Why is iPhone XS shutter button only working erratically?

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Level 1

24 points

Why is iPhone XS shutter button only working erratically?

My wife has new XS as I do. Mine is 100% fine, her camera is a nightmare. Problem is that pressing the shutter button to take a photo only works erratically. Sometimes it will take the photo. Sometimes it will not. Sometimes you can press the shutter 4 or 5 times and nothing happens. You move the phone or turn camera off and back on and it works. Other times it just works and takes the photo. There is no rhyme nor reason to when it will work or not work. Can anyone help? Is this a settings issue or is there a fault with this phone? Ta for any help.

OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Nov 23, 2018 11:53 PM

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Answer 1

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Nov 26, 2018 6:24 AM in response to philipfromsa

Hi philipfromsa,

Thanks for following up with that information. We appreciate it. If the issue persists after restoring the backup, you might next try restoring and setting it up as new. This would be the best way to isolate this issue and determine what's causing the unresponsive display. If you need the steps for the process, you'll find them below:

How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings

When you complete the restore, be sure to set it up as a new device and test it a bit to see if the same issue occurs.

Take care.

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Answer 2

philipfromsa Author

Level 1

24 points

Nov 25, 2018 4:40 PM in response to philipfromsa

Hi. Re ‘responsiveness’ question, Hil says YES. Happens a lot but not always at exact same place as the white shutter button. Eg she will tap a hyperlink or ‘back to Facebook’ Link button or whatever and these won’t work so she often closes and reopens the app to get it working again.

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Answer 3

brenden dv

Community Specialist

Nov 25, 2018 3:30 PM in response to philipfromsa

Hi philipfromsa,

Thank you for posting in the Apple Support Communities. I understand you're seeing a camera issue on an iPhone XS.

First, to clarify one point; when you say you're using the shutter button, are you referring to the onscreen shutter button in the camera app, or are you using the Volume buttons to take the photo? Do you get the same result with both?

If you're using the onscreen button, do you ever see responsiveness issues in the same portion of the screen when using other apps? If you use the Volume buttons, do you find they respond as expected outside of the Camera app?

Depending on the answers to the above, there are some great steps here that may help If the camera on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch isn't working :

Remove any case, film, or attachment

A case or film might block the camera or flash and affect performance. A metallic or magnetic case or camera attachment might interfere with optical stabilization. Test the camera without any of these to find out if they're causing the issue.

If you still have issues with the focus on your camera, contact Apple Support.

Restart and test with different apps

If you see a closed lens or black screen when you open the Camera app, restart your device. Then test your camera using the Camera app and and another app that uses the camera.

If your device has a front and rear camera, check to see if only one or both aren't responding. To switch cameras, tap the button in the bottom-right corner of the screen.*

I hope this helps you get started.

Kind regards.

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Answer 4

philipfromsa Author

Level 1

24 points

Nov 25, 2018 4:36 PM in response to brenden dv

Hi Brendan. Thanks for reply. Appreciated. Was online with apple support and they got me to backup the phone and then restore from the backup. Not sure that it has worked though. Re case, Hil’s phone has no case at all so won’t be that. Yes, it is the big white camera shutter button. (We never use the volume buttons at all for pics). One or twice the yellow ‘AE Lock’ message came up but not sure if that was an issue.

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Why is iPhone XS shutter button only working erratically?

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