iPad 3 and iOS 6 - Home button not working

There is no fix. It's not a software issue. If it were a software issue, it would affect all iPad 4's being produced, and all iPad 3's and iPad 2's upgraded to iOS 6. But it doesn't. It only affects a (significant) fraction of them. If it affected all of them, this problem would be as pervasively reported as the Apple Maps app fiasco, which affected all. You'd be reading about it at Ars Technica, Wired, NY Times, etc.

The lameness of the Apple ("we'll replace Google") app for Maps affected everyone, which is why the above media outlets (among many others) covered it. That was a software issue. The home button issue is not like this. It only affects some but not all iPads which have iOS 6.

In my view, Apple can only fix this by better quality control at the factories.

My initial iPad 4 had buttonitis right out of the box. My replacement iPad 4 did not. There was no difference between them in terms of software - they were both straight from factory. So it was a hardware problem. And no software trick that I know of gives a lasting solution to the problem.

I've offered some theories about how the underlying hardware issue might be triggered by software, here and here. But I admit those are just speculative theories, and I'm clearly not an expert in this area. But it seems pretty clear to me that hardware differences of some sort are the relevant factor here. Apple just isn't doing a good job manufacturing many of these home buttons.

The best option for those under warranty is !Braggy!'s step 5 above - reproduce it in the Apple Store, and hopefully they'll replace it.

I just don't get how this can be hardware - my ipad 3 was fine for a month until iOS 6 got installed. It's a binary device (the Home button) so I just can't see how an OS change could affect it.

Hi pdoherty972,

Thanks for replying. Did you read my links, especially the first one? It's precisely because the issue emerges when some users upgrade to iOS 6 (or start with iOS 6 from factory) that leads me to think that it's a hardware issue. iOS 6 places responsiveness demands on the home button that iOS 5 did not. If the home button is made correctly, it can handle the demands of iOS 6. This appears to be the case on the vast majority of iPads. But on a (significant) fraction of iPads, the home button isn't manufactured to specifications. In those cases, those iPads can't handle iOS 6, and you get buttonitis.

Thus, the problem appears when you upgrade to iOS 6, but not earlier: it's triggered by software installation on these models. But the problem appears only on those models: it can only be triggered on an inadequately-manufactured iPad, which is a hardware issue. So upgrading iOS is only a catalyst for the real problem, which is hardware.

The sensitivity or responsiveness demands placed upon the home button by iOS 6 are satisfied by the vast majority of iPads. But some factories (and perhaps for just a period of time in the past) weren't manufacturing the home buttons up to snuff. This suddenly gets revealed when users upgrade to iOS 6. iOS 6 isn't the problem. The problem is putting iOS 6 on these iPads.

Does that make sense at all? If it were merely software, the issue would be far more widespread. This isn't to minimize the issue, of course: it's a painful and frustrating issue for many users, and explanations like this are cold comfort to be sure.

I can get my Home Button into Miss behavior by Running CPU intensive Apps or Videos. If After such usage I stop the App and let the Ipad "cool of" for a while, the button goes back to normal until I run a high intense App again. I have the feeling this is eigther thermal or a Software issue.

I get what you're saying and you could be right. But I guess I find it a lot less likely that a button (that simply depresses and either is registering a signal or not - ie not analog) could work perfectly in one OS and then in another that there could be some demands placed on it that somehow don't get met. It seems to be an IOS 6 issue perhaps a driver issue that interfaces with the home button, or something in the core logic loop of iOS 6 that causes it to ignore button presses.

I mean, the home button hasn't changed since the original iPad - it just seems far less likely to me that this is a hardware problem than an iOS 6 problem.

I agree. I suspect it's a memory leak in the core OS. Microsoft has/had similar problems. iOS has rarely crashed in the two week since I did a full system uninstall/reinstall/reboot. Some apps (e.g. Evernote) have caused a crash and buttonitis reappeared, but a full system hard boot cured the problem immediately.

My personal experience: running intensive apps is causing a problem in iOS6. Removing Siri undoubtedly helped, it's clearly memory intensive.

I asked the vendor (London Drugs) to replace my new iPad3. The new one just arrived, so even though this one now seems stable, I am swapping this one out. London Drugs have also been looking into the issue and I heard advise another store to remove the battery and reinstall/reboot.

Upshot: software for some, hardware for others. Both for a few. But my solid conclusion from running a number of tests is that this is some form of core OS memory problem. If it was hardware on this unit, how could it be both caused and solved by software installs/actions.

There is a slim chance there's another explanation. Perhaps Kobo, Amazon, Samsung and the Federal Competition Bureau have combined forces to insert gremlins into IOS6 and stop Apple's insane anti-competitive practices. In case you wonder why they are one of the most profitable companies: your dollars are greatly appreciated... by Apple. Open and collaborative systems development will always trump closed anti-competitive approaches: the market will only tolerate being fleeced while there's a clear innovation lead, and Apple hasn't had that for 18 months or so. The vultures are landing. Buttonitis is just the start.

Try this:

1. Disable Siri.

2. Disable all notifications on the "App Store" app.

My IPad 3 home button problem does not show up for about a month now. This will not solve the issue if the home button already not responding. However, once it goes away, it doesn't seem to come back. (At least for the past month.)

I have the same problem and it started just after the IOS 6 update, so it's a software problem.

I've found a trick to let it work when it start not working, just keep home pressed and start SIRI, now simply don't use it, come back and the home button now it's working again.

Hope this helps, btw blame on Apple for such a crappy update, Cook surely it's not Steve, sadly...

Yes, when this issue started with 6.0 and I later (few months later) saw 6.01 I figured ah, they must have fixed it. But no such luck.

Just FYI,

Recalibrating the home button as recommended in this thread months ago fixed my problem on my iPad 3.

I just removed Chrome, and my home button responds normally again... Seems like a software problem.

It can't be Chrome since I don't even have it installed.

Same problem here. Searched google countless times looking for a fix. Read through all the threads. Nothing works for me. I wound up turning gestures back on just to avoid using the home button but I have to say I'm extremely disappointed with Apple not responding to this issue and have seriously contemplated a return to the Android platform because of it. It is absolutely unacceptable that my 800 dollar iPad is not functioning properly. It's in perfect condition so replacing with a refurb unit is out of the question. I'm going to submit this thread to Consumerist and Gizmodo to try to get some press on it.

I'm experiencing this, too. Thought the button itself was going bad (it's not damaged though). Hope it is a software issue and gets resolved.

Hi

I went to apple store with apple care genius and they simply gave another IPAD3 replacing my old IPAD3 with cloud backup/restore. it seems there is no software issue rather its buggy thing on the hardware which require a new function keys to replace from hardware prospective. so i got new one.

if you have your contract is still valid then you should visit apple care store so that you can get a new one.

Be hurry...dont waste any more time.

BR,

Rushi