ipeverywhere

Q: Touchscreen freaks out/registers touches without touching it.

Called Apple and they have not heard of this so wondering if I've got a one-of-a-kind problem here. Couldn't find another report of this anywhere. Please let me know if you are experiencing the below behavior:

After the screen gets excessively dirty with fingerprints the touchscreen will start registering touches without actually touching the screen. Safari will quickly zoom in/out, keyboard will open/close rapidly, links will be clicked at random bringing up new tabs, etc. etc. This all happens very quickly and is the best example but it happens in all applications.

If I sleep, hit the power button, and let it sit for 60 seconds then it will stop for a few minutes but ultimately comes back. Cleaning the screen does not always prevent it but cleaning the screen and rebooting (power off) does seem to stop this behavior until the screen gets dirty again.

When it is having a fit like this the screen seems to be overly sensitive. I can click on links by coming very close to the screen without actually touching it.

Anyway, when the iPad is having one of it's "fits" then it is basically unusable. Anyone seen this behavior? Or is it time to replace my iPad?

Thanks

iPad, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Apr 26, 2010 11:53 AM

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Q: Touchscreen freaks out/registers touches without touching it.

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  • by jg16,

    jg16 jg16 May 12, 2010 8:08 AM in response to etresoft
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 12, 2010 8:08 AM in response to etresoft
    etresoft wrote:
    jg16 wrote:
    no, it happens on my Home screen more than anything.


    What app were you running before that?

    my girlfriend is experiencing it on her 3G model too, here's a video I just shot of her iPad doing the bug described in this thread:


    I suggest deleting both the speedtest app and whatever app you were running before it flaked out.

    It's not that simple I'm afraid. Sometimes it happens as soon as I start the device. Sometimes it happens in the middle of typing an email. Sometimes it happens while I'm browsing the web. I can't isolate a cause yet. I'm starting to suspect static electricity might be a factor.
  • by etresoft,

    etresoft etresoft May 12, 2010 9:07 AM in response to jg16
    Level 7 (29,173 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 12, 2010 9:07 AM in response to jg16
    jg16 wrote:
    It's not that simple I'm afraid. Sometimes it happens as soon as I start the device. Sometimes it happens in the middle of typing an email. Sometimes it happens while I'm browsing the web. I can't isolate a cause yet. I'm starting to suspect static electricity might be a factor.


    It sounds like your only option is the video route. At least that makes proving these intermittent problems easier than it used to be.
  • by madman962,

    madman962 madman962 May 18, 2010 10:58 AM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 18, 2010 10:58 AM in response to ipeverywhere
    I am also having this problem. Just recieved my ipad which I ordered on May 6th and it self registers to the point of being unusable. As described previously, I can't do something to make it duplicate on demand, but after using it for a while, it starts to tap randon places on the screen.

    Oddly, the easiest way for me to see what it's doing is to go into harbor master. That app turns the blue ocean white each time you touch the screen. When the ipad is freaking out and tapping on it own, you can not touch the screen at all and see the white spots come and go as it's tapping randomly on screen.
  • by jg16,

    jg16 jg16 May 18, 2010 5:40 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 18, 2010 5:40 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WETemUDnU0

    Here is another video of the same issue.
  • by jg16,

    jg16 jg16 Jun 12, 2010 10:15 AM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 12, 2010 10:15 AM in response to ipeverywhere
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I9HSrcMXE8

    Yet another video I took of the issue continuing to occur. If I showed these videos to the Apple Store do you think they would replace the iPad for me?
  • by pberk,

    pberk pberk Jun 12, 2010 11:50 AM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 2 (298 points)
    Jun 12, 2010 11:50 AM in response to ipeverywhere
    I was having this same problem repeatedly as well - in most cases, it launched the web browser when i was in the middle of a game or something...but sometimes bringing up the keyboard unexpectedly in other apps. So I started to track it and noticed it was only happening when the screen I was on had a link or button to connect to the web - or a keyboard button... and never happened when I wsn't holding the ipad but just using my finger with it resting on a surface...

    So I realized it was ME.... sloppy hands, touching things I didn't intend to touch with my palm, or holding the iPad so that more than one part of my hand was touching the screen... Now, when I'm in landscape mode, I check to see what side the buttons are on and make sure that I flip the ipad if necessary so they are not on the side where my hand usually rests...

