Cannot 'Slide to Unlock'

Yes, I am experiencing this problem as well.

It appears that this is not an entirely new issue as people have been reporting similar problems since about 2007!

I have the iPhone 4 and I can confirm that this issue has affected my phone since iOS v4.x.

It first manifested itself in manner where the slider would only move with a lot of effort but it still could not activate the password screen. Other times, the slider was locked when the phone was ringing. This occurred on about 1 in every 15 calls.

The problem became *worse* with iOS 4.3.1 where about 1 in every 5 calls could not be answered because the slider bar was locked after the phone began to ring. BTW, the slightly moving slider problem was no longer evident in iOS 4.3.1.

I have since upgraded to iOS 4.3.2 but I have nothing to report at this time.

KC7GNM wrote:

I wouldn't listen to him much. I would suggest taking it back to apple and show them the problem. I am sure you restarted it several times with no success.

And why exactly is that? I wouldn't listen to you either.

Having the same problem, here is what i have done chronologically to no avail-

1. Restored the phone to factory condition, reinstalled from backup.

2. Restored the phone to factory condition, started over as a new phone.

3. Genius bar- found nothing wrong with phone but replaced with a brand new phone.

4. New phone- restored from backup.

5. New phone- restored to factory then start over as a new phone.

Problem STILL occuring!!!!!

😠

PS- No screen protector being used , latest ios installed

I am very pleased to report that since updating to iOS 4.3.2 this problem has vanished.

Confirmed on iPhone 4, 16gb

I am getting annoy with my IPhone 4, it cannot slide to answer incoming call even with OS 4.3.3 😠.

It happens randomly.

Is Apple going to do any thing about it??

Fix the problem and make the customer happy.

It is a joke that Apple hasn't fixed this bug yet.

Missed a lot of calls, just because I'm unable to slide to unlock the **** phone. 😠

(PS: No screen protector. No blue tooth. No jailbreak.

If jailbreak really is the only solution to this awful bug, then Apple has really screwed themselves :S )

Talked Apple into giving me a new iPhone 4. The problem REAPPEARED after I restored from backup. The Apple rep said the cause is most likely a currupt software issue. He wanted me to restore as new and NOT SYNC ANYTHING. I chose to not do that. Going to wait and see how annoying the problem becomes before I wipe the phone completly. I took the precaution of syncing my contacts to gmail so I have a clean set of contacts if I have to do a "bare metal" restore at some future point.

I am having the same problem, with my iphone 4 version 4.3.3 (8J2)

The problem is not uncommon, and always happened when the phone was ringing in my pocket and I had to pull it out to answer.

unresponsive slider, but display on. no reaction in any area of touch screen.

the problem is probably related to the proximity sensor that detects body contact. the same sensor disables touch screen when the phone is kept close to ear (and screen goes dark). when you move the phone away from ear, displays goes on again and accepts touch input.

i just need a key shortcut to pick up the call if touch screen is unresponsive. I know that double click top right button rejects the call.

Marco Guardigli, @mgua

Hi, I'd just like to report that I've experienced this problem intermittently as well and after researching it, there may be a problem with the touch screen's calibration. I haven't been able to figure out when or how the screen is calibrated, but from experience, it seems to re-calibrate itself upon waking up from sleep. By having a finger or hand pressing on the screen accidentally when waking up the phone, the calibration could be so far off that your finger is not recognized on the screen. As a first step, try to leave your phone screen pointed away from your leg in your pocket and avoid touching the screen when someone calls.

This is exactly what is happening. So will the answer be not to carry the phone in your pocket? Come on Apple, lets see if we can make an adjustment to fix this annoying issue. Nothing short of that would be reasonable. It truly is very annoying and happens quite frequently. It is nothing to do with a bad screen or sensor or software, it is clearly the calibration thing noted above. It is impossible to pull the ringing phone out of your pocket without touching the screen.

I am on my 4th I Phone 4 now. # 4 is being sent to me after the first 3 all had a problem with the proximity sensor not letting the screen go black when put up to the ear and the slide to unlock feature not allowing me to answer calls.

Apple, to date, has no fix for the problems. In fact, they continue to deny any problems exist.

I have tried every conceivable fix offered to no avail. The problem with the unlock will continue to get worse and become more frequent.

Apple has no problem replacing the phone, so I would advise anyone with issues to call in and request a replacement. My first 2 replacements came from the same store and the 3rd came from Apple trying to eliminate a bad batch of phones as the cause.

