[Keithmufc92]

Hi everybody this symbol appears on my phone at random times and when I click it I can do nothing close any apps or turn off the device other than killing the power to the hand set, have I been hacked and need to do a fresh install or is this something people know what it is called and can help me remove it, those phone so called antiviruses dont have a clue about it, thanks in advance, keith, send me a message cant post links yet for photo

[nahoku]

There have been a rash of reports all over the web, and tons on this very forum, of this certain icon appearing on the home screen. It looks like a remote control. The culprit is a Peel remote control update for the IR Blaster. Pressing the icon locks up the phone requiring a restart.

What kind of phone do you have? Does it have an IR Blaster remote control? If it's the Peel problem, then you need to disable the widget in the remote control settings.

[Al Burgie]

Just saw this icon as I was rebooting the phone. Now the screen is locked. I can't swipe to unlock, when I press the power button the restart menu comes up but the screen ignores all attempts to to use it. What now?

[Javier P]

Just saw this icon as I was rebooting the phone. Now the screen is locked. I can't swipe to unlock, when I press the power button the restart menu comes up but the screen ignores all attempts to to use it. What now?

What device do you have? Just in case take a look at this thread and see if the instructions for the M9 work for you.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/sho...d.php?t=641059

[Al Burgie]

Mine is a Galaxy S5. The Power-Volume Up reboot method doesn't work.

[Javier P]

Have you tried with Power and Volume down? And a battery pull?

[Al Burgie]

Every button combination was tried and failed. Interesting, I could pull down the notifications but the main part of the screen was still nonresponsive. Finally pulled the battery, which solved the problem. Other forums have mentioned the Peel Smart Remote as the source of many problems. I've never used it but now will definitely steer clear of it. Thanks for your help.

[Javier P]

Glad you managed to fix it and thanks for the follow up! Yeah, the problem is related to the Peel remote app. It's used to control the IR blaster, so if you don't use this feature maybe the best thing is keeping the app disabled.

[nahoku]

A little late but the way you turn off the phone when it's non-responsive is to continually hold the power button. The phone will eventually shut off. A subsequent restart may require you to hold the power button longer than normal to turn the phone on.