You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

💡 Did you know?

⏺ If you can't accept iCloud Terms and Conditions... Learn more >

⏺ If you don't see your iCloud notes in the Notes app... Learn more >

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Kadaj316 Author

Level 1

5 points

iPhone 4S Volume changing on its own

Basically over the past few weeks every now and again my iPhone 4S volume will randomly turn itself up and the ringer stays on the screen like the button is being held down.

It's happened randomly since I got the phone (on day of release from Vodafone) but has never been a problem till now. This weekend it does it nearly every time I touch the phone. I can't risk putting my headphones in because it would actually deafen me if it turned up on it's own and it annoys me that it does it in games and stuff as well.

I researched on the internet and have reached nothing conclusive. I heard one person say they went into their apple store and fixed it in seconds. I don't get up town often (especially around Christmas) and would like to avoid this obviously so I just want some advice.

Is this a hardware problem and do I need to get it replaced in store or could it be a problem in my config or apps or something? I'm not very Apple savvy so any help is appreciated...

Just to add I currently have a hard case on my phone. I took it off yesterday for a while to experiment if it was that putting any additional pressure around the keys but it did it without the case on too. Also the volume is only turning up, not down.

Thanks guys x

iPhone 4S, iOS 5.0.1

Posted on Dec 4, 2011 10:24 AM

40 replies

melwen

Level 1

10 points

Mar 24, 2013 4:16 PM in response to Kadaj316

I'm having the same issue also. It didn't happen until the most recent release of the ios update. I've backed up my phone, retored, and removed my otter box. I've tried all the "fixes" people have posted, none of them have worked. Looks like its time for me to go into the apple store, sigh.

Mishi86

Level 1

0 points

May 21, 2013 8:12 PM in response to Kadaj316

I've been able to assess that the volume goes up and down whenever the microphone is bumped or a loud noise is detected (tested this tapping the mic on my earphones). Still have no idea how to fix it though. I can't find any settings or anything for it.

tal1971

Level 2

302 points

May 22, 2013 12:21 AM in response to Mishi86

Mishi86 wrote:

I've been able to assess that the volume goes up and down whenever the microphone is bumped or a loud noise is detected (tested this tapping the mic on my earphones). Still have no idea how to fix it though. I can't find any settings or anything for it.

Go into Settings/general/about, scroll right to the bottom, touch diagnostic & usage, then diagnostic & usage data.

If there are any entries in there that are PANIC.PLIST, then your iPhone has a hardware issue and will need to be replaced.

Even if there are no PANIC.PLIST entries, your iPhone clearly has an issue if the volume goes up and down whenever the microphone is bumped etc.

Aug 22, 2013 4:15 PM in response to Harijs

Harijs' explanation is exactly correct. It's a mechanic wear issue within the volume control assembly. My iPhone 4S was recently afflicted with this volume control problem and I learned that Apple is willing to fix it (for free if the iPhone is under warranty/Apple Care, and for just $6 if it is out of warranty). I created a blog post that explains my experience and what I learned:

http://markshangout.com/blog/2013/8/22/iphone-4s-volume-adjusts-up-down-on-its-o wn.html

Mark

tal1971

Level 2

302 points

Aug 23, 2013 12:51 AM in response to Mark Booth2

Harijs explanation is correct in some instances.

But I had a 4S and the volume would turn up & down (you could see the volume adjusting on the screen) this was a brand new 4S, so wear on the volume assembly couldnt have been an issue.

When I went into Settings/general/about, scrolled right to the bottom, touch diagnostic & usage, then diagnostic & usage data, there was a PANIC.PLIST entry in there.

If you are having the volume issue, its worth looking in the diagnostic section to see if there are any PANIC.PLIST entries in there. These indicate a hardware issue.

Sbrow210

Level 1

0 points

Sep 20, 2013 9:56 PM in response to Harijs

Thanks for the help on this Harijs, my iPhone 4S just acted funny this past month, I have had the phone for over a year and it's already out of Apple warranty. Reading through your post, the problem is hardware base, I put small take around those touching points. And yes, the problem disappeared. Thanks for you my friend, what a great post!!!! 2 thumbs up! I don't need to go to the third party shop now as they might charge me a whole load of cash just for this.......thanks!