Ok, Proximity sensor, I've had enough..

[zub3qin]

My hunch is Apple will never acknowledge the prox sensor issue- particularly now that the media buzz on the antenna thing is dying down.

Imagine the headlines- "Apple iPhone has yet another problem"

I have a feeling they will quietly fix the problem with a software update- hopefully with the one coming out in the next week or 2.

While I will be thrilled if/when Apple releases the fix, I don't think I will ever look at Apple the same way again. Perhaps I was naive, but I always thought Apple would be upfront and honest about what was going on. Admit there is a problem, indicate that a fix is being worked out, etc. Keeping us in the dark is shady, no pun intended.

 

[Cowboy8467]

I know it's been mentioned before, but I was having this issue before pretty badly.

I did a 'reset all settings' in the iphone settings menu and it fixed the problem for me. I know it won't work for everyone, but it's worth a shot if you haven't tried it yet.

 

[zub3qin]

I know it's been mentioned before, but I was having this issue before pretty badly.

I did a 'reset all settings' in the iphone settings menu and it fixed the problem for me. I know it won't work for everyone, but it's worth a shot if you haven't tried it yet.

What does reset all settings require you to do?
Re-install all apps?
Reinstall all your email accounts?

Or will syncing after reinstalling make it all back to the way it was?

All the reset options are confusing...

 

[Cowboy8467]

What does reset all settings require you to do?
Re-install all apps?
Reinstall all your email accounts?

Or will syncing after reinstalling make it all back to the way it was?

All the reset options are confusing...

All apps, music, photos, texts, etc. stay exactly as they were. It just resets all the system settings to factory. It also doesn't change any email accounts you have on your phone.

At worst you'll have to tweak a few things in the settings menu afterwords, it's pretty painless.

 

[zub3qin]

Maybe someone should do a poll here so we can see if the prox sensor issue is happening for just people that "Restored from Backup" and subdivide that by those who restored from an iPhone 3G or a 3GS.

Some reports hint that people that set up the iPhone 4 as a new phone are not having this problem (although others here say that before they even set up their iphone, as they walked out of the store with the phone, they noticed the sensor issue).

I don't know all the choices to make in the poll, but I am happy to create the poll if someone tells me the choices to include.

I for one "restored from backup" my new iPhone 4, and I restored it from an iPhone 3G that was running OS 3.1.3. I have sensor problems including:
1) the sensor not always activating, or the screen flashing while I am on a call, with cheek and face pressing of buttons (esp when cradling the phone between by ear and shoulder)
AND
2) sometimes when on a call, if I want to press speakerphone or another "call function" button, the sensor thinks it still is up against my face and the screen remains black despite the phone being held in my hand or even on a table, far away from my face. I have to hit home and then go back to "current call" to get the call screen and the speakerphone/facetime/keypad buttons to come back alive.

 

[thenumbersrbad]

If Apple is no longer replacing phones for this reason or that reason and just telling people "its a software issue" then people need to start doing return for a full refund, wait till their eligibility resets and then purchase a new one. Also no one should be getting a refurb device within your 30 day window. If you buy a new device and its defective then you get a new device as a replacement. Period.

I agree...the apple store where i live is supposed to be calling me when they get a phone in for me to replace...but i'd hate to know i was getting a refurb phone after only having my phone since 6/29

 

[jimmy2f]

Is it possible that the call drop off issue is only related to the proximity sensor and not a "Grip of Death" issue?

I had two calls drop off yesterday and it was only when I brought the phone to my ear. The second time I was on hold to Sky for 20 minutes (had the phone on speaker resting on my desk) and once I got through to Sky and lifted the phone to my ear the call was dropped. You can imagine my frustration, having to call back and to be put on hold again. Luckily I used my girlfriends iPhone 3G on the re-attempt to prevent another call being dropped off.

Several times a day, I also have the speaker phone activate when the phone is brough to my ear. I have tried the reset all settings and network setings, to no avail. I'd rather live with this issue and see if there is a software fix rather than resort to setting up as a new phone, seems a bit harsh to me.

Hope Apple acknowledge this as an issue and include this in a software fix. hate for them to do a Toyota and suffer the PR ramifications of inaction.

Lift your game Apple, it's just the ammunition your critics need and you are spoiling what is otherwise a beautiful bit of kit!

 

[mmyers0520]

ive put so many people on hold its nuts...we need an update asap

 

[Crank2142]

I tried resetting, restoring and all of those tricks but the issue keeps coming back.

I've not had any disconnections or anything as I'm deliberately not touching it with my face, but it's still pretty poor when you show your phone to someone and say 'you can use it, but just don't touch the left corner and hold it away from your face too'.

Hoping to hear Apple acknowledge this issue soon, if not I'll be taking mine back and exchanging it.

