Home button advice needed

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Yarik11

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Hi guys, need your advice on something:

I've had my iPhone 4 for about 7 months now. Right from the start I noticed that the home button does not always respond as it should. I.e. sometimes it would not register a press and I would have to press again and at other times it would register a single click as a double click and bring up the multi-tasking menu.

However, I was not too bothered by it, as it would do it maybe once or twice a week.

Recently it got worse and now it does it 2-3 times a day. What I also noticed it always works if I press the button firmly in the centre. But if I casually/lightly press it, it does not always register.

My friend had a similar problem, but much worse - his button only worked 50% of the time. He took it to Vodacom, they took 3 weeks to get him a refurbished unit, which randomly closes apps and crashes half the time.

So I don't really want to lose my phone for so long and risk getting an even worse one.

I could bring it to one of the many shops to fix it (my friend enquired and they said it would be between R500-800). Do you know of a reliable one in JHB/PTA?

I was also thinking of jailbreaking and enabling multi-touch gestures, which would eliminate the use of the home button.

What do you think is my best option?
 
Just something to consider - get it "fixed" by third parties and your warranty will be void as it requires opening up the front of the phone. As soon as you open up more than the back cover, your warranty is void - there is a warranty void sticker which they can tell if it has been removed.

I think your best option would be to try and clean out the back of the home button with some compressed air - perhaps something / dirt has gotten behind it causing it to be unresponsive. And if you're lucky the compressed air might dislodge it.

You could also jailbreak and give MTGestures (from Cydia) a try.
 
I was having a few issues with my home button so I activated gestures by following the instructions found here - http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2...re-controls-on-your-ipad-with-free-xcode-3-d/

AFAIK you do need to be running a mac to use xcode (which is included on your installation disks if you are).
fxit_man said:
You could also jailbreak and give MTGestures (from Cydia) a try. You can also enable that without jailbreaking though - http://iphoneza.co.za/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=218&p=2176 Same logic applies to the iPhone and iPad.
Click to expand...
Nice bit of unattributed copy/paste there ;)
 
bwana said:
Nice bit of unattributed copy/paste there ;)
Click to expand...

You can tell as much. Can't account for users not referencing though ;)

bwana said:
AFAIK you do need to be running a mac to use xcode (which is included on your installation disks if you are). Nice bit of unattributed copy/paste there ;)
Click to expand...

It is possible on Windows. A bit more finnicky though.
http://www.everythingicafe.com/foru...es-on-windows-no-jailbreak-request-89576.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uktPleZ8O8Q
 
I had a similar problem, turned out to be the button inside. It has shifted from the middle. My phone was out of warrenty, so I fixed it myself. Quite easy.
 
fxit_man said:
Just something to consider - get it "fixed" by third parties and your warranty will be void as it requires opening up the front of the phone. As soon as you open up more than the back cover, your warranty is void - there is a warranty void sticker which they can tell if it has been removed.

I think your best option would be to try and clean out the back of the home button with some compressed air - perhaps something / dirt has gotten behind it causing it to be unresponsive. And if you're lucky the compressed air might dislodge it.

You could also jailbreak and give MTGestures (from Cydia) a try. You can also enable that without jailbreaking though - http://iphoneza.co.za/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=218&p=2176 Same logic applies to the iPhone and iPad.
Click to expand...

Very good advice - thank you!

Yes, since my phone is still under warranty I am not going to take it to a third party.

I think that I will try to do the trick with using xcode on windows (although it does look a bit tricky), and if that doesn't work I'll jailbreak it.

But I'm also keen to try the compressed air solution. Where can I get a can of compressed air and where should I blow it? In the charging dock?

I tried to press the button it and then clean the sides with an earbud, but that didn't seem to do anything.
 
Hmm yeah earbuds are bit thick and you might end up making it worse if bits of cotton come off and get stuck behind it..

I would suggest trying a similar technique though ;holding the home button in one corner, and blowing the compressed air in the opposite raised side. And rotating and repeating around the home button. You can also try wiggling the button and spraying to try dislodge anything. toThe dock connector is seperated to the home button so that wouldn't do much. Worth a shot..just be careful not to make it worse.

You can get compressed air from Makro, Incredible etc, but be warned it's not that cheap.. More than R100 a can from when I bought at those two stores.

:)
 
fxit_man said:
Hmm yeah earbuds are bit thick and you might end up making it worse if bits of cotton come off and get stuck behind it..

I would suggest trying a similar technique though ;holding the home button in one corner, and blowing the compressed air in the opposite raised side. And rotating and repeating around the home button. You can also try wiggling the button and spraying to try dislodge anything. toThe dock connector is seperated to the home button so that wouldn't do much. Worth a shot..just be careful not to make it worse.

You can get compressed air from Makro, Incredible etc, but be warned it's not that cheap.. More than R100 a can from when I bought at those two stores.

:)
Click to expand...

Thanks fxit_man! :D

Will try all the tricks and let you know how it goes!
 
So what you're saying is it only has one button and they couldn't even get that right?
 
OomD said:
No the same logic does not apply. This trick only works on iPads, not on iPhones. To do it on an iPhone you would have to jailbreak it and install MTGestures.
Click to expand...

So there is currently no solution (on Windows) to enable multi-touch on an iPhone 4, except to jailbreak it?
 
fxit_man said:
No there is. Check the links I posted. I can't confirm, but worth a shot.

He was referring to the XCode method which seems to only work for iPad.
Click to expand...

Ok, cool. Already checked the links you posted - will try at home tonight
 
fxit_man said:
No there is. Check the links I posted. I can't confirm, but worth a shot.

He was referring to the XCode method which seems to only work for iPad.
Click to expand...

Let me clarify: The XCode method allows you to enable the multi-touch gestures without jailbreaking your device. This only works on iPad.

For the iPhone, if you want to enable the multi-touch gestures you will have to jailbreak it and install a different utility that gives you access to the gestures.
 
Some extra info: The multi-touch gestures are targetted at the iPad only, that is why it is not part of the iPhone build of the OS. The reason is quite simple, I think. Have you tried touching 5 fingers on your iPhone simultanuously, and then performing some or other gesture with it (like pinching all the fingers together)? It's a bit impratical on such a small screen, therefor this functionality is only targetted at the iPad.

Nothing, off course, stops 3rd party developers on the jailbroken environment from implementing their own gestures and ways of doing things, and that is why such things (however impractical it is) are available. Just not from Apple themselves. They would not introduce functionality on their prized product that impairs it.

Hope this helps :)
 
Hi guys,

Just wanted to confirm that the windows method does not work on the iPhone 4.

I successfully went though the process, but do not have multi-touch gestures enabled
 
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