    Guess you can't have multi-touc without...uh.. multi-touch
  • by jg16,

    jg16 jg16 Jun 12, 2010 12:51 PM in response to pberk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 12, 2010 12:51 PM in response to pberk
    in my video above, I am clearly not touching the device when the issue occurs
  • by Lsutiger607,

    Lsutiger607 Lsutiger607 Jun 16, 2010 11:39 AM in response to jg16
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 16, 2010 11:39 AM in response to jg16
    To all those who are complaining about the problem, I encounter the same thing and can assure anyone trying to diagnose it that it is a very real problem. It has nothing to do with downloaded apps or improper finger tapping. The device's entire existence is surrounded by it's touchscreen ability and therefore should work properly and without any "extra effort" on the part of the user. I called apple tech support and the tech was useless. He had never heard of the problem (which is ridiculous considering all these reports on an apple tech forum) and basically said to take it to an apple store but if I couldn't replicate the problem, don't plan on getting it fixed/replaced. If anyone from apple is listening, you have a very real problem that needs to be addressed directly. At least acknowledge that it exists and offer some sort of solution, even if it is just temporary in nature.
  • by pberk,

    pberk pberk Jun 16, 2010 1:26 PM in response to jg16
    Level 2 (298 points)
    Jun 16, 2010 1:26 PM in response to jg16
    jg16,

    I watched your video - it is a bit freaky... I noticed that it was the same app that seems to keep activating (the maps app)... why don't you try rearranging the apps on that screen ..see if Maps keeps self activating or if the new app that you put in its place is beginning to exhibit the problem. If the latter you might indeed have a screen issue (a problem with the capacitive grid), which would definitely be confirmed if the app which occupied that position on all of your app screens continually self-registered...

    ON the other hand, if the app is somehow corrupt (and is just continually crashing and attempting to restart itself, as I've heard has been happening with the ESPN app and some of the gaming apps), the problem should follow the app, no matter where you put it on the screen.

    If the problem stills seems random to you, try doing a RESTORE which will give you a "clean install" of the software...
  • by jg16,

    jg16 jg16 Jun 16, 2010 8:25 PM in response to pberk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 16, 2010 8:25 PM in response to pberk
    pberk wrote:
    jg16,

    I watched your video - it is a bit freaky... I noticed that it was the same app that seems to keep activating (the maps app)... why don't you try rearranging the apps on that screen ..see if Maps keeps self activating or if the new app that you put in its place is beginning to exhibit the problem. If the latter you might indeed have a screen issue (a problem with the capacitive grid), which would definitely be confirmed if the app which occupied that position on all of your app screens continually self-registered...

    ON the other hand, if the app is somehow corrupt (and is just continually crashing and attempting to restart itself, as I've heard has been happening with the ESPN app and some of the gaming apps), the problem should follow the app, no matter where you put it on the screen.

    If the problem stills seems random to you, try doing a RESTORE which will give you a "clean install" of the software...


    Appreciate the response! If you watch my other videos (parts 1 and 2) , you'll see that this is absolutely not a software or app issue. Each video features a different app opening up repeatedly (although it seems to be the same small area of the touchscreen that is affected). The bug is in the touchscreen hardware. My theory is static electricity buildup, but I have yet to get an Apple rep to even acknowledge the issue because I can not duplicate the problem at will.
  • by walkingtaco,

    walkingtaco walkingtaco Jun 18, 2010 6:22 AM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 18, 2010 6:22 AM in response to ipeverywhere
    Yeah this happened to me too. And it's not just in the home screen. Sometimes when I'm in safari and I'm typing in something, the iPod presses multiple buttons every 2-3 seconds. Even right now, as I am writing this on my iPod. It doesn't happen when I am touching the screen, it's just when I leave it alone for a while. It's strange, seeing that the complete opposite happened a few days ago, when my iPod's touch screen did not respond at all.


    EDIT: yes I realize this is in an ipad thread, but this is the only place that I can find something like this.

    Message was edited by: walkingtaco
  • by jg16,

    jg16 jg16 Jun 23, 2010 2:23 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 23, 2010 2:23 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    Anyone made any progress on this? I was basically told I was crazy at the Apple Store today...not a great experience.
  • by jg16,

    jg16 jg16 Jul 1, 2010 10:33 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 1, 2010 10:33 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    bump
  • by bottern,

    bottern bottern Jul 8, 2010 10:08 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 8, 2010 10:08 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    I encountered the same problem yesterday, all of a sudden my iPad starts self-registering touches, opening applications, going totally crazy. Had no clue why i did behave like that, at the moment it was totally unusable. Anyhow I coupled the problem with my Marware Eco-Vue for iPad case. It seems like the problem start shortly after i put the iPad in the casing. I have to make a hard reset, take the iPad out of the case - and then everything is working just fine.

    I have searched for other users having the same experience with the Marware Eco-Vue for iPad - but it seems to be isolated so far.

    Any takes on this?
  • by pberk,

    pberk pberk Jul 9, 2010 6:44 AM in response to bottern
    Level 2 (298 points)
    Jul 9, 2010 6:44 AM in response to bottern
    This is really interesting....

    Perhaps the case is retaining too much static electricity??? apple's case is rubberized, so it wouldn't have that issue....
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