 

[falconman515]

I tried resetting, restoring and all of those tricks but the issue keeps coming back.

I've not had any disconnections or anything as I'm deliberately not touching it with my face, but it's still pretty poor when you show your phone to someone and say 'you can use it, but just don't touch the left corner and hold it away from your face too'.

Hoping to hear Apple acknowledge this issue soon, if not I'll be taking mine back and exchanging it.

I'm taking mine back asap to try and see if its a software or hardware issue!

Alot of people don't have this issue so I don't see how it could really be software related.

 

[TLewis]

The folks over at TUAW have an interesting theory (even though the headline and description are backwards): basically, the proximity sensor is not sensitive enough, and adjusting the iPhone such that the proximity led shines into the ear canal may cause the proximity sensor to not detect your head. However, in order this for to be true, the proximity sensor must not be all that sensitive (your head has to be close before it activates).

So, here's a test for you that have iPhone 4's (sorry, I don't have one): call a friend, and then test your proximity sensor. Using your hand, how close does your hand have to be before the screen turns off? On my 3GS, my hand has to be a bit less than 1 1/2 inches away. If the distance is 1/2 to 3/4's inch on the iPhone 4, then I can imagine that might be the cause.

 

[galenmd]

...
So, here's a test for you that have iPhone 4's (sorry, I don't have one): call a friend, and then test your proximity sensor. Using your hand, how close does your hand have to be before the screen turns off? On my 3GS, my hand has to be a bit less than 1 1/2 inches away. If the distance is 1/2 to 3/4's inch on the iPhone 4, then I can imagine that might be the cause.

I have experimented with this several times. First, you do not need to make a phone call. Listening to Voicemail will allow an adequate test.

There are 2 problems that I can detect:
1) The proximity sensor kicks in most often at 1/2" or less. Unacceptable.
2) The lateral sensing is poor. You pretty much have to be dead-on center to activate the sensor. Using the entire palm of my hand, veering left or right, only slightly, activates the screen.

 

[gehrbox]

The folks over at TUAW have an interesting theory (even though the headline and description are backwards): basically, the proximity sensor is not sensitive enough, and adjusting the iPhone such that the proximity led shines into the ear canal may cause the proximity sensor to not detect your head. However, in order this for to be true, the proximity sensor must not be all that sensitive (your head has to be close before it activates).

So, here's a test for you that have iPhone 4's (sorry, I don't have one): call a friend, and then test your proximity sensor. Using your hand, how close does your hand have to be before the screen turns off? On my 3GS, my hand has to be a bit less than 1 1/2 inches away. If the distance is 1/2 to 3/4's inch on the iPhone 4, then I can imagine that might be the cause.

The story in TUAW was from a single report from a person visiting a Genius at an Apple store. No credibility to it at all.

My phone has not experienced the issue, but I have been very careful to hold it in Vulcan nerve pinch fashion and made sure to clean my ears so as not to cause poor reflectivity for the prox sensor

 

[galenmd]

The story in TUAW was from a single report from a person visiting a Genius at an Apple store. No credibility to it at all.

My phone has not experienced the issue, but I have been very careful to hold it in Vulcan nerve pinch fashion and made sure to clean my ears so as not to cause poor reflectivity for the prox sensor

That's a mistake. Don't clean your ears!! The wax build-up will keep the proximity sensor working properly.

Of course, you won't be able to hear s**t.

 

[TLewis]

1) The proximity sensor kicks in most often at 1/2" or less. Unacceptable.
2) The lateral sensing is poor. You pretty much have to be dead-on center to activate the sensor. Using the entire palm of my hand, veering left or right, only slightly, activates the screen.

Ouch. Yeah, I think that'll cause problems for most people.

I saw another person mention that his distance is closer to 1". I wonder if there are manufacturing or calibration issues here.

 

[zub3qin]

The story in TUAW was from a single report from a person visiting a Genius at an Apple store. No credibility to it at all.

My phone has not experienced the issue, but I have been very careful to hold it in Vulcan nerve pinch fashion and made sure to clean my ears so as not to cause poor reflectivity for the prox sensor

No- you need a lot of wax. If there is a big cave like hole in your ear, then the proximity sensor beam has nothing to bounce off of and it doesn't register that it is up against something.

Keep those ears dirty.
(And those hands clean, if you believe the dirty hands stories re: causing the antenna issue)

 

[Ferris23]

My sensor got funky one day last week, a reboot took care of it and it hasn't been a problem since.

 

[TLewis]

I have experimented with this several times

Out of curiosity, did you reboot the phone during the tests?

I'm hoping that you didn't, and that rebooting would change the distance (per Ferris23's hint).

