Touch Screen unresponsive after iOS 8 update

Keeping this short and simple: I just had the same problem for anyone who needs to know how to fix it...

Hold down the power button and home screen button in tell you see the apple logo then let go and wait for it to restart.

This worked for me and I hope it works for you... BUT i'm still gonna get a new phone that is NOT by apple ASAP!

I have a problem in which the touchscreen becomes unresponsive and does weird stuff. Your solution for it does however not work and I'm taking it to an authorized repair center to check if there might be a loose connector.

It's still a problem. I decided to wait on iOS8 until now. I did the update to 8.1.2 over the weekend and my iPhone 5 is very hard to use. Sometimes the touchscreen responds, sometimes it doesn't. Powering off/on only helps until the screen goes into sleep mode. I do not have the time nor patience to power it off/on several times a day. Apple... this discussion has been open since October.

Just wanted to comment in support for whamprod

IOS8 is definitely a major step back in quality from what we have seen in the past (the past being, Steve Jobs run Apple)

I have worked in in senior positions in software for nearly 20 years and the current push is to eliminate software testing and use only telemetry to drive the quality of products. (Google and Amazon use this extensively). Unfortunately that means "you" and "me" , the customer will receive poorer quality products in the future, and fixes will only arrive when the amount of users impacted passes a certain threshold of metrics, defined by Management. Sad but true.

I just updated to iOS 8.1.2 and started experiencing the touch screen issue with my 16GB iPhone 5. Without pass code, i have to press the wake button tree times (to wake it.. sleep it.. and wake again). Then it runs normal. With pass code, sometimes i have to do that (3 times) just to just to make the pass code work, then another 2 times (to sleep and wake) to log in again and then it runs normal. Tried to restore and not installing anything (not even add any data), someone said try to remove screen protector and i did, restart and set wallpaper to still. Not working. Hoping it's not hardware issue and another iOS update would resolve this. My wife is using 4s running on iOS 8 (forgot which version) and it is not even slow (many told me not up update 4s to iOS 8 due to slow performance). Really annoying.

Disabling Background App refreshing for weather worked for about a week. Now it's started creeping back again and I can't figure for the life of me as to why, even with everything disabled. Only thing I've done differently was update Facebook and Messenger. Might have to remove these and see if that makes any difference but otherwise I'm all out of options. Hard reset the phone and I can not be bothered to do it again. Using my pals 16GB iPhone 5 as a spare phone until HTC or Sony unveil their new flagships, first and last iPhone I'll be using I'm afraid. Never had a bug like this on Android that will render a touchscreen useless as a result of software..

Oh and I'm running 8.1.2

Update: Had my IPhone 6 replaced in Apple Store under warranty

Have NOT installed 8.1.2 and everything seems fine now

Perhaps flashing the phone to base OS pre 8.1.2 and then not updating will help others....

iPhone 5S Touchscreen not responding (unresponsive touchscreen) issues here as well. Upgraded a properly-functioning iPhone 5s to IOS8 and immediately had issues. We have six iDevices in our home. Two of the six have been upgraded to IOS8 and guess what? Two of the devices have touchscreen response issues. Many comments in this thread indicate use of specific apps like Clash of Clans or alternative keyboards. I do not have either of those installed. The issue is with the premature update. It has bugs. My screen not only does not respond more than 50% of the time, which includes not being able to answer a phone call or turn off an alarm from sleep mode, but also includes phantom typing and calling. The latter has happened and I have had to apologize to colleagues for embarrassing email responses and phone calls. This has reached the level of a toy rather than a business tool.

<rant> I am rapidly moving away from Apple. I am a long-time Apple user and early adopter who drank the Kool Aid decades ago (first Apple in '86). I'm done with it. Apple is a Public Utility now--and acts like one. The lack of support and Shawshank-style approach to application and device management has done me in. I am moving away from iTunes to Fedelia; iPhoto to Lightroom, iPhone to Sony Experia, and have long since moved away from iCal and Mail to Google Calendar and Gmail. Ugh, the list goes on. I have had more issues with Apple products with terrible resolution and support the last two year than ever before. </rant>

I'm with you @ZacShaw1. Moving to Sony. Give me some open source and robust hardware!

