Help needed: back and home buttons not functioning

[AC Question]

Hi all,

I have an Android phone (Sony Z3 Compact, Android version 6.0.1), and I'm encountering a problem that is becoming very annoying. My home and back buttons at the bottom of the screen are not working anymore. As a workaround, I'm using Back Button, but whenever I want to grant permissions to new apps I get the screen overlay problem: I have to go to Settings, disable screen overlay, restart the phone, apply permissions to the new app, restart again, and enable screen overlay again. To solve the problem I've tried updating the phone, resetting the phone via Xperia Companion (standard support software from Sony) and resetting the phone via the phone itself (in the latter two cases loosing all my data), but nothing works.

Does anyone know how to permanently fix this problem? All help is much appreciated.

Thank you in advance, best,

Glenn

Note: I have also tried the solution with Nova Launcher ("reconfigure" phone via Setup Wizard, and select Google Now Launcher as default program)

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! The onscreen Home and Back buttons aren't working? Does the touchscreen respond to anything at all in that area? If not, then it's presumably a problem with your touchscreen. Maybe try Handy Soft Keys.

Also, does this still happen in Safe Mode? How do I enable and exit safe mode? – Sony Xperia™ Z3 Compact support (English)

 

[GlnnWtrs]

Hi B. Diddy,

Thank you for your quick reply. I tried booting in Safe Mode. Problem also happens there unfortunately. As for Handy Soft Keys, I downloaded it and it seems pretty comparable to Back Button. Probably the problem is indeed the result of hardware failure; I got a screen replacement just over a month ago. I'll check in with those guys to see if they can help me along.

Thanks

 

[Danyal_ahad]

It is probably because the screen isn't in the right place. Take it to a repair shop. They will probably be able to fix it. Hope they do.

 

[GlnnWtrs]

Thanks Danyal, I'll indeed have it checked asap. Cheers