Iphone 4 Home button not working after upgrade to OS 4.3.1

Well, as long as there are lots of rumors of fixes by plugging in cables or dropping the phone, apple will never fix the problem. Remember how Jobs tried to explain away the antenna problem? This is a software problem with the multitasking feature. Double click the home button and you will see every app you have used since you booted up the phone is there. This uses memory. Close them all out and the problem goes away. It's temporary. When it slows down, double click again. Everytime you use an app, it goes here for mulitasking. You will see a bunch of apps everytime you double click. Hold your finger on one to get the little red minus and delete them all often. Apple should fix this. It is rare that most people will want this feature at the cost of slower speed. I have not had this problem since making sure the multitasking que is always empty.

Shutting down active apps in the que has never fixed the button in my case and I do this regularly even without having a button problem. The jailbreaking community have come up with ways to shut down all the app que in one swoop, why doesn't Apple?? Those double clicks to get in there and shut them down is a lot of extra wear and tear on the button and my time. Hopefully they will come up with a way to shut them all down in a simple single action but that's a subject for another thread.

Mike OR wrote:

Well, as long as there are lots of rumors of fixes by plugging in cables or dropping the phone, apple will never fix the problem. Remember how Jobs tried to explain away the antenna problem? This is a software problem with the multitasking feature. Double click the home button and you will see every app you have used since you booted up the phone is there. This uses memory. Close them all out and the problem goes away. It's temporary. When it slows down, double click again. Everytime you use an app, it goes here for mulitasking. You will see a bunch of apps everytime you double click. Hold your finger on one to get the little red minus and delete them all often. Apple should fix this. It is rare that most people will want this feature at the cost of slower speed. I have not had this problem since making sure the multitasking que is always empty.

It's a 130 miles for me to the nerest store, but next time I'm there I'm going to give it a try and see if they will warranty it even though I'm out by a short time, but this started before a year was up.

Loki001 wrote:

Since I made the origianl post, I've had about a dozen more opportunities to implement my "fix". I have started using the variation that you are using and it works everytime. I agree, it's a hardware issue, that I'm willing to live with as long as the bump technique works. It's less trouble that driving to an apple store to get it fixed.

The "recalibrating" instructions did work for me (just now, at least -- i'll monitor performance over the next few days).

Like Michael Battenfield, I found that I had to hold the home button lightly pressed for several seconds before the home screen returned. And if I pressed too hard, the Voice Control app came up (and simply pressing cancel, as others have suggested, with or without a cable attached, did not "unstick" my home button).

I should add that I noticed the problem after doing one of the 4.3.1 updates (I'm now on 4.3.5); up to then, had never had the problem and had not gotten the phone any dirtier than usual (and the cleaning suggestions never resolved the issue anyway).

So kudos back to simplyshervin -- at least from me, at least for now.

Here is a solution that works...it isnt the most elegant solution, but remedied it 100%.

1. Prepare a flat surface with a piece of paper, paper towel, cloth

2. Hold your iphone by its back, screen face down

3. Gently but with a little force, "smack" your phone against the prepared surface a few times flatly.

Try your home button...it should start working again 🙂 If it doesn't, try a little more force, but remember, this is a delicate device...and I cannot guarantee that it will work in every situation.

Background info...My home button wasnt responding reliably to any type of press...waking it up, double press, etc. My thought was that maybe the "gizmo" behind the button was stuck or something... Gave this a try, and now it responds correctly over 90% of the time.

I did try these things, but they did not work...

1. Having Apple replace it, but was out of warrantee

2. Set up as New iPhone, and restoring

3. Closing all applications and restarting

4. Closing all application and hard restarting - holding the Home button and top button thru 2 start cycles

I am having this problem for sumtime now. The home button completly stops responding.i think its a software problem because the voice control shows up wen u keep the home button pressed n you can even reset the phone which doesnt solve the problem. The only solution i have found is to keep the home button pressed fr atleast 2 secs before releasing and closing all d apps in the background. Though the home button starts working fine automstically sumtime.another issue is Apple doesnt provide internationql warranty n thats a drawback i cant replace my phone here in india which i purchased from london. :( . Apple service provider wont even accept outside purschased phone .. So i guess i am stuck with this. Apple should really come up with a solution rather then exchanging ur phones fr a refurbrished one.

Thanks Mike OS.
I updated my iPhone 4 to 4.3.5 a couple of nights ago and pretty much as soon as I updated it the Home button started to become unresponsive and could take up to 15 attempts at pushing it before it did anything. I tried the Apple advise to restart the phone (a bit strange that you say the multitask function will show apps that have been opened since reboot as even after I first rebooted the phone today, there were apps still in the multitask bar that I know I haven't accessed since about Tuesday), reset the phone and then tried a clean restore and none of them had any effect, I still got the same problem. Then I found your post and deleted all the open apps. The problem improved significantly but there was still a small problem. So I deleted all the apps in the multitask bar and restarted the phone again and it works perfectly again. I'm fairly new to Apple products so still finding out all these little hints and tips. But from this little bit of playing around today I'm inclined to agree that this is software related as even when a single click of the Home button didn't work, a double click did work, as did holding it to activate voice control.

Thanks for the advise

My problem is completey different. I have a mophie case. The one that charges the phone. And when I have that case on my home button derby work at all. However as soon as I take it off it works. D0es anyone know why this is? Also I want to know if there is a wy to resolve this without buying anther case.

My experience with the home button issue leads me to believe that there may be both hardware and software issues involved.

Using the "calibration" instructions, I have seen a minor improvement that eventually reverts to a non-working button. Keeping the camera app open doesn't seem to make a difference.