Although my original problem of unresponsiveness was resolved with an update it has gotten worse. My Airplay wireless receiver no longer functions with my iPhone AVcontrol app (App is done by Pioneer) and Siri no longer functions in the car handsfree, nor does it recognize calls incoming or outgoing. I am using the KIA supplied dedicated adapter. Strangely it still loads music, but losing voice and call control is not only irritating but potentially dangerous…at the least very irritating as I must now pull over to answer a call and disconnect the phone to do it.

The Av receiver was close to 700.00 and worked prior to iOS 8.

Don't even get me started on Yosemite….

Guys, mine had the EXACT SAME problem! I couldn't get it fixed or replaced for free at apple cuz out of warranty!

After reading every single message here, trying everything u guys suggested, I decided to meet with an iPhone repair guy in my neighborhood.

He actually detected that the issue was with the LCD. A flat band carrying cables that link the LCD screen to the rest of the phone actually was punctured, not sure why or how! It didn't have any water damage! LCD was replaced for $75, and my phone works perfectly now!

Before giving up guys, please try talking with a technician.. I was desperate and sad for days, and I just got my smile back! lol

Good luck!

I've experienced almost the same issue with iOS 8. The iPhone 5 worked perfectly with iOS 7, then I downloaded the update. It worked well for a litte while, then touch screen issues began. Freezing, or it making pantom touches around the z-m section of the keyboard, or shifting the page around randomly. I took it to a repair shop and they thought it was a fried digitizer. $120 for a new screen and digitizer, because it's one unit on the iPhone 5, and the problem continued, but less. They said it might be a fried motherboard. Now I see this forum post. This really bothers me.

Apple, your iOS 8 su¢ks. You should not have made one operating system for multiple sizes of touchscreens. I believe that is the problem.

Please fix this issue. Give me back iOS 7.

My wife's iPhone 5c had the same issue. Upgraded to iOS8 whatever and soon after started having touchscreen issues. It started out OK initially after the upgrade but then progressively got worse. I did backup and restore, reset to factory then restore, wiped phone clean and setup as new iPhone and it would work for maybe an hour each time. Then the screen would become unusable, not respond to touches/swipes or only do so occasionally. Sometimes white horizontal lines or vertical lines (or both) would appear. You could hit the lock button then home button and get a few more touches in before it would freeze up or act up again.

The fact that it would work fine for a while after restore then slowly degrade made me think the hardware was fine and it's a software issue. I thought: what could affect the screen randomly? Auto brightness sensor? Maybe it would work fine when lighting was even but then start jacking up when lighting changed.

So, I went to settings to turn OFF auto-brightness (this took several screen locks and soft resets to be able to use the screen and get there), I then turned my brightness to the low end (very difficult when screen is not behaving but eventually got it). After doing this, the screen seems to do OK. The randomness of the screen issues after restore must be caused by the light sensor not working properly with the new iOS upgrade.

This is by no means a permanent fix, still going to Apple Store to show them as soon as I increase brightness to full or turn on auto-brightness, the touchscreen issues begin immediately.

Hope this helps others...

Same experience here. It was almost impossible to get the phone to the brightest setting without it freezing. That made me think it was a power consumption issue. That the software was incompatible with the hardware, and was somehow overloading it. I really have no clue. I'm speculating in hopes that Apple will actually pay attention to this issue. It's as if they're deliberately damaging the older generation products in hopes we will buy into the new ones. This is just bad business.

Replacing the screen with a new digitizer and having all connections blown out with duster and redone seems to have improved the situation. But the problems continue.

Apple, please give us back iOS 7. This is stupid.

Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner, at least for my iPhone 5. Turning off auto brightness seems to improve things. I will do more testing as the center right portion of my screen is still balky, but things are MUCH better.