part of touchscreen isn't working on certain apps???

[Android Central Question]

i have a galaxy tab a, and haven't even had it for more than a year- but already, something is wrong with it.

while the touchscreen seems to be working fine in almost every other app, there are two where a small section on the left won't work; amino, and medibang. this is very bad for me, as the small section on the left that has become unresponsive on those two apps has now rendered my commission work inpossible- i can't send pictures of artwork to clients because the button to do so in amino is within the section, and i cannot change color settings while drawing in medibang (which is where i do ALL my commission work) either. i am currently working with two clients, so i need this fixed asap!

i've already tried resetting the tablet, shutting it down completely and turning it back on again, closing the apps, force stopping both, and none of that has changed anything. i've also checked that both are fully updated so it's not a matter of outdated software-- and no, i have not recently dropped my tablet.

the only thing that's happened to it lately is that i got a small amount of grease (it wasn't hot) on the touchscreen, but i don't believe it was in the dead section, nor did any of it get inside the tablet- i just wiped it off and it continued to work just fine until a couple of hours ago. and i don't think the grease is the problem either because that leaves no explanation for how it only would have affected those two specific apps and nowhere else.

and unfortunately, no, i cannot afford to factory reset this tablet. i would have to start over both of my clients' artworks completely from scratch, not to mention all the personal pieces i'm working on, and i really just can't resort to that.

with all that said, i would very much appreciate some suggestions on how i can fix this!

 

[jameny5]

Do you think you may have laid something heavy on your tablet that may have caused a pressure point in that particular area?(when you use the app) - Do you see any distinguishable damage? I know a friend of mine - Her son tripped on her shoulder bag and fell backwards toward the couch. Unfortunately, Her 75 inch Samsung tv was in the path of him and his Iphone. The impact of the fall and the iPhone crashing into the tv was the demise of it. We looked at the tv and did not see any impact marks or distinguishable damage. Just one upset mama and an unfixable tv.

Could you go to the local library - if it is not on quarantine and try the two apps on a tablet there? Some libraries do let people use a tablet on premises.

It would be a good method to use and see if it is in fact your tablet or an issue with the two apps. If it is your tablet it may need servicing. The bad part is it will you cost money to fix the problem if you don't have insurance for it or Samsung may say it is unfixable or they could be kind and replace it for you. Wish you luck!

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Does the problem persist in Safe Mode? https://www.t-mobile.com/support/de...alaxy-tab-a-80/safe-mode-samsung-galaxy-tab-a

Do you have a screen protector on?

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

 

[crypticrunch]

Do you think you may have laid something heavy on your tablet that may have caused a pressure point in that particular area?(when you use the app) - Do you see any distinguishable damage? I know a friend of mine - Her son tripped on her shoulder bag and fell backwards toward the couch. Unfortunately, Her 75 inch Samsung tv was in the path of him and his Iphone. The impact of the fall and the iPhone crashing into the tv was the demise of it. We looked at the tv and did not see any impact marks or distinguishable damage. Just one upset mama and an unfixable tv.

Could you go to the local library - if it is not on quarantine and try the two apps on a tablet there? Some libraries do let people use a tablet on premises.

It would be a good method to use and see if it is in fact your tablet or an issue with the two apps. If it is your tablet it may need servicing. The bad part is it will you cost money to fix the problem if you don't have insurance for it or Samsung may say it is unfixable or they could be kind and replace it for you. Wish you luck!

heya, question asker here (just made an account)- i don't believe i put any kind of pressure on it, so i doubt that's the answer- and while i would love to use your library solution, the only library where i live doesn't have any tablets on display, so that's kind of a bust too.
thank you for the suggestions though!

 

[crypticrunch]

Welcome to Android Central! Does the problem persist in Safe Mode? https://www.t-mobile.com/support/de...alaxy-tab-a-80/safe-mode-samsung-galaxy-tab-a

Do you have a screen protector on?

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

i tried going on safe mode, but...i'm not very sure how that was supposed to help? the problem was only ever present on those two apps, which are third party apps, meaning i couldn't access them to see if they were back to normal when i used safe mode. i'm also not using a screen protector.

 

[B. Diddy]

Safe Mode temporarily disables any 3rd party apps you installed, so if the problem goes away in Safe Mode, then you know it's because of something you installed. If the problem persists in Safe Mode, then it's either a system or hardware problem.

Sometimes a screen overlay (aka Display Over Other Apps) issue can cause problems with onscreen buttons. If you have a screen-dimming app installed, try uninstalling it. (There are many other apps that can display over other apps, so you can look in Settings>Apps>Special App Access>Display Over Other Apps​ to see what else has that permission.)

 

[crypticrunch]

Safe Mode temporarily disables any 3rd party apps you installed, so if the problem goes away in Safe Mode, then you know it's because of something you installed. If the problem persists in Safe Mode, then it's either a system or hardware problem.

Sometimes a screen overlay (aka Display Over Other Apps) issue can cause problems with onscreen buttons. If you have a screen-dimming app installed, try uninstalling it. (There are many other apps that can display over other apps, so you can look in Settings>Apps>Special App Access>Display Over Other Apps​ to see what else has that permission.)

i understand what safe mode is supposed to do, but in this case it doesn't help since the problem is only present in two third party apps, which can't be accessed in safe mode, so i wouldn't be able to open said apps to check if the problem goes away in safe mode since they're disabled until i go back to normal mode.

as for the second suggestion, i tried that too- disabled it for every app except the only one of the two apps that are having the problem that were on that setting list, and even tried with that one disabled too, but neither of them worked after that.

is there anything else i can do?

 

[B. Diddy]

I see. It might just be a glitch specific to your device -- the best thing to do would be to send feedback to the developers and see if they're aware of it.

Do those apps auto-rotate? If so, does it matter if you're in portrait or landscape? Is it always the left side of the screen (relative to the current orientation) that doesn't respond?

Also, try clearing the app cache/data for those apps in Settings>Apps.

 

[crypticrunch]

I see. It might just be a glitch specific to your device -- the best thing to do would be to send feedback to the developers and see if they're aware of it.

Do those apps auto-rotate? If so, does it matter if you're in portrait or landscape? Is it always the left side of the screen (relative to the current orientation) that doesn't respond?

Also, try clearing the app cache/data for those apps in Settings>Apps.

i keep my device locked in portrait mode at all times- amino auto-rotates to portrait, and medibang works in either mode. it seems to affect the same area on both apps, a bar in the middle of the left edge - about half a centimeter wide, though i don't know how long.

i cleared the cache for both apps, but that didn't seem to do anything- and i don't know if i am able to clear the app data without losing all the art pieces i'm currently working on, so that might not be the safest option.

 

[B. Diddy]

If you have the option to save your art pieces locally to internal storage or to the cloud, then clearing the app data wouldn't affect those files. If you want to be absolutely safe, then save the pieces to an SD card and remove the card before you clear the app data.