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Level 1

25 points

I can't swipe to unlock my phone or even turn it off :(

I recently upgraded my phone to iOS7 and I've been having a few screen freezing problems but the one I'm having at the moment is that my screen won't seem to unlock. All of my buttons and switches work. All I can do on the screen is swipe down from the very top to see my notifications, swipe up from the bottom to see all my other utilities, but it won't let me tap on anything, it wont let me swipe across to see anything else or change anything. I tried turning off my phone but it won't let me swipe from left to right or the other way. I've even tried asking siri to do a few things but she's not really helpful since my phone is locked. My battery is almost fully charged so waiting for it to go down might take a little too long and I'm not at home so I can't plug my phone into my computer. Any help would be very useful.

iPhone 4S, iOS 7

Posted on Sep 24, 2013 2:11 PM

Best reply

mgm2

Level 1

8 points

Posted on Nov 25, 2015 2:16 AM

OK - I know this works for iphone 4s ios 9.1. BTW: Everyone should turn on "Hey Siri" - go to Settings-General-Siri & go thru prompts to turn on. If you've totally screwed up your accessibility and can't access anything, i.e., can't turn off/reset phone by pressing & holding home button and power button together, can't slide to unlock, and if unlocked, can't tap app to open - IF "Hey Siri" is enabled, you can ask Siri to to "Open Accessibility in Settings." If you cannot choose the desired Accesibility option as you normally would, e.g., by scrolling down and tapping, then tap the screen as many times as necessary to get a menu (that has B&W icons) to pop up. An outline around each menu icon/choice (on this B&W menu) will automatically move from one icon to the next. Choose "Item Control" which will then start to automatically outline each Accessibility Area/option, one after another, indicating when an option can be tapped to choose. TURN OFF ALL "INTERACTION" CONTROLS. If the "Item Control" outline does not move far enough down to the Accessibility area of Interaction Controls, and you cannot swipe down, pop the B&W icon menu up again. Then select the option "More" which is indicated by an outline around a set of dots centered under the B&W icon rows, and you will be able to then choose the "Scroll Down" icon. When you have then scrolled down far enough on the Accessibility screen and see the Interaction control area, choose the "Item Control" icon again from the B&W menu, and this outline will again automatically move from one control to another. Tap/turn off all "Interaction" options. Hope this helps.

View in context

25 replies

Jan 18, 2016 2:18 PM in response to hayblacksupport

This worked for me. Thank you for taking the time to find this solution and post it. It is much appreciated.

Jan 26, 2016 10:48 AM in response to razmee209

This works! Thanks

helped to sort out my boyfriend's iPhone 😉

cheers

Queenie

laworr

Level 1

0 points

Jan 29, 2016 4:45 AM in response to rgalinsky

My iPhone 5 just froze like this. Couldn't swipe to unlock, nor to power off. The reset suggested by Apple here did nothing to correct it either.

Then I unplugged it from the wall and it worked fine. I checked the cords were all intact, and changed from a '10 w' power adapter (lying around from an ipad Air) to a '5 w'. It seems my swiping freeze was caused by being plugged into a 10 w adapter.

Feb 18, 2016 6:37 PM in response to savitia10

Hi All, My 5S home button does not work any more and then a month or two later it froze on me, not allowing any swiping. AssistiveTouch (in Settings/General/Accessibility/AssistiveTouch) was therefore already enable months back and still functioning, so I knew it wasn't a screen malfunction. The only way I was able to return the iPhone 5S to a state where I could access it once more was to Drain the battery until it shut the iPhone off. When I plugged the iPhone back in I held the Power button down for approximately ten seconds and left it to gain enough charge to turn on (a few minutes). It then asked me to type in the password, as is standard when it has shut down. The screen was fixed, and active once more, the issue resolved. (I am not sure holding the power button down during plugging the device in was the trigger, more running the battery dead flat, forcing itself to shutting down.

cherrjay

Level 1

0 points

Mar 1, 2016 2:46 PM in response to hayblacksupport

OMG YOU ARE THE SAVIOR

Nyija

Level 1

4 points

Apr 16, 2016 7:10 AM in response to savitia10

im having the same problem

Oct 5, 2016 9:03 PM in response to rgalinsky

I am having same problem with iPhone 5c also voice over is locked onto my home screen.

Oct 5, 2016 9:05 PM in response to 7068338925

If you have Siri you can ask her to turn off Voiceover.

What iOS are you running? This thread is for an issue that was happening with iOS 9 when it was released a year ago. And you wouldn't be able to go to iOS 9 right now, so need more info about the problem you are describing.

Cheers,

Dec 28, 2016 4:58 PM in response to savitia10

Just let the ipod/iphone go flat and it shall get rid of it

Nov 2, 2017 8:19 PM in response to savitia10

I read somewhere your supposed to quickly tap the home button three times

I can't swipe to unlock my phone or even turn it off :(