iPhone 4 Proximity Sensor Has A Problem With Your Dirty Shiny Ears
There is a second, less publicized issue plaguing the iPhone 4 besides its antenna; proximity sensor bugs. Some users are reporting their iPhone 4's screen randomly turns on while on a call. On-screen buttons would then be triggered by their face (aka the cheek-touch) or ears. As you can imagine, it's quite inconvenient, and it's particularly hard for many people to reproduce the problem.
TUAW's Aron Trimble decided to take the bull by the horns and took the problem to his local Apple Store's geniuses. The explanation he received was most intriguing:
Apparently, the re-location of the proximity sensor in iPhone 4 causes the sensor to be more likely to be triggered by light "bouncing around the ear canal."
As weird as it sounds, it does sound like a legitimate explanation. Officially, the solution is to try placing calls in a darker environment so light won't bounce off your Spock-like ears into the light sensor. As for my unofficial advice: improve your aural hygiene. Or maybe letting it get worse would block the light better?
What do you think?
