iPhone 4 home screen goes black after calls, but still responsive.

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Level 1

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iPhone 4 home screen goes black after calls, but still responsive.

Hey there guys. I've had my iPhone 4 for a few months and absolutely love it. There is only one issue that concerns me, its only a niggle but its something that i would love to be able to sort out.

Occasionally when a phone call is ended, either by myself or the other person, the screen goes black, except for the white bar at the top with the signal and time etc. It shows me the remaining call balance over this and when i dismiss this message i'm left with the black screen.

The funny thing is, the screen is still responsive; if i double tap the home button, you notice the screen adjust slightly to show you the apps currently running, except all i see is a slightly different black screen. I can also take screen shots and you hear the noise and see the white flash (see link at the bottom for the images)

I have to either hold down the home button until voice control opens or lock the phone and then unlock it again.

It seems to me that everything is working except for the home screen displaying my background or apps.

I have two images below that show you both states of the black screen. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/10828474/1/Public%20Photos?h=6d2f03

iPhone 4, iOS 4

Posted on Nov 29, 2010 11:01 AM

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Answer 1

Kwopau

Level 4

1,742 points

Nov 29, 2010 11:43 AM in response to gohanssj2

A few things you may want to try.

1. Turn off your phone and turn it back on (rebooting) and see if that fixes it.

2. If #1 didn't work, do a hard reset, by holding the home button and the sleep/wake button at the same time for 10 seconds until Apple logo appears (ignore the red slider).

3. If #1 and #2 didn't work, try restoring your phone, from there you have 2 options, setting up as new, or restoring from back up. If you find it to be a software glitch then don't do restoring from back up as you could bring back the same problem again. But instead, set up as new and see if that fixes the issue.

If nothing else, take it to the apple store and have them take a look at it.

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Answer 2

sn4p2k

Level 4

1,228 points

Nov 29, 2010 11:57 AM in response to gohanssj2

to be honest these are the solutions that may or may not work..

first thing I would try is rebooting the phone by holding the sleep/wake button and home button for 15 seconds until you see the white apple logo

if that doesn't work I would restore from backup and if that doesn't work I would restore as new if all else fails take it to your closest apple store they may replace the phone for a working one..

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Answer 3

marc88

Level 1

0 points

Nov 30, 2010 11:14 AM in response to gohanssj2

I have this exact issue with my 3GS. I did post for help but got no reply:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=12303877
I get the same behavior when I Dismiss my balance and can only get rid of the black screen if I lock then unlock, I was not aware you could get out of it with voice control though - I will test that next time.

I'm pretty sure this started happening to me ever since iOS 4 came out, I have tried DFU restores and setting up as a new phone a few times. It doesn't always happen, it's only with calls and not texts. I have considered taking it to the store but the reason I bought my 3GS was because of the low quality refurbished 3G models I received from there. Other than this issue, my phone works fine so I am reluctant to take it back. I know you can get O2 to disable the balance alerts, perhaps this will help? I'm hoping it's a software issue but surely we would have heard from more people on PAYG? You are the only other person that I have seen with this issue!

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Answer 4

gohanssj2 Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 1, 2010 6:45 AM in response to marc88

Thanks guys for the assistance. I have tried soft and hard resets both to no avail. Im considering going to a Genius to see what they can do. The only problem is that if i have to completely reset my iPhone i want to save the app data (game saves, messages, contacts etc)

@marc88 - I have the iPhone 4 which came pre-loaded with ios 4, so i have no other experience with an earlier version. However, i am pretty sure it didn't happen straight away, maybe a month or two into owning the phone. I have thought about cancelling the balance alert, i have free minutes and texts etc anyway so its only a pain in the *** having that.

Yesterday it happened again and i noticed that you can see the volume icon when you turn it up and down. So the screen isn't the problem, somehow the connection to the home screen alone is the problem. Yeah, it never happens with texts, only phone calls ( i tried to determine if it was based on who hung up first and whether the call was initiated by outgoing or incoming but there seems to be no correlation).

Do you have O2 PAYG as well? Could it really be on O2's end?

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Answer 5

marc88

Level 1

0 points

Dec 1, 2010 4:57 PM in response to gohanssj2

I'm pretty sure it is a software problem but it's strange how it's not widespread and we haven't heard many more complaining about it. Most people with iPhones are going to be on contracts so perhaps that's why (as they don't get the balance alert)? Perhaps it's worth seeing if O2 can disable the annoying balance alert then hopefully it will stop? Or just had another idea - test a friend's contract O2 sim, get them to make a few calls and see if the black screen appears?

Let us know if you do take it in to be checked out at the store and what they say. Yes I am O2 PAYG too.

Thanks.

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Answer 6

gohanssj2 Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 3, 2010 9:45 AM in response to marc88

Hey, got some interesting news. I called up O2 and asked them to stop sending me those alerts after every call and message reminding me of my credit balance and ever since i haven't had this problem. I have made plenty of mock calls to test this and so far so good.

Hope this method works for you, just call up customer service and ask them to stop that alert.

If the problem resurfaces i'll let you guys know, but for now i'm keeping my fingers crossed.

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