Why am i unable to end calls on my android phone?

[D_Newton_777]

A friend gave me a Samsung Galaxy A12. I do not have it connected to a carrier yet. She told me she could not get the phone to disconnect from calls by using the hang up button on screen. I connected it to my mobile hotspot, downloaded messenger and called my messenger app on my current phone, and I could not disconnect the A12 from the call by using the hang up button. Does anyone know what is causing this problem and how to fix it. Otherwise the phone functions great. Thanks.

 

[VidJunky]

Welcome to Android Central.

First check in Accessibility settings and make sure that, Press Side key to end calls, is not enabled. You can find this by typing, end call, in the Settings search bar. Several may appear but the one you're looking for is under Accessibility Interaction and dexterity. This seems to be the most common cause of this issue.

It could also be possible that another app is preventing the call from ending. To stop that you would need to take Phone permission away from all apps. This isn't a permanent change, it is more of a reset. When the app with revoked permission needs Phone access it will ask for it like it was the first time using the app. Then you can either allow or deny. You can type, permission, in the Settings menu search bar or follow this path, Settings>Apps>3 dots upper right Permission manager>Phone>remove all apps found here. If the issue clears up, pay attention to apps requesting Phone permission. As they begin asking for permission, when the issue comes back note what the last app to request permission was and you will likely have found your culprit.

Let us know what you find. To receive notifications when others reply to your thread and to leave comments of your own please take a minute to create an account. It will help you communicate and get help. This link will guide you through how to do that... https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community-new-post.html

 

[mustang7757]

Which messenger app?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! See if it also happens in Safe Mode: www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00062983/

 

[D_Newton_777]

Thank you. I tried all of your recommendations, and I still have the same issue.

FB Messenger

I can place my phone innsafe mode, but when I do, the messenger app is greyed out. This is the only way that I know of, short of connecting the phone to a carrier to seen if the problem is resolved. I dont know of any other way to test it. Thank you.

 

[VidJunky]

So are you two having the same problem? You say the previous owner complained of not being able to end a call, which sounds like a regular everyday type call, not a FB Messenger call.

So please clarify, when you say that the phone will not hang up do you mean it won't hang up a regular call, a messenger call or any call regular or Messenger?

Do you now own the device or does it still belong to the person mentioned? I ask because I would like to know if the device has been factory reset or setup with a new user or if everything is still the same from the previous owner?

Did the previous owner say when the issue started? I'm not sure what your contact level is like with the previous owner so I'll understand if this or other questions are difficult to answer. Usually I use this question to establish if whatever we're talking about at least worked at one time and stopped. My follow up question is do you remember if anything was happening around that time, new apps being installed, a SIM card change or any memorable event.

Have either of you manually cleared the app cache for FB? Intrusive apps like FB have a tendency to misbehave if they aren't managed correctly. Part of that management is regular restarts of the device. Restarting the device usually does things like clearing app caches, shutting down processes and restarting background services. If this isn't done regularly little bugs can form and start causing problems.

Have either of you uninstalled FB updates and then installed them again? The app likely cannot be uninstalled since FB is a preinstalled app on almost every device so removing the updates and allowing them to reinstall is the only way to get close to a "fresh" copy.

Is the hang up button dim in any way like it might not be accessible? So like with many options, when they are unavailable they may appear greyed out, like they are not selectable, in this case I would imagine the button will still appear red but maybe a hazy red like it is showing you the button but not allowing you to use the button, or does the button appear normally and simply doesn't work?

Does it matter who initiates the call? If you call out for instance, you are able to end outbound calls but not inbound calls or anything like that you've noticed?

Has any consideration been given to factory resetting the device? If it was FR in the past what was the result?

 

[B. Diddy]

Thank you. I tried all of your recommendations, and I still have the same issue.

FB Messenger

I can place my phone innsafe mode, but when I do, the messenger app is greyed out. This is the only way that I know of, short of connecting the phone to a carrier to seen if the problem is resolved. I dont know of any other way to test it. Thank you.

I made you the owner of the original guest post to make it easier for you to find.

I didn't realize you were talking about calls over FB Messenger. Facebook is notorious for glitchy apps, so it could be a problem with the app itself. I agree with VidJunky's suggestion to clear the app cache for Messenger. You may have to clear the app data as well, but I'm not sure what this will do to any saved messages (although I would guess they would sync back immediately with the server).

 

[Mr Bojangles1]

Have you done a factory reset since you got the phone?

