iPhone 4 not vibrating at all

i heard all you have to do is call apple and live with the phone until your new phone gets there and just send your old one after you receive the new one. apple says they have lots of replacements

I had the same problem.

Looking at the iFixit dissection of the iPhone 4, the vibration motor is in the top right hand side of the phone when looking at the rear surface. It is right next to the headphone socket. Reading other forums, it could be that the motor is jammed or stuck.

What I did was this:

Enable vibrate in both modes
Download a free vibrating app like "iBrate"
Activate vibration via the app
Gently tap the area where the vibration motor is and it kind of wakes up if that makes sense
It will stutter and come on and off but after a while it becomes a bit more regular

I also exercised the motor by leaving the vibrate on via the app for a few mins to get it going

I hope that helps as it has for me. I realised the problem last night and since the last hour it has been spot on.

Worst case is to get Apple to check it out as it has 12month warranty.

Excellent work, mrshinyteeth. I was having the same trouble with my new iPhone4 vibrate mode and this solved it. I thought it was software related, but after a couple moderate taps in that location it got the motor loose and moving again.


Thanks again

Worked for me too.

great this worked for me too! Cheers

thanks! worked for me! now the question is how long does it last until it starts acting up again?

holy crap man! i wanna thank you! ive been stuck for days trying to get my iphone to vibrate. i downloaded the app, i listened to it carefully (when vibrate wasnt working) i heard clicking probably indicating that the vibrator was stuck. i didnt exactly tap the area you recommended. i smacked it against my palm then it unjammed it. when people were suggesting smacking the iphone, i was really sketchy because i didnt wanna break an expensive piece of electronic. But all in all thanks dude, really made my day!

I might be missing something here but I really dont expect to have to thump my new piece of tech to get it to vibrate!!

I was able to get mine unstuck as well by following your method. I could hear a clicking when I held it up to my ear when running the iBrate app, and I had been trying every now and then for a few hours by hitting the backside against my palm and my knuckles (not hard enough to hurt), but no luck. Then I decided to hit a little bit harder, and when I hit the left top side of the phone against my palm it immediately started vibrating like it should, and is still working.

I bought my iphone 4 on friday the 30/7. And now i see i got the same problem as you guys. It works for like 5 minutes when i "hit" it. I am really mad and the phones in Sweden is sold out. How do iphone replace the phone Can i keep it until the new phone arrives ?

mrshinyteeth's fix worked for me as well...

I installed iBrate, turned it on constant vibration, then smacked my phone a couple times. It started buzzing again! The vibrating was a little intermittent at first, but has smoothed out, and now seems to be fixed. Like others, I'm wondering if this is a problem that will come back later. I've missed a number of calls because of it.

Then again, I don't relish the idea of a refurb replacement.

Hi, just another person with the same issue and the same successful cure! I downloaded the iBrate vibration app for free and double tapped the screen to get a constant vibration. I listened carefully near the headphone jack and heard the small clicking sound you described. As others have mentioned, it felt sketchy whacking my phone, but after 4 or 5 good whacks on my palm it rolled into action. The vibrate works fine now! Excellent problem solving! Thanks.

Wow, it's sad to say but yes, I had to smack my beautiful iphone4 to make it vibrate. Thanks for the advice! Never thought a good love tap would do the job!