Thanks for the update.
I just restored as a new phone, and the problem is still clearly there. I'm leaving for the Apple store now. I'll report back here when I return.
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Tempermental iPhone 4 home button 4.1
- Thread starter applefanDrew
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I just restored as a new phone, and the problem is still clearly there. I'm leaving for the Apple store now. I'll report back here when I return.
I was going to take my phone back to the apple store tomorrow because of this problem.. do you think its not worth getting another phone that could have more problems than just the home button?
I'm back with a new phone. The genius swapped it out without any hassle. He didn't even make me try to reproduce the problem. So far I haven't noticed the problem, but I'll give it a couple of days of actual use before I declare this phone to have a problem free home button.
Incidentally, as I was leaving, another guy sat down with a different genius and began complaining about the same problem.
Incidentally, as I was leaving, another guy sat down with a different genius and began complaining about the same problem.
What are the first five digits of the serial? How's the screen? (yellow tint, etc.)
No yellow tint. The first two digits of the serial are 5k. I once read that means it's a refurb, though the genius assured me that there are no refurb iPhone 4s yet, and that the 5k just means that the phone has been swapped out.
Surprisingly, the phone was on 4.0.2. I had to upgrade to 4.1 when I got home.
Yes, it's a refurb. Buy they change the housing at the factory, as well as defective part(s). So, technically, it can be treated as a new one.
But my previous phone was 5k034 and it had that infamous home button, as well as it had terrible stuttering and delays in games.
Hopefully, yours is different.
For sure there are refurbs. AT&T even sells refurbished iPhone 4 already on their webpage. The "genius" was a bit off there. 
For sure there are refurbs. AT&T even sells refurbished iPhone 4 already on their webpage. The "genius" was a bit off there.
LOL ... that's right.
Oh well. I've now ended up with refurbs of all 3 models that I've owned (3G, 3GS, IP4). It's not a big deal, but damn I can't believe that I've had to take back each iPhone that I've owned.
On the plus side, Apple has the best customer service. Other companies probably would not have exchanged the phone for some of the "issues" I've experienced.
BTW: It's been 1.5 days and so far no problems with the home button.
got a refurb on saturday and the home button at times can be tempermental. hitting it once can bring up multi task.
i honestly think its a 4.1 bug. i have a bit of the yellow tint but honestly most are like that. its just the color temp
also do any of you with 16gb iphones have this problem. cause two of my friends with 16gb dont have it.
i honestly think its a 4.1 bug. i have a bit of the yellow tint but honestly most are like that. its just the color temp
also do any of you with 16gb iphones have this problem. cause two of my friends with 16gb dont have it.
If it's a software bug, then there are different types of 4.1
I'm sorry, but it's not a software issue, the sooner you understand it and have you defective phone swapped, the better.
If it's a software bug, then there are different types of 4.1
I'm sorry, but it's not a software issue, the sooner you understand it and have you defective phone swapped, the better.
Was the proximity sensor a software bug? They fixed that in 4.1 so who's to say they can't change how the OS handles a double home button press?
If they slowed down the time it takes the OS to register a double click our problem would be greatly reduced.
Right now, when you press down once, the iPhone thinks you're tapping twice at robotic-like speed. If they changed the interval to make it a human double click, the problem would be solved.
Question is, what is the fastest a human and double click the home button?
They're not gonna do it. There are phones with perfect home buttones: I've been on my current replacement for 3 weeks already, and guess what, I have never had a single issue with the home button. My previous phone had it and I also used to think it was software related. Now I know it's not.
If this is a hardware thing, I'd rather keep my phone than get a refurb unit.
My guess is, maybe a memory leak in combination with firmware.
If I reboot and kill all background apps, it seems fine, but as soon as I use the phone (email, text, some apps) it starts acting up.
I don't want to delete the apps yet since I have the game saves, but I may do it because it's quite annoying.
My guess is, maybe a memory leak in combination with firmware.
If I reboot and kill all background apps, it seems fine, but as soon as I use the phone (email, text, some apps) it starts acting up.
I don't want to delete the apps yet since I have the game saves, but I may do it because it's quite annoying.
Like I said, I know that it's a hardware problem and I know you have a perfect home button, but I'm betting that a lot of people have this problem and it probably annoys them from time to time but MOST people won't go to get their iPhone replaced. My brother said that his does it too, but it's not a big problem for him.
Apple could quite easily fix EVERYONE'S iPhone (no matter if it's broken or not) by releasing a software fix for the situation. It would be easier and more cost effective than replacing the iPhones that people bring in (which wouldn't be all the iPhones that have the problem)
Rememer the proximity sensor issues? I never once had a problem with my proximity sensor, but Apple changed the intensity in iOS 4.1. I never had the problem, but hey I STILL don't. However, a lot of people had the HARDWARE problem but instead of replacing all of their iPhones, they figured out a way to solve the problem with software.
While I'm happy that your iPhone is perfect, please don't shrug off the idea of Apple fixing something for those who DO have the problem because it won't affect you either way.
Same here! A guy who was standing next to me overheard my conversation & said he was there for the exact same reason, and that it started happening after upgrading to 4.1. Very weird! Genius replaced mine over the weekend & so far, so good. The screen is perfect just like my old one. It came with 4.0.2 and I was forced to upgrade to 4.1 because I couldn't restore from a newer backup.
What do you guys clean your screens with? I normally use unscented baby wipes and I'm thinking maybe some of the moisture got under the home button? but then again, I'm just pulling at straws and never had this problem with any of the other iPhones.
The proximity sensor and the home button are two different things: while they were able to strengthen the sensitivity of the sensor (sorry for the pun), there's no such sensor in the home button, they cannot change the sensitivity of it or something. The longer delay (is what you're suggesting) between clicks would lead to some other problems.
If it's a software bug, then there are different types of 4.1
I'm sorry, but it's not a software issue, the sooner you understand it and have you defective phone swapped, the better.
idk it just seems werid never had it and now its happening only on 4.1 and i already did replace it and the refurb does same thing. its not a certain area of the home button. its just in general.
Just noticed this problem today with my 16gb ip4 from launch. Never had any problems with it until today. Many occasions hitting the home button does nothing. Pretty random to start acting up. I'm going to wait a bit to see if it gets worse before taking it to Apple.
Please explain why lengthening the delay between home button pushes would cause problems.
I'm not talking about changing it a lot but just enough so the software knows when you MEANT to do 2 clicks or only one. Right now, the home button seems to malfunction during 1 click and the OS sees to impossibly fast clicks (way faster than any human can physically click the button twice in a row). If they slowed the duration between the 2 clicks just by a fraction, they could avoid having the OS respond to the 2 rapid (impossibly fast robot clicks) that look like only 1 click to the user.