 

[reil]

So, here's a test for you that have iPhone 4's (sorry, I don't have one): call a friend, and then test your proximity sensor. Using your hand, how close does your hand have to be before the screen turns off? On my 3GS, my hand has to be a bit less than 1 1/2 inches away. If the distance is 1/2 to 3/4's inch on the iPhone 4, then I can imagine that might be the cause.

this piqued my curiosity since my friend has an iPhone 4 that has this problem and i have a 3g without any problem.

to test we did this, we put the iPhone 4 on a stack of 2 quarters next to the 3g so they're side by side and approximately the same height. we took a pad of paper and slowly lowered and raised it above the proximity sensors. the 3g would turn off the screen when the pad was a little bit farther away, not much, like max quarter inch. the big difference was when we were lifting the pad, the 4 would almost immediately turn its screen back on while the 3g wouldn't turn on again until the pad was much further away. either the 3g has a longer delay to turn the screen on or it the pad has to be further away. we didn't try to figure out which of the two it is since it was obvious that they behave differently.

we repeated this a couple more times and it was the same.

 

[galenmd]

this piqued my curiosity since my friend has an iPhone 4 that has this problem and i have a 3g without any problem.

to test we did this, we put the iPhone 4 on a stack of 2 quarters next to the 3g so they're side by side and approximately the same height. we took a pad of paper and slowly lowered and raised it above the proximity sensors. the 3g would turn off the screen when the pad was a little bit farther away, not much, like max quarter inch. the big difference was when we were lifting the pad, the 4 would almost immediately turn its screen back on while the 3g wouldn't turn on again until the pad was much further away. either the 3g has a longer delay to turn the screen on or it the pad has to be further away. we didn't try to figure out which of the two it is since it was obvious that they behave differently.

we repeated this a couple more times and it was the same.

Awesome! Strong work.

I just tried the same test with the same results as you. My iP4 turned off a little slower than my 3g, but came on much faster upon moving away. I mean, MUCH faster.

This gives me hope that it is a software issue, and less likely hardware (or, at least there could be a software fix).

 

[TLewis]

This gives me hope that it is a software issue, and less likely hardware (or, at least there could be a software fix).

I don't see how that test might indicate a software issue. Perhaps I'm missing something, but there were no (obvious) software changes during the test.

Now, if the distance changed after a reboot, that would be a likely indication of a software issue.

 

[galenmd]

I don't see how that test might indicate a software issue. Perhaps I'm missing something, but there were no (obvious) software changes during the test.

Now, if the distance changed after a reboot, that would be a likely indication of a software issue.

I am not saying for sure if it is a software issue. What I am suggesting (and hoping) is that Apple can create a software fix that tells the iP4 to keep the screen off longer once the proximity sensor sees that there is nothing in front of it.

 

[Sweetbike40]

I posted earlier that the reset helped, well it didn't. It's still messed up. It's very annoying. If the next update doesn't fix it, i'm bringing it back for a new one. I figure the longer i wait, the better chance to get a better batch of phones.

 

[HaroldC]

I am not saying for sure if it is a software issue. What I am suggesting (and hoping) is that Apple can create a software fix that tells the iP4 to keep the screen off longer once the proximity sensor sees that there is nothing in front of it.

Ding, ding, ding!! That is a perfect solution! Have the screen stay off for longer seems to be a super easy fix to this problem.

The other option would be increase the distance threshold for the screen to turn off/on. I imagine the sensor is constantly calculating coverage, with a concrete number scale. Just change the threshold so that the screen blanks for 50% rather than 80% coverage, for example.

 

[Sedin]

Monday, I went to see a Genius about my boyfriend's phone. He told me that he had several people in that day with the same problem and explained that most people are having trouble due to the fact that the sensor is in a different place on the 4g. Duh, I completely forgot. And some people are holding their phones differently and experiencing this problem while others are not. Like, mine and my boyfriend's phone were purchased the same day and same stock at Best Buy. He has the issue. I do not unless I pinch the phone in my shoulder, which is rarely. Yesterday, we talked on my way home from work. Usually in that 15 minutes his phone has already put me on hold, him on mute, tried to connect us on facetime, and startedmdialing another number. Yesterday it did none of that. I assume that he is trying to retrain himself on how to hold the phone. Though I did hang up on him when I was trying to walk inside. I held it with my shoulder. Lol.

ETA: I forgot to mention that on the way home from my Apple Store, I tested my proximity sensor against his by calling his phone and then covering the sensor with my finger. Both of them reacted at the same pace upon me placing my finger over it and taking it away. This just leads me to believe that the way he is holding his is causing the issue. Also coupled with the fact that ours are from the same shipment. Regardless, I would say that the sensor isn't as sensitive as it should be. And I would speculate that a software update could fix it.