Is your iPhone display automatically turning off when you hover or move your finger over the speaker? It’s a common issue and here’s the fix.

Smartphones are smart because of the software running on them. And software, as expected from any piece of code, tends to be buggy sometimes.

Recently, there was one such bug that has plagued the iPhones with the users breaking their heads.

Reports show that many iPhones are randomly turning off the display (aka sleep) when the user places the finger over the phone speaker. And this happens out of nowhere. One moment, you are happily using your phone and everything is fine, no bugs, no issues whatsoever. Then all of sudden, this issue happens.

And there doesn’t seem to be any pattern to this issue. This very same issue seems to happen randomly on all iPhone models and iOS versions. So, there is no explanation as to why this happens but we can certainly take some steps to stop this issue from happening.

Here’s how to fix this.

Restart your iPhone

Like most issues with most gadgets, this is the first thing you should try. It may be a cliched answer but it works. And that is why this recommendation comes first when you ask for tech support whenever there is a bug on your iPhone or any other electronic device: Have you tried turning it off and on?

For many iPhone users, restarting their iPhone seems to have fixed this issue. After all, this may be a random bug that has happened and a restart should send it away.

Check the proximity sensor

There is a sensor called ‘proximity sensor’ placed near your phone’s earpiece (some people prefer the word phone speaker?!). And the job of this sensor is to detect objects that come near to it without actually touching it.

And this is the same sensor that is responsible for turning off your iPhone display when you place the phone on your ears during a phone call.

So, I think, there is a good chance that this sensor might have something to do with your device behaving badly.

• See if there is anything blocking the proximity sensor on your device.
• Look for any dirt or smudge near the proximity sensor and clean it.
• Make sure your phone cover or case is not blocking the sensor (if you are using one).

Update your iPhone

If there’s one thing that I love about Apple, it is their consistency with updates. Even 5-year-old devices get updates all the time, both major and minor.

Most people generally don’t care much about updates and don’t update their phone. But I highly recommend keeping the phone updated.

Apart from bringing new features and security fixes, almost all the updates quash a lot of bugs, both known and unknown. Most of the time, the update changelog doesn’t say much but trust me, updates do a lot more good than bad. Remember the old ‘Apple slows down iPhone with updates’ discussion? forget it and update!

Erase your iPhone

The issue still won’t go away? Sheesh. Time to take things to the next level. Time to this bug who’s the boss.

Alright, take a complete backup of your iPhone by connecting it to your Mac or PC. Make sure all your media such as videos and photos are fully backed up.

Next, it’s time to completely reset your iPhone.

1. Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone.
2. Click on Erase All Content and Settings.
3. You will be asked to enter your passcode (if you have one), go ahead and do it.
4. Wait for the iPhone to erase everything: all your content and settings.
5. When your iPhone restarts, it will be like the day you bought it.
6. Go ahead and connect your iPhone to your Mac or PC and proceed to restore from your back up (if that’s what you prefer; you can also set it up as new iPhone if you don’t want to take any chances).

Get help from Apple

If you have come this far (which I hope not), then you have sadly run out of options. There’s really nothing much we can do at this point.

It’s time to get your iPhone checked by a professional. Pay a visit to your nearest Apple store and explain the problem. They should be able to help.