Q. My phone started opening apps and switching among them all by itself. What just happened? Show
 A. When you see a smartphone or tablet go berserk like this, bouncing from app to app faster than you could hope to accomplish, it’s easy to think some sort of malware is at fault. But the problem is this case probably lies in the device’s hardware — specifically, the digitizer under the screen that registers the taps and swipes of your fingers. If that layer of circuitry starts to go bad, spooky if not outright alarming behavior can result. It’s a common result of water or moisture getting into a display, said iFixit founder Kyle Wiens in an e-mail. He added that a digitizer can start to go bad if a phone isn’t put together correctly, either at the factory or after repair. I saw this happen on my own phone (I verified that this Android device hadn’t been hacked by doing a complete reset), and I can attest firsthand that a failing digitizer can make for a completely unusable phone. No touchscreen gadget seems immune to this malfunction. A little searching quickly located reports of these touchscreen-freakout symptoms on an iPhone and an iPad; Android phones from Motorola, HTC and Sony; and a Nokia Windows Phone. You may get some advance warning of this condition in the form of certain parts of your screen no longer responding to a tap. In Android, you can also check its accuracy with apps like the free Screen Touch Test. Or, if you’ve enabled the Settings app’s hidden Developer Options menu, you can activate a "Pointer Location" option there that draws a thin line everywhere the screen senses your touch. If, however, your first sign of trouble is the phone going haywire, shut it down before the hyperactive digitizer can start calling or texting friends on your behalf. The problem may go away, in which case you should immediately do as complete of a backup as is possible. Should this issue resurface, you might as well try a factory reset; here’s Apple’s advice and here’s Google’s on that procedure. But if that, too, fails, you will probably have to replace the digitizer — which usually means replacing the entire screen, since the digitizer and the LCD are generally built as an integrated assembly. That’s a task that either requires professional help or serious technical skills, as you can see in iFixit’s screen-replacement guides for the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S5. And as Wiens said, if the repair isn’t done right you can still wind up with a degraded digitizer. If the digitizer on an old phone starts to lose its mind, you’re better off cutting your losses and getting a new phone. Tip: iOS 9’s tiny Back button One feature in Apple’s iOS 9 that I’ve been using increasingly often doesn’t even appear in Apple’s list of new iOS features: a small “Back to...” button that appears at the top left corner of the screen when a link or function in one app sends you to another app. For example, if I tap a link in an e-mail message and that page opens in Safari, you’ll see a “Back to Mail” button in that corner. Tap it, and the Mail app replaces Safari on the screen. That button is so tiny it’s easily missed, a point the Nielsen Norman Group makes it in its critique of the feature. But it’s still a major improvement over the old routine of invoking iOS’s recent-apps list with a double-tap of the home button, then selecting the previous app from that list. It also represents yet another chapter in the long history of Apple and Google borrowing from each other, and in this case it’s an entirely sensible imitation. Rob Pegoraro is a tech writer based out of Washington, D.C. To submit a tech question, e-mail Rob at . Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/robpegoraro. Ghost touch is when your iPhone screen moves or starts tapping buttons on its own. The screen seems to react to nonexistent touches, which means apps open and start doing stuff without you actually touching anything. Unsurprisingly, such strange actions can be more than a little annoying. However, while ghost touch sometimes requires you to take your iPhone to Apple for a repair, you can try a number of quick fixes for free. These range from cleaning the iPhone’s touchscreen to performing a factory reset. Which iPhones Are Affected by Ghost Touch?Ghost touch problems most commonly affect the iPhone X. In November 2018, Apple admitted that it had found some issues affecting the iPhone X’s touchscreen. It also announced that it would provide free repairs to affected customers. However, reports and complaints online have shown that the iPhone ghost touch issue also happens on other models. Affected iPhones include not only the iPhone XS and XR, but also older models like the iPhone 8, 7, 6, and 5 as well as newer models like the iPhone 11, 12, or 13. In other words, ghost touch is something that can, on rare occasion, affect any iPhone. Whatever model you’ve got, here’s how to fix ghost touch on your iPhone. 