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 Jul 17, 2010 6:45 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 17, 2010 6:45 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    bump
  • by macguy90,

    macguy90 macguy90 Jul 17, 2010 6:53 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 1 (64 points)
    Jul 17, 2010 6:53 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    You DEFINITELY need to take your iPad back to your nearest Apple Store. If you are polite & calm, they will likely replace it within 5 minutes, no questions asked.
  • by Laurie4,

    Laurie4 Laurie4 Jul 18, 2010 3:54 PM in response to macguy90
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 18, 2010 3:54 PM in response to macguy90
    I had the same problem, but I did kind of track it down. I found that when using a drawing app there was a whole line down the screen that was not responsive to touch at all, and when using others apps touching in this area did trigger the "ghost" touch. As I was able to reproduce the fault this way I was able to get replacement with no problems. Hope this helps.
  • by derk.dukker,

    derk.dukker derk.dukker Jul 25, 2010 12:39 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 25, 2010 12:39 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    Hi guys,

    I also experiencing problems with the touchscreen. I can't reproduce it (yet). For now I only experience problems with the keyboard. In mail I wrote an email and suddenly when entering character a I got aa and when entering other characters it just flipped and the iPad itself was entering all kind of characters very slowly and after a couple of minutes it send the email
    I pressed the home button and went back to springboard but the device didn't respond to any touches on the screen. Only a hard reboot made the device usable again.
    Next day I had this 2 times but then in safari instead of mail. I hope it's not an hardware issue, what do you guys think?
  • by chasin5,

    chasin5 chasin5 Jul 25, 2010 7:54 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jul 25, 2010 7:54 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    This is happening to me as well. More frequently today. I have tried to clean the screen, helped for awhile. Tried to take it out of the marware case but as others before me have said it is difficult to reproduce. Has anyone figured out a definitive cause?

    Marc
  • by jg16,

    jg16 jg16 Jul 26, 2010 8:56 AM in response to macguy90
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 26, 2010 8:56 AM in response to macguy90
    macguy90 wrote:
    You DEFINITELY need to take your iPad back to your nearest Apple Store. If you are polite & calm, they will likely replace it within 5 minutes, no questions asked.


    Yeah, except I've tried that at 4 different Apple stores, showing them video I took of the issue happening on my iPad. Since it wasn't actively happening on the iPad while it was in the store, they said there was nothing they could do. I've been "living with it" since May.
  • by derk.dukker,

    derk.dukker derk.dukker Jul 26, 2010 11:19 AM in response to jg16
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 26, 2010 11:19 AM in response to jg16
    Aahh I would go mad if that happened to me. Fortunately my iPad is replaced by a brand new one in iCentre Haarlem (the Netherlands). First they would send it to the service centre to repair it but I told the guy that others who had this problem got a new one right away. He had to talk to his manager and came back with a new one. Great service, hopefully this iPad does not have any issues. With every new products iPhone MacBook 17 inch and now the iPad I was having problems, I hope this is al coincidence...
    Just used my iPad for 20 minutes still no issues... Fingers crossed!
  • by chasin5,

    chasin5 chasin5 Aug 7, 2010 8:59 AM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 7, 2010 8:59 AM in response to ipeverywhere
    I deleted Osfoora HD from the device and haven't had the issue since.
  • by darndtjr,

    darndtjr darndtjr Aug 15, 2010 5:00 AM in response to chasin5
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 15, 2010 5:00 AM in response to chasin5
    Okay this thread went dead, has this issue been addressed by Apple? I'm having the same problem as everyone else and was hoping it would at least been recognized by Apple at this point.
  • by chasin5,

    chasin5 chasin5 Aug 16, 2010 6:00 AM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 16, 2010 6:00 AM in response to ipeverywhere
    Wish I could say that it has been resolved. Was on a plane to Tampa last evening and the device started acting up again. I got probably 3 weeks of the problem disappearing. Can't figure out what is causing it.

    M
  • by JLEE51,

    JLEE51 JLEE51 Aug 16, 2010 7:57 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 16, 2010 7:57 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    OK...so it seems that many iPad owners have the same issue with the screen "self registering touches". You'll see multiple posts on the forums from "self touching" to "self registering" to "freaking out".

    Well, I also have this annoying problem.

    Trust me when I say that cleaning the screen, resets, charging, deleting apps, static, and so on haven't anything to do with causing or resolving this issue.

    Here is a little tip to show you what is actually going on. Download a free app that shows you "screen touches". Harbor Master is one that I've heard of that led me to this...but I prefer to use that pocket pond app...only because I can just sit back and watch without having to move boats around.

    ...When you notice the problem, open up the app. I've noticed on mine that it only self registers touches along the side. Exact location is (when holding iPad in landscape position, home button on left) along the top of the screen...from top middle to the top right corner.

    I have called Apple...the tech was polite and tried to help. ...But the only suggestions were to reset (as i've already done) then if that didn't work I was to do a reload while sync'd. He stated that if none of that worked then to take it to the store...

    Since I am in Florida for the month and the nearest Apple store is 6hrs away...I will wait until I go back home HI and visit a store that is close by.
  • by chasin5,

    chasin5 chasin5 Aug 17, 2010 3:36 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 17, 2010 3:36 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    So I went to the West Nyack Apple Store Defective iPAD in hand with a video of the issue at hand. I was discussing it with the tech and showing him my video when the device started freaking out doing exactly what we all have been saying. He immediately exchanged it for a new device. I was quite shocked I got this response after all I have read that other users haven't been able to get their device exchanged. Perhaps others should try to bring their devices back in for evaluation.

    M
  • by Gordon Hodgson,

    Gordon Hodgson Gordon Hodgson Aug 18, 2010 1:33 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 1 (56 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 18, 2010 1:33 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    Could it be magnetic cases? I've just had this iPad a few days and am having this problem, but it seems to only happen when using my incipio kickstand case. Am going to be keeping it in my old kindle case for a while. If it was the case, I wonder if I can get a refund, or if this unit is oversensitive and needs replacing...
  • by Gordon Hodgson,

    Gordon Hodgson Gordon Hodgson Aug 22, 2010 9:00 AM in response to Gordon Hodgson
    Level 1 (56 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 22, 2010 9:00 AM in response to Gordon Hodgson
    Called AppleCare and they said it needed replacing. My new unit is fine (and still using the magnetic case).
  • by scottbh,

    scottbh scottbh Aug 22, 2010 10:21 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 22, 2010 10:21 PM in response to ipeverywhere
    I am also having this problem from an iPad bought in Japan. Here's one video:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8OWvRa9qcc

    Sometimes when it happens, it won't allow me to slide the red slider to power down. It jumps out of that screen back to something random.

    I keep my screen very clean all the time.

    Also, after plugging in charger and then powering down normally, after a minute or two, it will wake up and turn itself on.

    Will try going to Apple Store with my videos..
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