Touchscreen unresponsive multiple times (Samsung S6)

[AC Question]

I recently bought a Samsung S6 (not the Edge version) from T-Mobile. Twice in the first two weeks the screen became unresponsive during an activity.

The first was when I received a call. The buttons on the screen were not reacting to anything. I tried swiping to answer the call first, and then tried to swipe to end it. I tried several times for both and neither responded and eventually the call went to voicemail.

The second time was this AM when I was using my alarm clock app, Timely. The snooze worked the first time around, but on the second time around (9 min later) the screen did not respond to touch. Since the alarm was going off I had to force a reboot. Once the phone booted back up of course the alarm was still going off, but the screen responded.

Anyone else have this problem? I assume it is a software/firmware glitch, but just curious what others think.

TLDR: Screen sometimes doesn't respond to touch during "alert" type events.

Thanks!

 

[Not_Fog]

I've had my S6 for 2 weeks, and an unresponsive touch screen is a common occurrence. I haven't had it as bad as you where it completely freezes, but often times I will have to touch an icon/keyboard/drawer 5 or 6 times before it responds. I have a Bodyguardz Screenguardz screen protector on it, and was wondering if that is the issue? I had a bodyguardz protector on my iphone before the S6 and never had any issues. Anyone have thoughts?

 

[James Mittag]

I've had the same issue, where the phone becomes completely unresponsive between 1 and 10 (yes! 10!) Seconds. During that time the volume buttons work, and sometimes turning it off will make it come o its senses.

I'm coming from an iphone 5 and am kinda bummed out that this newer phone feels so much slower at times.

 

[Gustavo Carbo]

same issue its totally Random when typing its totally Random sometimes the Keys wont register and I dont know why. Sometimes its more frequent and Sometimes it dissappear. Its freaking pissing me off as I want to know if it is hardware related or not. I have performed factory reset and After a time the problem appears again. I do the touch test and all the screen paints without problem so it shouldnt be a faulty screen. Help!!!

 

[Caresse Norris]

I'm having a similar issue with the S6, more specifically my touchscreen has been unresponsive for several HOURS! This phone isn't even two weeks old, nor has it been dropped or damaged. I'm SOOOOOO frustrated with this...I've done the stupid reboots, though I have not done the factory version as this phone is so new that I haven't had the chance to back my files up yet. Has anyone had any lucky with trying to "diy" fix this issue? I really don't feel like trekking all the way back to the stupid Verizon Store. I'm REALLY disappointed with this product.

 

[IvoDimitrov]

Same problem with mine s6 edge the screen isnt working for days/hours some times and some times its working but still a little bit strange its pissing me off so much.... Ive done a factory reset with data wiping and still doing what it wants and when it wants.Can this be a software prob or something is wrong with the touchscreen it self please if anybody have managed to fix it tell us how

 

[obsidianduck]

Same exact problem. My S6 had some other issues and T-Mobile had me return it and they sent me a new one last week. Within the first few hours I noticed the screen sensitivity was sometimes off-- I'd have to touch letters multiple times when sending a text, sometimes 5-6 taps per letter. Since then, it's gotten much worse and I can't navigate the phone. My phone is amazing for a couple hours out of the day. The rest of the time it's nearly un-useable and I'm extremely upset, especially given the cost of this thing.

 

[richiesees]

I have the S6 Edge (regular, not plus) myself and am with T-mobile, similar issues - unresponsive screen touches and acting rather slow. I've made SOME improvements and tweaks, as well as seeing their updates and this is what I can add to the conversation so far:

1) Switch from touchwiz to a better launcher like Buzz Launcher. I had seen a lot of reports from people saying that touchwiz seems to be a culprit, but I am unsure to what degree it may be. Buzz Launcher even has 1 to make it look like an Apple (if you really want to), but there are tons of themes or you can make your own. Test any launcher you want though I'd say.

2) Monitor your battery and cpu - download a program if you need to, but Samsung does come with a "smart manager" you can use. The function "clean all" will help to wipe some of what may be bogging down the phone, but you may also individually click the symbols. The battery and ram are probably the ones you want to pay attention to though to see if anything is using them inappropriately. This leads to the 3rd thing..

3) Refresh / notifications and phone wakes. I would suggest getting a dedicated program to check this (I used to have one), but I've learned what to disable if I really want to. Facebook does a TON of notifications - go into settings in your app under "App Settings" > notifications to change them. Also go into Account settings > Notifications > Mobile (or check the others as well). The Weather app for Samsung is another culprit in this area. Go to your phone's settings > Applications > Weather then change the auto refresh. I like to use 1-weather with a longer refresh and better widgets.