1. Clean the Touchscreen It may sound simple, but cleaning your iPhone’s touchscreen can be an effective defense against ghost touch. By doing this, you will clear away any debris or dust that was causing your iPhone to think you’re touching the screen. To clean your iPhone’s touchscreen, you should first turn it off and unplug any cables. Next, you should find a soft and clean cloth, such as a lint-free cloth for cleaning glasses. You should lightly dampen this cloth with water. Finally, start cleaning the touchscreen by wiping gently but firmly from one end to the other. While wiping, make sure you don’t get moisture into any openings. Also, Apple recommends that you don’t use window or household cleaners, or cleaners containing abrasives or hydrogen peroxide. You could erode the oil-resistant coating Apple put on your iPhone screen if you do so. 2. Take Off Your Screen ProtectorScreen protectors are thin layers of glass or plastic that you can attach to the iPhone’s touchscreen to protect it from scratching or cracking. While they’re often useful, they can disrupt how the touchscreen operates. You should therefore try removing any screen protector, since doing so could easily fix ghost touch problems. You should remove your iPhone’s screen protector very carefully and slowly. Start at one corner, and then gradually peel the protector off the iPhone’s screen. If the protector has been cracked or damaged at all, it might be safer to take your phone to a suitably qualified repair shop (or to Apple) to ensure you don’t cut yourself on the cracked glass. You should also consider contacting the manufacturer of the screen protector. This manufacturer might be better placed to recommend the best method for removing the protector and may be able to refund you if the screen protector caused your iPhone’s ghost touch problems. Don’t forget to clean the screen again after removing any screen protectors. 3. Remove Your iPhone’s Case
Another possible cause of ghost touch on an iPhone is a slightly twisted screen. If your iPhone has such a screen, you might be able to solve the problem by removing any hard case you’re using. Occasionally, it can be this hard case that twists the screen, so removing it can fix the issue. In online forums, some iPhone users have noted that their hard case got twisted after dropping their iPhone. As such, it really is worth trying to remove the hard case if your iPhone has one. 4. Restart Your iPhoneIt’s always a good idea to restart your iPhone whenever it has a problem. This also applies to ghost touch issues, since it’s possible that clearing your iPhone’s temporary memory by restarting it could fix any glitch that is causing the the screen to play up. To restart an iPhone that doesn’t have a Home button, do the following:
To restart an iPhone with a Home button, take these steps:
5. Force Restart Your iPhoneSimilar to restarting your iPhone but noticeably more drastic, you could force restart your iPhone. You can do this if your iPhone’s ghost touch problem is so severe that you can’t even turn it off properly. That’s because a force restart works even when your iPhone doesn’t. To force restart on an iPhone 8 or later, do the following:
To force restart an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus, the steps are:
To force restart an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus or earlier, you should do this:
6. Update iOSIf ghost touch is still a problem, you should update your iPhone. This is worth doing because ghost touch might have been caused by a software bug that Apple has fixed in a recent update. You need to do the following to update your iPhone:
7. Perform a Factory ResetIf restarts and software updates don’t stop your iPhone’s ghost touch problem, you should perform a factory reset on your iPhone. This is a good way of removing any underlying software issues that might cause ghost touch. You should back up your iPhone before performing a factory reset because this will wipe all your data. To reset your iPhone, you should do the following:
After you’ve performed the factory reset, you’ll have to go through the setup process again. This is where you can choose to restore your iPhone from a previously saved backup. 8. Reinstall iOS Using Recovery ModeIf a simple force restart doesn’t work for you, you can try putting your iPhone in Recovery Mode and reinstalling iOS. To put an iPhone in Recovery Mode, connect it to a computer running macOS or iTunes and follow the steps above to force restart the iPhone. Once in Recovery Mode, your computer will show a message that says, “There is a problem with the iPhone that requires it to be updated or restored.” You should click Update (if available) or Restore. Restoring your iPhone from Recovery Mode will wipe all your data. You should therefore back up your iPhone beforehand, if possible. If Recovery Mode doesn’t fix your iPhone, try using DFU mode instead. This is an even deeper version of Recovery Mode that reinstalls all the firmware on your iPhone as well as the software. 9. Take Your iPhone to AppleIf your iPhone is still suffering from ghost touch, you should book an appointment at your nearest Apple Store for a repair. That’s because you’ve exhausted the software fixes now, so it must be a hardware issue that is causing ghost touch on your iPhone. For example, some owners have mentioned that improper display assembly or touchscreen seating can cause the issue. You shouldn’t take your iPhone apart and try to fix such causes yourself unless you have considerable experience doing so. It’s much safer to turn to Apple Support, which is where you can book an appointment. Attempting a DIY repair will also void any warranty you have on your iPhone. Bad iPhone Repairs Can Cause Ghost TouchIf your iPhone needs a hardware repair to fix ghost touch, make sure you only use Apple or an Apple-authorized service provider. This is because low-quality parts or dodgy repairs can cause various problems with your iPhone screen. They could even cause ghost touch in the first place. |
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