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ipeverywhere Author

Level 1

17 points

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

67 replies

etresoft

Level 8

46,632 points

May 12, 2010 5:11 AM in response to jg16

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.

ipeverywhere Author

Level 1

17 points

May 12, 2010 6:34 AM in response to ipeverywhere

Here is a couple of updates.

The first is that I talked to a Genius Bar employee who has seen the behavior on an iPhone. He advised if it was reproducible or I got a video they would replace the device. That's one out of 20 or so Apple employees I've talked to and the only one who said they had seen such a thing before.

The video posted in this thread is a minor result from what happens to mine. It rarely is a single application but will start randomly opening anything. It will even flip to a new page before opening something.

Now the good news. The problem seems to have all but stopped completely. I made a behavior change in the way I touch the screen and it seems to have cleared up the issue (as I knock on wood). I'll describe the change as best I can. My background with touch screens has always been with resistive touch screens and mostly of the Windows CE/Motbile variety. With these screens and without a stylus you must press very hard to register a touch point. My phone has gotten to the point I smash my finger at times.

By habit this was how I was using the iPad. Hard presses of the glass that would flatten my finger pad and leave a nice distinct finger print wherever I pressed. Over time, like within a few hours, of doing this the screen would go insane as described in this thread.

After a very frustrating day of not being able to use the iPad I started concentrating on how lightly I could press to register a touch point. Surprising to me there are points on the glass I don't even need to touch it. I can hover just above it and a touch will register. I now don't even apply any pressure to the glass. I just simply make as little contact as possible. It has taken practice but after about a week of doing this it has been a week or so and the screen is fine.

I'll keep using this method for a while and see if it holds out. If it does I'll consider that the fix. Otherwise it's going into Apple for a replacement.

jg16

Level 1

8 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.

etresoft

Level 8

46,632 points

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.

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.

jg16

Level 1

8 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.

jg16

Level 1

8 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?

pberk

Level 2

321 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 😉

jg16

Level 1

8 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

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.

pberk

Level 2

321 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...

jg16

Level 1

8 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.

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

jg16

Level 1

8 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.

jg16

Level 1

8 points

Jul 1, 2010 10:33 PM in response to ipeverywhere

bump

Touchscreen freaks out/registers touches without touching it.