cannot be replaced by itself.:(
 
Home buttons can be replaced but not easily. A 3g button replacement means that you have to take the digitizer off its frame with a heat gun. The buttons themselves are sealed membranes hence no gunk can get in them- they simply deteriorate. I have done one on my 3g and it works a treat. Have yet to try on a 2g.
 
Found several answers

My First Entry in a Forum !
I am mainly a good Fixit Person - Also a Mechanical Engineer.
I have a 2004 Apple PowerBook G4 12", and I bought an iPhone 3GS on 9/23/09.
I LOVE my iPhone ! I operated it for this past month, and my first thought was, Uh Oh ! - The Home Button is used so often ! - I hope Apple made it better than all those lousy buttons on TV Remotes !
My Home Button HB works just fine, but for kicks, I thought I would Google for problems.
I found many different problems and repairs ...
COMPACTED LINT - http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how_to/4291585.html
The many clever answers in this Forum
There are several other Forums here {Find "Home"}, and it seems that they have not seen this Forum, so when I have time, I will let them know.
One example in those other Forums, of problems that some of you here might have, is a fantastic solder repair of a tiny problem, with pictures ! - https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/810827/
This person - https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/809374/ - {Any solutions to the Home Button not sitting flush?} - might find his answer in the previous Forum.
And who can help this fellow with his puzzling problem? - https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/785975/
 
iphone 3gs 32gb white home button dos not work and opens the voice controll by itself

hey!
ive got an iphone 3gs 32gtb white. the home button dos not work and
ive tryed to restore it but it still dos not work.. when i first got it it worked
and also ive never dropped it its actually new about 3 weeks old :confused:
 
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