Hello,

I bought my Iphone 4, october 2010, it worked well till the month of april, and since then, once a while about once a week i can't slide to unlock when getting an incoming call, the phone freezes, and i miss the call and for like 10 secondes the phone freezes, (the on/off button defreezes it after 10 seconds), sometimes alson when i receive a text message, same problem. It's verry random and i tried to call myself sometimes 30 times and i am not able to reproduce this weirdest problem. I WENT 6 TIMES to apple store, I did a hard restore and setting a new phone, i didn't restore from backup (messages or anything), they do it for me even several time, they did a DFU before restoring it, i did a DFU myself before restoring several time, they changed my phone TWO TIMES, they changed my SIM card, i am runing without absolutely any APPLICATIONS on my 3rd PHONE since one month and still have the problem (So no it's not an application). At genius bar the last time i went they wanted to change my phone again for the 3rd time because the said they keep changing the phone till the problem is fixed, i told them its rediculus, you are not trying to find the problem and i refused, each time i have to loose my screen protection, i asked them for second level support, they told me they dont have a second level support at the store. So i was so desperate that i called applecare and asked to speak to a supervisor, i described the problem, he said he never heard about it, he sugest me to do again a DFU and this time enter my contacts manually (the only thing i didnt try because i was synching always my contacts from windows contacts), i did it today and AGAIN the SAME problem when i received a text message. iI will wait to see if the problem happen with incoming calls, the supervisor gave me his private line. If doesnt work, i will go higher it really a shame that nobody from apple can help when they see this post. I bought the phone with a 3 year contract with fido (canadian wirless compagny) so i am stuck with this phone because i got it with a cheap price because of the contract. I am on OS 4.3.3(8j2), NEVER jail braked any of the 3 phones i got. The only 2 things i can think of, if the problems is not from corrupted contacts : 1) Apple store have some batches of buggy phones that they are using to replace client phones (i asked them if they replace with new phones or refurbished phone they said they said the replacement phones are always new). 2) my problem started since april 2011, i don't remember wich OS release it was, maybe since then their is a bug in the OS.

I hope that apple read this post, because its really inacetable, i bought a phone, i know with verry usefull and fun applications, but i think i would like to use it as a phone as well, never heard a phone that you can"t use it sometimes to answer calls.

Alex from Montreal

@alexandre139 and all

Lets try to determine if the 'unresponsive slider when replying a call' problem is always happening when phone rings inside the pocket. this was the situation in which the problem always occurred to me. Probably (but I am not sure) the screen was in every case pointing against my leg.

has anyone experienced this while phone was in pocket?

so, the sequence is: phone is locked, call comes in, phone wakes up, screen lights up, touch sensor recalibration starts, body contact (maybe via input of proximity sensor circuitry which is probably triggered) prevents it to happen as it should.

it can be that different pocket cloth has different impact, and maybe also the presence of a screen protection film can have a role.

is there anybody more knowledgeable that can give a hint?

a simple software solution could be to force screen recalibration when pressing home button and a call is coming, so answering sequence in case of unresposive slide could be home(recalibration)+slider.

Marco Guardigli @mgua

.

Yes. When rings in pocket. So I guess Apple will say don't carry it in your pocket. Don't hold it a certain way. Basically wait for a new model. Sheesh.....

Hello,

I tried everything possible and imaginable and i still have the same problem, if you read my last post, the only thing i didn't try is to enter my contacts manually after a restore and unfortunatly i restored my phone and entered manually my contacts, i Still sometime canot slide to unlock when receiving a call (so i loose my call and the phone freezes for about 10 15 seconds after i miss the call) or when i receive a text a message :

* they changed 2 times my phones, so this is a brand new one.

* they changed my sim card.

* I entered some contact manually, no synch.

* I am not running any application

* Restored like a new phone always.

From october 2010 (date i bought my iphone) to mars 2011, i never had this problem. My conclusion their is batches of Iphones 4 that bugs with OS 4.3 and higher, so its a combination of faulty Iphone 4 and using OS 4.3 and higher (OS 4.3 was shiped on 9 mars 2011). I hope that Apple will fix this bug with OS 5.

I have an open case with a senior engeneer from Apple, that i will call tomorow to see what he thinks and i keep u posted.

By the way the problems happens ALSO when i dont have my iphone in my pocket

Hello,

I tried what wop.simone and still i can't answer ! i called again the senior tech and he is sending me a new phone (it will be the 3 replacement but this time not frome the apple store !!!) because i tried to remove the case and the screen protector as he told, still the same problem. I am prety sure that their is some phones that bugs with OS 4.3 for iphone 4. If their is the same issue, the senior tech will make a engeneer calling me directly from the head quarters I will keep you posted. I can't accept the fact that a phone that can't answer calls even if doesn't happen often, it's not acceptable we pay a lot for this phon