Phantom Touches on new Motorola G4

[garak0410]

I purchased my wife a Moto G (4th Gen.) Unlocked - White - 32GB from Amazon. She loves it but has reported to me that it goes haywire once in a while. I was finally with her when it happened and it looked like fast, phantom touches. Should I exchange it or is there a fix for this?

 

[srkmagnus]

I purchased my wife a Moto G (4th Gen.) Unlocked - White - 32GB from Amazon. She loves it but has reported to me that it goes haywire once in a while. I was finally with her when it happened and it looked like fast, phantom touches. Should I exchange it or is there a fix for this?

I would suggest clearing the cache partition. Follow the instructions provided on this page to clear the cache from recovery: https://motorola-global-portal.cust...er_detail/a_id/111301/p/30,6720,9686/kw/cache

If that doesn't work then consider contacting Amazon for a replacement.

 

[garak0410]

I would suggest clearing the cache partition. Follow the instructions provided on this page to clear the cache from recovery: https://motorola-global-portal.cust...er_detail/a_id/111301/p/30,6720,9686/kw/cache

If that doesn't work then consider contacting Amazon for a replacement.

I'll give it a try...thanks...

 

[cupofcloud]

Does she have the phantom touch issue only when she's connected to the charger? or does it happen regardless to whether the phone is charging or not?

 

[garak0410]

Does she have the phantom touch issue only when she's connected to the charger? or does it happen regardless to whether the phone is charging or not?

No, only when it is not charging...she just let me know it happened again...like berserk phone tapping hear the top by the notification slider for 5-15 seconds and then stops.

 

[garak0410]

No, only when it is not charging...she just let me know it happened again...like berserk phone tapping hear the top by the notification slider for 5-15 seconds and then stops.

We are going to replace it...Amazon makes it easy...hope it was a fluke because she liked this phone...

 

[cupofcloud]

yeah I just ask because my moto g3 had the ghost touch issue but I (and a few others I've seen report online) would only experience it while it was plugged into the charger. Disappointing, but I just dealt with it because I really love the phone and it didn't do it that often enough to drive me crazy.

I think I may have noticed the ghost touch on my g4 plus too but again I figured it was because my phone was plugged in and it seems to happen less than the g3.

I hope she gets a good one for a replacement. It's a shame because the ghost touch is not an uncommon issue, but there's also plenty of g4s that don't experience this. Guess it has to be luck of the draw with moto g's anymore

 

[garak0410]

yeah I just ask because my moto g3 had the ghost touch issue but I (and a few others I've seen report online) would only experience it while it was plugged into the charger. Disappointing, but I just dealt with it because I really love the phone and it didn't do it that often enough to drive me crazy.

I think I may have noticed the ghost touch on my g4 plus too but again I figured it was because my phone was plugged in and it seems to happen less than the g3.

I hope she gets a good one for a replacement. It's a shame because the ghost touch is not an uncommon issue, but there's also plenty of g4s that don't experience this. Guess it has to be luck of the draw with moto g's anymore

Got the new one this weekend...the next day, phantom touches...so we took the nice but cheap case off of it...no phantom touches...so good guess it is the case...

 

[frank-barnett]

I've just reset my cache, took a case off and a screen cover off - trying to see if that helps. Really truly annoying.

 

[frank-barnett]

I had to hard reset the device back to factory. There must have been an issue with an app or setting, because it started up again when I tried to restore everything.

Now, with a reset and fewer apps installed, much better. Maybe a light issue of phantom/ghost touches - but nothing obvious.

 

[jrthomp3]

I've had my Moto G4 from Amazon for almost 6 months. About 3 months ago I began experiencing random ghost touches, always after touching the power button to turn screen back on. These gradually increased in frequency and severity. Lately they would occur on 2/3 to 3/4 of my attempts to use the phone. The only thing I could seem to do was to repeatedly power the screen on and off until it stopped. It's been driving me nuts!

Of course I'd tried rebooting the phone, then tried clearing the cache partition, to no avail.

Today I saw in another forum what seemed to be a ridiculously simple solution: turning down the display brightness. I normally had been running it at 100%. I turned down the display brightness to 40-60% and the ghost touches became much less frequent. I then turned the display brightness to 30%, and the random ghost touches have completely stopped!

So glad to be able to use this great phone again!

Obviously there must be some hardware issue here that Motorola should solve at a production-quality level, but this is a simple workaround that is enabling me to use my phone without having the hassle of returning it to Amazon for a new one.

 

[Inundated]

I am surprised by the number of reports of phantom/ghost touches on the G4 series. I have not experienced it (so far) on my G4 Play.

But this post has me wondering. I rarely have my brightness above 30%. Maybe THAT'S why I don't see the problem?

 

[frankenhooker]

I've had mine since launch and like the above poster, I never have my brightness above 30%. So far I haven't experienced a single incident of 'ghost touch'.

 

[Moose26]

Bought my unlocked G4 from BestBuy (Jan 4 2017). Three weeks later The Ghost appeared. Tried every "fix" from the internet. Most stable was no apps but still jumpy. Was after Bestbuys 14 day return for new unlocked no contract phone. Contacted Motorola and they did a replacement took less than a week. Moto paid postage both ways. Two weeks later with all apps loaded and still stable knock on wood.

 

[MG90230]

Got my unlocked Moto G4 as one of a pair (one for wife, one for me) at Costco in November, 2016. This ghost stuff started happening to me a month or so ago. This is not happening on my wife's phone, though I do load & use lots more apps than she does. My "fix:" Turn off/back on and it goes away for a while. Might try that return that Moose 26 tried. (It's got a 1 year warranty, right? )

 

[Moose26]

https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/mcp/service

No hassle, they know they created a few bad units.

 

[ben55124]

Thanks - followed Moose26's link. Mentioned phantom touches in the explanation. They gave me a fedex label to send it back. 1 week later, replacement Moto G4.

Of course I already used this issue as an excuse to upgrade to a G5, but now my kid gets a new hand-me-down G4.

 

[robynhode]

The ghost touch problem cannot be solved by cleaning your cache or doing a factory reset. The best solution is to not use the Turbo Charger and to set your display to Adaptive Brightness. This will keep you phone cooler. You may occasionally still suffer from ghost touches, but it will be a rare occurrence.

 

[robynhode]

Saw it too. But if it's a hot day or you are in your car where it is warm, the phantom touch will act up again. You can to replace it.

 

[robynhode]

You can have your brightness on low, but if it's a warm day or you are in your car and its hot, the phone will start acting up again. Despite the brightness setting. The only real solution is to exchange it. I'm wondering if other Motorola models have the same problem.