iOS 4.1 Beta 2 dropped last night, and we immediately wanted to know if it fixed the proximity sensor issue, which is a major complaint with iPhone 4. So, has it fixed the issue? Answers are muddled.
On the yes side: Cult of Mac, 9 to 5 Mac, Gizmodo
The nays: MacRumors, Commenter KrakaJap
Which is it? We’re not really sure. The problem, is that this is a relatively subjective issue, that doesn’t hit everyone all the time. Yes, it’s definitely a problem, but you can go a couple of days without hitting the sensor wrong, and then hang up on someone five times over the course of the day. Is the proximity sensor really fixed? Or is this the placebo effect? Weigh in on the comments section!
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No its def a problem. I have several friends debating taking their phone back for a refund, and switching back to iphone 3gs
It still seems a bit touchy to me. I don’t hang up on calls or hit other buttons by accident but I can definitely see that the screen flickers on/off on occasion still. Both 9to5 and CoM carefully use the word “seems”. Giz pretty much says definitely (one of the reasons I don’t go there anymore). I think iOS beta is still a little too unpredictable to get any definitive answers. But the placebo effect is definitely a possibility. People are being overly careful as of late with the iPhone 4… perhaps they’re making sure to hold it as close to their ear as possible?
I’m considering reinstalling iOS4.1b2 just in case something went wrong the first time. A flickering screen is rather annoying (of course not as annoying as hanging up on someone by accident).
Does anyone know the specifics on how the sensor actually works? One thought I had was adjusting the brightness of the screen. Perhaps illuminating your ear brightly makes the sensor more sensitive? :/ If that makes any sense at all.
For my particular phone this has been a pretty big issue. I’ve counted myself lucky to have seemingly missed the reception bug, but I’m frequently muting or hanging up. The only good news is that it really only happens consistently when using the shoulder hold – not something I do all that often. The other occasional issue is using the phone with my buds or Bluetooth with it in my pocket. That’s not even an option anymore! Sort of defeats the purpose :-/
My prox sensor is touchy all the time. Either I have to hold it tight against my face and not move, or I have to use the wired headset. People tell my my bluetooth headset sounds terrible. I love this phone, but I sure hope they fix this!
It happened to me once when I first got the phone (though I just noticed the screen wasn’t off, didn’t hit any buttons). Hasn’t happened since then and I’ve never accidentally hung up/muted/anything else. I talk on average 40-60 minutes a day under various conditions/holding the phone. Maybe I’m one of the lucky ones?!
I have absolutely no issues with my proximity sensor. My only issue with the iPhone 4 is that when it switches gsm frequencies it loses service for a minute before picking it back up, my 3GS had the same problem after updating to ios4. Does anyone else have this problem? Is this problem being addressed?
I have 4.1 Beta 2. It does NOT fix the sensor issue.
Drop dead turtleneck
Anyone running Beta 3 with Prox problem?
I just installed 4.1 beta 3 a few hours ago.. I was excited for about 10 minutes that the issue was fixed. but then the screen came on and started to facetime chat the other caller.
So far, it is no different then ios4.0.
I have noticed on all versions of 4.0 that if you have 2 exchange emails/cal/contacts setup it makes the problems alot worse.