Automatic selection of options at top of screen

[AC Question]

On occasion, my phone will automatically select whatever happens to be at the top of my screen. This could be automatically opening whatever app has its icon in the most top left position, or turning a WiFi on/off if the top menu is pulled down. If an app is already open, it won't respond to touch, and on returning to the home screen, the app icon in the top left-most position will be highlighted.
Some times this is so persistent (keeps on selecting / opening things) that my phone is unusable. A restart doesn't fix it.
For some reason, it's only persistent in the morning on my commute, but not in the evening when I use the phone equally.
I'm on a Moto G5 with Android 7.0.
Any thoughts would be awesome!
Thanks!

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Any screen protector or case on the phone? Or is the phone in a cradle or bracket while you're commuting?

 

[Kronq]

Welcome to Android Central! Any screen protector or case on the phone? Or is the phone in a cradle or bracket while you're commuting?

h

Hi, thanks for your thoughts!
No screen protector, case, holder etc.
My first thought was a problem with Nova launcher, but the same thing happened with the native home launcher.
Cheers!

P.S. I'm OP, just had to make a username

 

[anon(123856)]

h

Hi, thanks for your thoughts!
No screen protector, case, holder etc.
My first thought was a problem with Nova launcher, but the same thing happened with the native home launcher.
Cheers!

P.S. I'm OP, just had to make a username

I would try wiping the cache partition as that is easy and you shouldn't lose any data.

If that doesn't work maybe a hard reset? You would need to back everything up before going that route.

I had to hard reset my G5 Plus due to a weird display issue. The reset seems to have fixed it.

 

[B. Diddy]

I agree with wiping the cache partition -- always a reasonable thing to try.

Also, since you have Nova Launcher installed, set it so that the homescreens can auto-rotate depending on orientation. The see if it's still the top left icon that gets highlighted, regardless of orientation.

Thanks for registering -- when you get a chance, head over to the Introductions forum and tell us something about yourself! http://forums.androidcentral.com/introductions/

 

[Javier P]

h

Hi, thanks for your thoughts!
No screen protector, case, holder etc.
My first thought was a problem with Nova launcher, but the same thing happened with the native home launcher.
Cheers!

P.S. I'm OP, just had to make a username

Welcome to the forums. You could also try another thing. Some users reported similar ghost touches when screen brightness was close to 100%. How is it yours? Do you have adaptive brightness enabled?

 

[Kronq]

Welcome to the forums. You could also try another thing. Some users reported similar ghost touches when screen brightness was close to 100%. How is it yours? Do you have adaptive brightness enabled?

Hey, thanks for your reply

Ghost touches! A useful phrase, thanks. Screen brightness is at around 50%.

Haven't experienced it today so far (fingers crossed)

Cheers

 

[Javier P]

Ghost touches! A useful phrase, thanks. Screen brightness is at around 50%.

Haha. Yeah, there are several reports of this 'ghost touch' issue, specially for the Moto G4 models. The usual solutions are:

- Remove any case and screen protector.
- Decrease screen brightness.
- Enable adaptive brightness.
- Stop using the turbo charger.
- Hardware problem > replacement.