Screen ALWAYS goes black when on call. How do I keep on?

[AC Question]

My Samsung Galaxy Alpha (Lollipop 5.0.2) screen always goes black during a call. I often have conference calls with the speaker on, I rarely actually hold the phone up to my ear. When the call starts, the screen almost immediately goes dark and I have to tap it every couple of seconds to keep it on. I like to use my phone frequently when on calls and like to see the time, notification bar etc. without having to tap every couple seconds. I wouldn't care about this if I weren't on work calls for 6 hours out of every day.

I've tried apps with no luck (the best was 'Screen On' but it doesn't work for this purpose). My phone isn't rooted but debating looking into rooting if it can fix this error.

My settings do not give the option to 'turn off proximity sensor' so I am stuck with this issue. Short of just buying a new phone, does anyone have any ideas on how to fix this?

Thanks!

 

[GRIMWALD]

If you haven't done this already, remove any screen protector that you have in place and increase your screen brightness to max.
It may also be an issue with your light sensor (which can be tested for with the codes above) and not your proximity sensor.

GRIM

 

[can83]

No screen protector or case on my phone. I just tried the light sensor and it seems to be working (it says 1 or 0, changes when I cover the sensor every time).

The screen timeout is at 10 minutes. On a call, the screen still dims after 2 seconds but only goes fully dark at 20 seconds. Still making progress

 

[GRIMWALD]

My phone is on MM so I can't check but there used to be an option on older OS's in the phone app. settings, something to the effect of "Always keep on during a call". Have you played with the phone settings directly from the app. settings?

GRIM

 

[can83]

I've looked at every possible setting - it seems the 'keep phone on' and 'proximity sensor' settings were all removed in the lollipop 5 update. Maybe I should roll back my OS?

 

[GRIMWALD]

If it is a hardware issue, going back won't help and device security would not be a fun time.
If it is a software issue, it "Should" be fixable.
Custom Rom's, I wouldn't recommend, mostly because I don't trust them.
Maybe it is time to upgrade. The new Samsung Note looks good but I wouldn't want to be the test monkey with the Iris scanner on a work phone.
My Note 5 works as advertised and have no issues at all. I thought I would miss it not having MHL feature but I don't seem to miss it.
Good luck, I am out of ideas but I will keep an eye out for any one having similar complaints that has found a solution.

GRIM

 

[can83]

Thanks for your help. Appreciate it!

 

[B. Diddy]

Do you have any other 3rd party battery-saver apps installed, like DU Battery Saver?

 

[GRIMWALD]

I had an interesting conversation today with a buddy who had an S5 with the same issue you are having. He found that if he plugged his headphones in during the call and then removed them a few seconds later, the screen stayed on. Samsung had to replace the device for him, So your device may also need to be replaced.

GRIM