Unresponsive Touchscreen Discussion

[Gigity]

HTC EVO 4G and Droid Incredible suffering from unresponsive screen issues -- Engadget

We started seeing posts on this forum about all of this pretty much a few hours after people were getting their EVOs. Appears to be a real issue that hopefully HTC will address and then fix.

 

[akarol]

Haven't noticed it. I'd like to try that out.

 

[Seven2k]

Saw it..sucks..i used to be a tech for apple...dont worry about everybody **** smells!!

 

[Edge767]

It's a capacitive screen. The device needs to be grounded. I don't see the problem; it seems pretty easy to understand to me that to use the phone's screen properly, you need to have it grounded. This is like when people were complaining that you can't use the iPhone's screen with a pencil eraser (who does that!?!) and started using sausages (in China).

I'm more concerned with glass coming up at the corners of the device than I am with people using the phone out of design parameters.

 

[Aridon]

If you want to use the device without it being in your hands then you have to plug it in. that our hold it.

no big deal.

 

[dontspamtheman]

I just tried mine on a block of strofoam and it worked ok without me touching it.

 

[Dukins]

I've learned to look over engadget, to me it seems if its not an apple product then it blows. Im surprised android users frequently visit engadget. Ive only heard them say one thing positive about any other device and thats the EVO. But they quickly took the poll down on EVO vs. Iphone, when EVO was winning. LOL jokes.

 

[Gigity]

If you want to use the device without it being in your hands then you have to plug it in. that our hold it.

no big deal.

Perhaps having a built-in kickstand sends the wrong message then.

 

[OrderedtheEvo]

I hope they give bad press when people start breaking the glass on the front and back of the new iPhone.

 

[Dave Blake]

I wonder if you held it under water if that would keep the screen from being grounded. Just kidding everyone don't hold your phone under water that will ruin it. I like to know when there is an issue with these devices but come on if your not using the way it was designed to be used its understandable that there could be issue. MHO pick it up when your using it my EVO works fine that way enjoy.

 

[g1toevo678]

It's a capacitive screen. The device needs to be grounded. I don't see the problem; it seems pretty easy to understand to me that to use the phone's screen properly, you need to have it grounded. This is like when people were complaining that you can't use the iPhone's screen with a pencil eraser (who does that!?!) and started using sausages (in China).

Is your phone behaving the way it is on the video?

I'm not an expert but wouldn't this mean that the whole screen would be non responsive and not just the top part? And that all phones with touchscreen would exhibit similar behavior? Or even, that ALL evos would have this issue?

From what I've seen (on my own phone and from videos such as the one referenced) and read on this and other forums:

1. It's just the top part of the touchscreen as the video clearly shows.
2. It doesn't appear to be an issue with ALL evos as others have stated that they do not have the issue.
3. It isn't an issue across all touchscreen phones (seems to be with evo and dinc)

There are times when I have the phone on my desk while browsing and a notification pops up. With the touchscreen issue, I would have to pick the phone up to pull down the notification bar (I know there are other ways to access the notification bar without swiping it down but why should a user have to do that when the notification bar is there for a reason).

And more importantly, my concern would be on whether the issue would get worse over time.

I'm sure Sprint has sold a couple of hundred thousand of these phones and online forums tend to magnify an issue to the point where it seems more wide spread than it actually is, but for those who've gotten a phone that is exhibiting this behavior it's little consolation.

 

[robstunner]

I've learned to look over engadget, to me it seems if its not an apple product then it blows. Im surprised android users frequently visit engadget. Ive only heard them say one thing positive about any other device and thats the EVO. But they quickly took the poll down on EVO vs. Iphone, when EVO was winning. LOL jokes.

Agreed, i love Engadget but ever since i rid the iPhone for my N1/Evo, i started disliking their news. Its all bad publicity for anything non iPhone. my question is, Who is going to DRAW like that guy in the video did, on a couch, without holding the phone in their hand. its not UNresponsive, just looses a line here or there. Way to blow it totally out of proportion

 

[kamiller42]

The antidote to reports like this is to duplicate the test and show a different result. Film yourself, put on YouTube, send link to Engadget, and post link everywhere showing there's no real issue.

 

[Darth Mo]

The antidote to reports like this is to duplicate the test and show a different result. Film yourself, put on YouTube, send link to Engadget, and post link everywhere showing there's no real issue.

I don't think people can show a different result; using the phone in that manner results in the same behavior every time.

 

[kamiller42]

I don't think people can show a different result; using the phone in that manner results in the same behavior every time.

I read some users on other forums and comment threads saying they do not experience what is in the video. I figured someone here probably doesn't see the same problem and could post a video.

Some say the kickstand is evidence of the intent to use the phone without holding. I've only seen the kickstand used for viewing. If you did decide to use the phone while on kickstand, I would imagine you need to hold the phone anyway so it does slide back on you.

 

[oddlou]

I don't think people can show a different result; using the phone in that manner results in the same behavior every time.

I do not disagree. The issue doesn't bother me much, but there are definitely certain things I cannot do when the phone is not grounded...opening the notification bar, for example.

 

[jonesbug]

Something regarding Engadget.

I love Engadget and read it daily. This s not related to this thread, per se, but an observation.

What I don't like is over the weekend there was a comment on who was paying Engadget to post so much about ESPN the past few days. I responded with the fact that Engadget is owned by AOL which is business partners with ESPN.

Both posts were subsequently deleted from the thread.

They were in no way trolling or inflammatory. Just a simple fact that probably should be disclosed, in my eyes. It's not that it's hard to tell, as it says AOL on the Engadget page, but a standard disclosure would be professional.

 

[uh60james]

Straight from an Apple fanboy over on Engadget.

"Not fake, but you can test this same thing with iPhone 3gs and you will see similar effects on occasion. I have an application on the iPhone that allows it to send OSC multitouch commands to a program called Ventuz and we see similar issues when using fingers really close to each other.

This is a problem with touch screen technology, not with manufacturing issues as much"

I have no issue with my touch screen at all. For those of you that read Engadget often you should remember that they did publish negative articles about the iPhone 3gs. Two that come to mind are overheating and cracks in the case. But yeah Engadget does like to blow things out of proportion and unfortunately people listen.

 

[Kedar]

Sometimes Engadget is okay, other times not. They took down the Evo vs. The IPhone thread because it was not fair to compare the 2 products when one hasn't been released yet. So in that case, Engadget did well.

It all depends on the author.


The author of that article is Nilay Patel, who is a big Apple advocate.

 

[kellte2]

Try this screen test with your EVO and report back - Page 8 - PPCGeeks

Post #78 seems to know what s/he's talking about. This is the nature of a capacitive screen. To all those not experiencing the issue, it isn't that your phone is avoiding a "defect," it is simply because all environments are different. The screen needs to be grounded to be used. Bottom line.

Consider it...a feature?