Cannot 'Slide to Unlock'

Question

Level 1

11 points

Cannot 'Slide to Unlock'

Cannot 'Slide to Unlock' once in a while when an incoming phone call comes in. Happens maybe once a week on my iphone 4 and happened about the same with my original iphone before that. I can't seem to recreate this problem in order to troubleshoot. I have to let the call go to voice mail and then it will open. Anyone else experience this?

Posted on Aug 17, 2010 10:45 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 17, 2010 10:54 AM in response to sct12345

sct12345 wrote:
Cannot 'Slide to Unlock' once in a while when an incoming phone call comes in. Happens maybe once a week on my iphone 4 and happened about the same with my original iphone before that. I can't seem to recreate this problem in order to troubleshoot. I have to let the call go to voice mail and then it will open. Anyone else experience this?

Yes, very annoying. It's happened three times on my ip4. Hopefully the next major software release will have a fix.

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Answer 2

judygr

Level 1

15 points

Aug 22, 2010 1:48 PM in response to sct12345

I've seen various other reports of this. I have had it happen every now and then including just a day or two ago on my iPhone 4. My husband is experiencing it a little more frequently on the 3G that I handed down to him. I don't believe I ever experienced it at all in my nearly 2 years with that 3G so I have to wonder if it is some sort of software issue.

Is anyone aware of a way to answer the call when this happens?

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Answer 3

Aug 24, 2010 7:02 AM in response to sct12345

I have the exact same problem with my iphone4 with iOS 4.0.2 (note: it is not jailbroken). I also had it with my earlier iPhone 3G with various versions of iOS 3 and 4.
I have noticed that sometimes, pressing the home button firmly (0.5s) and then retrying "slide to unlock" works. I am not sure the exact conditions, because, of course, it always happen when you are in a hurry to answer the call.
On my iPhone 3G, this problem ONLY appeared during a call. On my iPhone 4, I had once or twice a problem with a "reluctant" slider, which I fixed either by going back to sleep for a second (top button).
This is really a pain.
JC

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Answer 4

Sep 14, 2010 5:07 PM in response to sct12345

My wife's original iPhone is experiencing a similar issue... we cannot "slide to unlock" the phone simply to turn it on -- regardless if a call is coming in or not. I was able to PRESS REALLY REALLY HARD and get it to slide open. However, once "on" the last row of icons across the bottom (which are always visible regardless of what screen you are viewing) is simply un-responsive -- no matter how HARD I push. All other parts of the screen are working. If I try to move one of the icons from the top four rows to the bottom row, it just bounces back. We're taking the phone in to the Apple Store tomorrow to see if it's fixable.

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Answer 5

EBSkater

Level 2

496 points

Sep 14, 2010 5:14 PM in response to sct12345

Either your screen calibration is off, or you need to restart your phone more often.

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Answer 6

Sep 14, 2010 5:44 PM in response to EBSkater

EBSkater,

Thanks for the quick reply and advice. Do you think restarting the phone a bunch of times right now might "recalibrate/fix" my problem noted above?

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Answer 7

KC7GNM

Level 4

2,904 points

Sep 14, 2010 6:03 PM in response to royrezentes

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.

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Answer 8

Sep 14, 2010 6:15 PM in response to KC7GNM

Seemed like an easy (but strange) no risk thing to do. And yes, I did try it a half dozen times with no success. LOL

Is it best to "power off" the phone on a daily basis?

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Answer 9

KC7GNM

Level 4

2,904 points

Sep 14, 2010 6:16 PM in response to royrezentes

You should not have to daily. I usually do once a week or when my phone acts weird. Other than that it runs fine without restarting.

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Answer 10

Sep 14, 2010 6:18 PM in response to KC7GNM

That's been my practice too. Thanks for the quick feedback. I'll report back tomorrow after the appointment at the Apple Store.

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Answer 11

Sep 20, 2010 10:01 AM in response to royrezentes

The apple store did the same thing we did -- restoring and restaring. But that did not fix the problem -- broken touch sensor/screen. Since the phone was out of warranty they did not replace or fix it on the spot. We opted to upgrade to iPhone 4 on this phone (as well as our other iPhone which had A LOT of dead pixels). I'm going to attempt to take the working touch sensor/screen from one phone and put it on the other one -- hopefully to create a working "iPod Touch" for our kids. If that works, I may purchase from ebay some aftermarket replacement parts (LCD screen and touch sensor) to create a second working "iPod Touch".

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Answer 12

Dec 20, 2010 8:04 PM in response to Jean-Claude Dufourd

Yes, "reluctant" slider, very exact. I had the same problem once in a while when a call came in from a sleeping iPhone 4, but I was never able to reproduce it manually! Try it on iOS 4.1 & 4.2.1 with the same problem. Happened ramdonly. Very annoying.

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Answer 13

Dec 22, 2010 3:47 PM in response to Rockallite

I too am having random problems when a call comes in and the phone is locked (twice in the last fortnight). The 'Slide to Unlock' function does not work, and instead the slider springs back about halfway across the screen. This has not been cured in iOS4 (I also had similar problems on my old iPhone 3G running versions 2 and 3), even after doing a hard reset (pressing and holding 'lock' and the home button simultaneously for a few seconds).

To any Apple developers reading this thread, answering phone calls is a fundamental function of a mobile phone. Please fix this problem. I should not have to burn through my call credits retrieving a voicemail and then calling the person who just called me back because the phone refused to unlock due to a software bug!

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Answer 14

May 17, 2012 6:34 AM in response to sct12345

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.

You can also use a bluetooth headset's call button to answer your calls, but this would obviously drain your battery on the headset and phone.

Haven't been able to find an ACTUAL fix though, besides double-clicking the lock button and rejecting the call, then calling them back while they're talking to your voicemail... 😟

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Answer 15

Apr 6, 2011 11:47 AM in response to KiyoshiAphelion

My iPhone 4 also once in a while does not accept the slide to unlock. Even tough it seems like the root cause is that I catch the phone while it's busy, it will not unock if I try it 3 or 5 times in a row. I have to wait 1-2 seconds and than try again. It always worked on my phone after giving it a short break. However to do so needs quite some discipline if you have an incoming call and already missed the first two rings ... 😉.

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