iPhone 4 Home button issue...

I also have an appointment in a service center next week. But I'm afraid they will also not be able to reproduce it right away.

I hope they believe me. I also send in my mail a link to this topic.

It's so weird, yesterday the problem was worse, today it was fine again. Only a couple times in a whole day.

Did some of you also noticed that if the iPhone is on a charger or computer, the problem never appears?

Well, I just got back from my appointment at the Apple Store and they wouldn't replace my phone because we couldn't get it to happen at the store. (Of course, it did it to me in the car right BEFORE I went in to the store.)

The guy took the back off and blew some compressed air into the home button. Hopefully that helps. If not, I guess I have to live with it unless it starts getting so bad that I can always reproduce it.

I ended up calling apple, mainly because the closet apple store is a good distance away, and they just sent me a new phone with a box to send my old one back. The guy I talked to didn't even ask a lot of questions.

Your are onto something. I have noticed that when my iphone is plugged into my PC or wall charger, that the home button works fine.

This could be a software bug.

I've had my iPhone 4 for about 4 weeks and the home button has just started to show the intermittent fault of not being responsive at the first touch. Sometimes I have to press it quite hard 4 or 5 times to return to the home screen. Guy in Apple Store Grand Arcade Cambridge seemed to think it was a hardware issue. He said they've seen the problem before and although the problem didn't replicate in store (typically), they are happy to exchange. I'm backing up phone and returning for new handset first thing Monday.

He did alert me to the multi-tasking issue of needing to clear all apps that will still be there, once opened but no longer open. You need to swipe the multi-tasking bar and delete anything no longer needed. He said it doesn't mean they are running, but it can still affect memory and performance. Not terribly helpful multi-tasking in my view!

In addition, since week 2 the phone will occasionally lose all it's sound alerts and requires a re-boot in order to re-set them.

Message was edited by: Gaia Morrigan

Message was edited by: Gaia Morrigan

Message was edited by: Gaia Morrigan

i have the exact same problem. i just talked to an apple rep and this particular person didn't have any answers. i would assume that apple is working on it and if it is a software problem maybe they will come out with an update.

i own a Maxis set (iphone 4) and i'm facing the same issue! i have a few friends who bought the phone with me at the same time but they don't seem to have this problem.

i've tried leaving more than enough empty space on my phone but still it doesn't work.

thinking of restoring my phone. i'm currently on 4.1 and i don't want to upgrade to 4.2. can the hold Shift button and restore still work?

also anyway that i can set up a new phone while still retaining my contact and SMS?

last resort before bringing it to Maxis for a warranty.

I'm now pretty much convinced this is a software issue--I was at a friend's house this weekend and his iPad did the same thing to me the first time I picked it up to use it, twice actually. The first time I hit the home button on it, it didn't register. A couple of minutes later, I double clicked and it only registered as a single click.

To me, all signs point to this being software. My phone stops doing it after a reboot, and it only seems to happen right after waking up from sleep or right after closing out of an app. E mail, Cut the Rope, Facebook, and Tweet Deck seem to be the most common causes on my phone. I think those of you who have exchanged because of this problem will probably just see it pop up again later--just my theory. Either way, Apple won't help me unless I can recreate the issue consistently. (I was told that pushing the home button is "all about timing".) I also noticed when I got home from the store that the Genius who took the back off my phone and blew air into it put a little nick on my antenna band with his screwdriver. I know this wasn't there before I took the phone in to be looked at. I should have inspected it before he took it back there.

I am going to wait for the next big update and see if this issue gets resolved. I still have over half a year left on my warranty, so if I'm wrong and the home button does end up being shot, then I'll take it in.

If you upgrade, your contacts and data are preserved.
If you reboot in and wipe it clean, make sure you back up in iTunes and then after you upgrade, you can "Restore" your data from iTunes.

this issue drive me crazy! the genius at apple retail store can´t change my iPhone. he told me, that the issue is non-reproducible every time. dear apple, i´ve paid 630€ for this phone. this is a lot of money for me and i can´t change it in my warranty time. what´s wrong? please give us a statement about this issue!

Bought a new iPhone4 yesterday. Having the same issue with the menu button.

Have tried restoring the phone through iTunes but now have a new problem, iTunes now tells me the phone is in recovery mode and I need to restore it. I restore it and it gives me the same message. Have to take to to me nearest O2 store now and see if they can help.

Great phone Apple...

Hi,

I had the same issue with the home button only working intermittently, contacted Vodafone UK and received a new boxed phone.

Everything is ok now.

Message was edited by: daviasht

I don't know what to do about this anymore. I am off work tomorrow and after my first unsuccessful attempt at getting the phone replaced, I made a genius bar appt. for tomorrow first thing in the morning. It seems that there are a lot of people out there having the issue, and from most of the descriptions of it that I've seen, it sounds like a software problem. But maybe it's not, and it's hard to get it out of your mind when you don't know for sure and the Apple store won't help you.

I'm going to try to take it in one more time and see if I'll luck out and get the malfunction to happen at the store. I have narrowed it down where it happens most often when I'm in the settings menu and then exit out. (making me think it's software) But it happens in other apps too sometimes. (making me think it's hardware)

If I take it back in again and they still won't do anything, I'm just going to live with it. I love my iPhone--it makes my life easier every day--but after all the exchanges I've had to do since launch, I also think it's the buggiest piece of hardware I've ever owned. I'm very disappointed with its reliability so far.

I am having the same issue. Here are my symptoms:

1. Home button won't work.
2. Phone randomly launches voice control
3. Phone launches voice control upon start up
4. After upgrading to 4.2, it tells me my phone is in recovery mode. I connect it and it just repeats this message and tells me to connect.

I am going to try one last time to restore it in the morning, but having worked in software for 10 years, its obvious this is not a hardware problem. EVerything was fine middle of the day today, used the phone to text a few times, no water, no moisture, no grease, no bad vibes, just the same old texting activity. Then it starts to bug out...

I guess this will be my last update and then I will just have to keep watching and see if anyone comes up with a reason/fix for this problem.

I had my second Genius Bar appointment for this today (same guy I talked to last week). As usual, the phone would not display the problem. I sat there for about 2 minutes with the guy opening and closing apps, opening and closing the multi tasking bar, no problems. He then told me that even if I could get it to happen, this is not something that he would replace the phone for and that no home button works correctly 100% of the time.

So basically, the Apple store has made it really clear that they're not going to help me out with this. I guess I'll just have to live with it and see if 4.3 makes any difference. I'm still pretty convinced that it's a software problem, but I figured if they did an exchange maybe I would luck out and it wouldn't happen on a new phone. On the plus side, I don't have to deal with setting up a new phone or giving up my absolutely perfect screen protector installation. There's also the possibility of getting another new phone and having a whole new set of issues. (Every replacement I've gotten so far has had a new problem.) At least with this one I know what I have. But again, it's been made very clear that unless the home button is not working at all, they aren't going to do anything for me on this.

Good luck to everyone who's having this issue--I'll keep checking back.