iPhone 4: The Proximity Sensor Problem
by Joe White
July 8, 2010
"Since my very first call on my iPhone 4, I’ve been having issues with the proximity sensor apparently not functioning properly, resulting in inadvertently switching my call to speaker and mute from my face touching the screen and noticing that the screen was still illuminated. What's the deal?"The proximity sensor works by detecting when your cheek is close to the phone, and then promptly switches off the phone's screen, preventing accidental button touches. However, when this doesn't go according to plan, annoying things happen. Some owners, like Jeff, have experienced the issue while on a call - and others have failed to regain control of the phone after finishing a call. The screen simply hasn't switched back on. So, what kind of solutions are available? Well, one Apple support thread recommends jumping into Settings, then going to General > Reset > All Settings. This won't erase your apps, but will just reset all of the settings on your iPhone 4. Brian Partridge, another afflicted iPhone 4 owner, stated on his Twitter account that simply resetting network settings fixed the issue (Reset > Reset Network Settings). Another possible solution offered by the guys at Macworld centers around doing either a soft or hard reboot. A soft reboot simply involves powering off the phone and turning it back on. A hard reboot can be achieved by holding down the power and home buttons until the screen goes dark. This is a fix for a variety of problems, and one I used to use rather often with my tired, old iPhone 3G. Yet a further possibility could simply be the dirty, shiny ears of Apple fanboys and girls around the world, which you can learn more about here. So far, most everyone is hoping that this is simply a software bug - and one that will be fixed with Apple's upcoming iOS 4.0.1 update, which is due to be released within a couple of weeks. In the meantime, let us know how your iPhone 4's proximity sensor is doing in the comments box below!
