Q: iPhone 4 Home Button not working properly

during the days of my iphone 3g, the silent switch broke! they said it would cost me Rs.9000 aprox $180 !!! for a replacement if it were out of warranty!!!!

Amazing how people in this thread and others all experience the home button issue but Apple won't take responsibility for it. It is a known short in the button. The design in the 4 is different from the 3g and 3gs. The 4s also has a new design.  This seems isolated to the design of the 4. It is not software related in my case. It is a design flaw in the 4 that Apple will not acknowledge and now expects me to pay $150 for their faulty design if I want a working home button again.

I had same issue with home button. Look on eBay you can buy the ribbon (uk) for a couple quid. You can find instructions how to replace this (just google) took me less than an hour and now no problems. If u want this doing email me I can do it in uk for £20 quid plus p&p. Simples

2 months out of warranty and the home button on my iPhone 4 has also stopped working.  I have to press it 5-10 times to get it too work.  I thought it might be software related so I restored the phone but it didn't make any difference.  This is my 3rd iPhone and it is going to be my last.  Looking forward to getting a Samsung Galaxy S III when it comes out.

I have added my observations in this problem many of us are facing before and still my home button doesn't work.  So I think my issue is the high amount of gunk or dust under the home button.  A few have commented to turn off the phone, use a damp cloth towel to press the home button in a circular motion.  Then reverse the motion. making sure you get the edge of the home button.  Turn on your phone and see if the button works.  For now, it works until I get more gunk or dust.

My iPhone was "blown out" at the Apple store to remove any dust or debris. There was none. My phone is immaculate. My phone was restored to factory settings.

My phone is hardware related plain and simple. $150 for a refurb from Apple if I want a working phone.

i had suggest u go for a cheap repair or get one of the self repair kits from ebay or amazon and then sell of ur iphone

I sent my iPod Touch 4 in and it was replaced completely under warranty. If you have any warranty coverage at all, do not hesitate - just get it replaced before your coverage runs out.

I'm Gonna go with dust or lint because I've tried everything but the only thing that works for me is pressing the button a certain way or pressing at exactly one or two precise spots on the home button and the last thing that work for me was turning it off and leaving it off for a couple of days.

I too was too having this problem.  I did run across a simple solution, or maybe a temporary fix, may not be the best solution, and you will have to use at your own discretion.  But here is the link.

http://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/56206/Home+button+sometimes+not+working

After doing this my home button did seem more responsive.  I'm not saying this is the best fix.

I just started having the exact same problem. It works some days and other days it rarely works at all. I thought it might be dirty or the button might be messed up. I have a 4 with the latest iOS 5 update and it didn't do it until a few weeks ago. I'm not sure whether or not to think of mine as a software or hardware problem. If it's still covered under warranty maybe they'll fix it?

Thanks dewellg5. Worked for me.

I tried the link that dewllg5 put in. Definatley made a difference!

Has anyone from apple actually commented on this or are they still denying it? I have spoken to apple care and they quoted me £126 for a repair or replacemnt phone. They did mention i could join the extended warrenty plan £69, i still dont think I should pay anything towards a clear design fault. I wonder if it's worth contacting bbc watchdog, trading standards, CAB, TIMES money etc they'll be all over this, especially with this many complaints.

I think this will be my last iphone! Samsung and android here I come!

txturbo's post here resolved this issue for me: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2541121?start=44

i did notice that when it stopped working for me, sometimes tapping the back would magically make it work again. and then there werre times it didnt work.