4) Do NOT use an S Voice wake-up. This will definitely give slowed results and your phone will constantly keep listening for you to use your special word or phrase. Once again go to your phone's settings > Applications > S Voice and turn your Voice wake-up to "off" unless you're just showing it off. You can always click on the button on one of your screens anyways or set it as a short-cut.

That's it for now. You can probably Google elsewhere. I've noticed at LEAST a slight bump in my performance. I don't consistently feel delays and unresponsiveness anymore, but I'll admit it may be coinciding with the updates T-Mobile is pushing for the device. Another thing I have changed is my keyboard, but I don't believe that will have very much effect (it may though since it's a Samsung item). You can always go with Google Keyboard for a light, efficient option or something like Swiftkey otherwise. Lots of better emojis for the alternatives.

Let me know if you have any questions - these tweaks / fixes may or may not help, but they're a good way to test for solutions.

 

[vit0s]

Hello,I am having a similar problem.
Sometimes and randomly i guess,my touchscreen becomes unresponsive.the buttons work though.when i click the power button twice,and the phone goes to lock screen,i notice that the brightness also drops at very low levels during these times that the touchscreen doesn't work.This happens very often and can last from 10-40 seconds approximately.When the brightness is back at the level it was before,i then realize that the touchscreen works again.So the problem is a combination of "unresponsive touchscreen" and "very low brightness".Has anyone experienced the same problem and if yes,did you fix it?Thanks in advance.

 

[EricHr0801]

I had the same problem, but I managed to fix it. I went to dials and typed in *#2663#. Then a black screen should pop out and just press Touch key FW update and that should solve the problem. It worked for me.
Hope I helped.

 

[Surai]

*#2663# and updating the touch firmware from storage did it for me! Thanks!

 

[anohvc]

Where exactly do I type in *#2663#? I tried putting it into my phone dialer, and even tried calling it, but I just got the normal "Your call cannot be completed as dialed". I also tried other variations of this I found online, such as #2663# and *##2663##. My phone's unresponsiveness is driving me insane! Any tips would be welcome.

 

[EricHr0801]

When you type in *#2663# on S6 it should automatically opet the firmware version page where you can update the touch firmware... Try to reset your phone with factory reset in the settings and then try again. But before you reset your phone backup your files that are important to you. Maybe that will help.

 

[FireMedic130]

I HAVE FINALLY FOUND THE ANSWER! !!!!! I went through multiple chats with Samsung to be avail. So after I purchased the phone, approximately 2 weeks went by and my screen was almost usless. Had to hard press if that even worked. I factory reset my phone twice and both times it would come back great for a few days then suck again. Well out of the blue I uninstalled Handcent SMS, or the new Next SMS or whatever it's called. BANG!!!!! IT WAS THAT APP!!!!! Now she runs beautiful. The extremely wierd part is that it would continue in safe mode. I assumed safe mode would turn off Handcent. Silly me. So with this in mind try removing apps to see if it fixes it. Sorry for being long winded......I'm just very happy now.

 

[Javier P]

I HAVE FINALLY FOUND THE ANSWER! !!!!! I went through multiple chats with Samsung to be avail. So after I purchased the phone, approximately 2 weeks went by and my screen was almost usless. Had to hard press if that even worked. I factory reset my phone twice and both times it would come back great for a few days then suck again. Well out of the blue I uninstalled Handiest SMS, or the new Next SMS or whatever it's called. BANG!!!!! IT WAS THAT APP!!!!! Now she runs beautiful. The extremely wierd part is that it would continue in safe mode. I assumed safe mode would turn off Handcent. Silly me. So with this in mind try removing apps to see if it fixes it. Sorry for being long winded......I'm just very happy now.

Thanks for the tip! It will be very helpful for other people with the same problem. Just to be sure, which app did you install? Could you post a screenshot with the name and version?

 

[FireMedic130]

I ended up using Textra. I have used Handcent for years and love it. Oh well, things change. Textra does the same thing for me.

 

[medic130]

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking. Handcent was the sms app i uninstalled. Too bad, i loved the app. used it on my last 4 phones.

 

[Pc Jerry Clark]

*#2663# !!!!! I was going insane with touch sensitivity and this fixed it ! You are my hero !!!

 

[AsEurope]

Anyone else find a fix for this? Darn this problem is annoying as heck! So hard to text and answer notifications. I've tried a new launcher, disabled bloatware, dialer codes not working since I have the Verizon version, I have wiped data cache and even done a factory reset. I have a feeling the resources are being chewed up extremely, phone never gets hot but it seems to work better when I am fully charged. Any more ideas?

 

[vit0s]

The problem appears again even if the *#2663# fixed it for me for a while.I update all the time but it doesn't work anymore...I've tried everything factory reset,firmware update,I even update on marshmallow but nothing worked.Any other ideas??or should i get the phone to the samsung repair lab?