BUT: a couple of days ago, the home button stopped responding, so I gave the whole phone a sharp rap on my desk (have a bumper case, so glass didn't hit a hard surface). Haven't had a problem since...

I started having the intermittent home button issue a couple weeks ago. My iPhone is over a year old, so replacing it was not an option. After reading this forum, I tried hitting the bottom of my phone on a semi-hard surface, and that seemed to help a bit. Then, I noticed that when the home button was not working, if I plugged the USB cable into the phone, the button started working again. Then, I read the post about cleaning out the data port. So, I got a paper clip and proceeded to pull out a lot of dust. Then, I blew it out with compressed air, as well as around the home button itself. I have not had the issue since then. It's only been an hour or so, but so far, so good!

Check out this fix from another thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2595841?answerId=15989645022#15989645022

Just to confirm for everyone after a bit of research. Ive repaired about 12 button issues on out of warranty ip4's.

It is a mechanical issue.

The iso trick is smack bang on and is used on all buttons that use a metal dome contact

As the ip4's do.

Im an electronics engineer so can vouch for that.

U need to be sure the isopropyl alcohol ur using is 100% pure

As it is so close to non condictive (compared to anything else u could use)

that its almost guaranteed safe.

Step one...

Drain ur battery flat ... Completely.

Ensure the device is off and place exactly two whole drops of

Alcohol on the home button...

Depress the button 2 or 3 times to work the alcohol in.

Step two....

Wipe off the excess and "tap" the button firmly and rapidly about 10 times...

Not too hard or u could dent the metal dome contact and ruin the button.

Turn the device upside down and using a rag on ur finger continue to tap the button untill

There is no more evidence of alcohol seeping out around the button.

Step 3...

Let the ip4 sit in a warmish place for 15 mins... Recharge and...

VOALA!

No more sticky button!

Best repeated as soon as symptoms occur , before the dirt builds up too much.

The idea is.. There is an air gap arround the metal dome contact that allows the grease and

dirt from ur finger too work its way in.... Flushing it out with iso is guaranteed to remove most , if not all of

the contaminants.

if the button was'nt designed as a semisealed unit u could stick a piece of adhesive tape

over the contact to seal it. As some manufacturers do, unfortunately that is not the case with the ip4.

CAUTION!!!!

performing this fix on ur ip4 could void ur warranty.

Out of warranty, its guaranteed.

It will last untill more dirt and grease gets in, at which point repeat the fix.

If done correctly and swiftly, no damage will result.

SOLVED... I have had this problem for quite some time... searched everywhere... and suddenly come up to a post saying: connect your iphone to computer and that instance hold home button until Voice Control pops up. Cancel it and voila - home button works. The guy said this resets the home button. I tried to google it, but no results. It works for me, though... Before that I had tried hard reset, activator settings, cleaning switch... If you feel the problem is SW - give this a try....

I would like to thank the guy, but cannot find his post anymore...

Jirka

This more verifies a hardware issue than software - plugging in a cable to the phone flexes internal components where the home button and the power connection are (just tkae a look - the plug-in goes 1/3+ of the way under the home button.

Another poster discussed using alcohol (ultra-high purity - you don't want any water!) to clean out the contact in the button receiver. This all makes, at least for me, a clearer picture of the situation. I suspect the design of the button dome is allowing tash in, add to it any lint or other goop coming in through the connector slot right under it - which changes the dynamics of all the internals - dust makes more stress on one side or the other, for example.

This would explain why a rap of the case on a desk surface temporarily frees up the button to work right, and also why holding the button to do the so-called "callibration" also very temporarily seems to work for most -

Some even find that a firm/hard press and hold of the button can free it up for a bit.

Mr Battenfield,

You're not entirely correct. Your assessment is based on a few individual's own experience and knowledge and does not represent the collective symptoms here.

I have followed none of the hardware-based remedies and I can also state that my issue has so far not reappeared. Its been about a month now so I will continue to monitor the situation.

Just because some of you introduce a lot of grime or mishandle your iPhone does not mean the rest of us are also in the same boat. My iPhone has been under a plastic cover (including the button) ever since I received it. When I remove the plastic cover, there is no hint of grime OR dust so that eliminates any possibility of a fix using Isopropyl alcohol.

Further, banging an iPhone doesn't sound like a fix to me. Its like the old days when people used to whack their television sets in order to get the picture back. In fact, if our electrical engineering experts are here, they probably recommend against this practice.

I have been applying the following processes to absolutely prove, in my case, that it is a software-based issue. Now, I am not going to be silly and generalise this for everyone else. I can understand that some of you may be dirtier than me or some of you simply use the phone in an environment that is not "sensitive" to the phone's mechanical and/or electrical workings but I am not in that scenario.

The processes I have been using are;

1. After every application update/iTunes sync, I switch off and switch back on my phone (as is best practice I am sure)

2. Everytime I use the iPhone, I make sure I close the application proper (double-clicking the home button to bring up the opened apps and then killing them if not required).

3. I have been monitoring the types of apps I use and I think I am starting to get a feel for which apps may be more prone to this sort of issue than the standard apps.

After following the above 3 step processes, I have not had a re-occurence of the issue. So for me, the problem is also fixed. You cannot pin my experience of the issue to hardware because if it was hardware, then I'd be hitting the problem regardless of the above.

So in closing, I like everyone to be aware that there are 2 types of issues with the home button here. One is caused by hardware which I wholeheartedly accept as plausible although it clearly does not apply to me. The other is a software-based issue and I am beginning to lean on issues with development and coding style in some apps.

I think the bump technique may be the answer! Thank you so much to everyone for being so generous with your potential fixes here. I tried many of them, but nothing worked until I gave the bottom of the phone a good thump with the heel of my hand. Now the home button is working. Weird and kinda pathetic for a phone of this cost.