 

[D_Newton_777]

I will answer your questions as best as I can. I am obviously not tech savvy, so bear with me here on questions. I'll tell you what i know about the phone as my friend told me. She lives in a seniors community, and there is a lot of sharing of this and that, and one day my friend found the phone in its original box with a charger, and a note saying "good phone, just needs a sim card". My friend took the phone to her carrier to switch her old phone to the one I am speaking of here the Samsung Galaxy A12. The carrier said the phone was fully unlocked, and the only problem they could find was that when they made a regular phone call, they could not end the call unless they forced a shut down on the telephone. She told me about it, and she gave me the phone. Since I've had the phone I did do a factory reset on the phone, and this morning I connected it to my mobile hotspot and updated all the apps on the phone through the google playstore. Since there is currently no sim card in the phone, I thought I would try to install messenger (being non tech savvy) and see if I could place a call through messenger. There was no problems placing the call to my current cell phone, which is an android also, the A12 dialed through on messenger to my cell phone no problem. I didn't answer it I just tried to disconnect from the call by pressing the hang up button on the A12. It did not hang up. I had to reject the call on my end to stop the A12 from ringing my phone. Since then I have turned off permissions as was suggested, and done all that was suggested on the thread Nothing changed. I also tried safe mode, and as you know, or I found out, apps that were not pre installed do not work in safe mode. I have an older phone than the A12 and was hoping to use the A12 phone for my everyday. However if it will not place a call, and I can't get it fixed, I don't want to use it. I thought there was possibly a way to fix the issue. I hope this helps. It's all I know. Thank you for taking time to respond.

 

[B. Diddy]

First things first -- your friend "found the phone"? Was someone giving it away? Did it just show up unannounced in their apartment?

Second -- install the Samsung Members app (if not already installed), go to the Support section, then Diagnostics. Run all the tests and see if any faults show up.

Third -- if you have a SIM card for the phone, insert it, boot it into Safe Mode, then make a regular call with the phone (not using FB Messenger). Now try to hang up.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Something that may work is the opposite of an above suggestion.

Go to accessibility settings and turn on press power button to end call, then just use the power button to end calls.

Probably won't work with FB messenger, I've never tested though.

 

[D_Newton_777]

Hello B. Diddy, answering your question regarding my friends recieving the phone a little more clearly, There is an area in the seniors complex where items are left by the residents to share items with each other. She found it there.
I will install the Samsung Members App and run a diagnostic as you suggest.
Can I insert my sim card into the phone? My phone is Samsung J7 Prime. The A12 has a slide out sim card holder. It has 3 slots, it looks like anyway. Thanks for your help.

 

[B. Diddy]

Yes, they both use nano-SIM cards.

 

[D_Newton_777]

B Diddy, I have done everything short of inserting my sim card into the phone. I have updated the phone to it's current software update, and operating system updates, ran the diagnostic through Samsung Members, and everything checked out fine. I was a little leary of putting my sim card in the A12 but since it was hooked up to my mobile hotspot for about an hour and a half, any malware that could be in the A12 phone could potentially already be in my phone now, correct? I'll give it a shot after I get your answer. If this does not help, there was an option in Samsung Members to call them. I may have to. It'd be a shame not to be able to use this phone. Thanks a bunch.

 

[B. Diddy]

If you did a full factory reset and did not restore from a previous backup, then the chance of malware is very low.

 

[D_Newton_777]

Thank you. I will give it a go then.

 

[mustang7757]

[Moved this to Samsung A series Forum]

 

[D_Newton_777]

Well, I tried to get my phones sim card into the A12 and just must not be doing something right because I cannot get it to stay in the slot to slide it into the phone. I did once bit it did not read the card, so I may have had it upside down. I was worried o would damage my sim card. I may take it to my current carrier to see if they can insert the sim. I dont believe they can do any better with checking out the phone than we have here. I used 4.5 gigs on my mobile hotspot yesterday working in the A12. I only have 10 gigs. Oooops. Living rural has its draw backs. Thanks for all of your help. Appreciated.

 

[mustang7757]

Well, I tried to get my phones sim card into the A12 and just must not be doing something right because I cannot get it to stay in the slot to slide it into the phone. I did once bit it did not read the card, so I may have had it upside down. I was worried o would damage my sim card. I may take it to my current carrier to see if they can insert the sim. I dont believe they can do any better with checking out the phone than we have here. I used 4.5 gigs on my mobile hotspot yesterday working in the A12. I only have 10 gigs. Oooops. Living rural has its draw backs. Thanks for all of your help. Appreciated.

Look at this video
https://youtu.be/FaJspTaK1s8

 

[VidJunky]

At this point I would have to agree with fuzzylumpkin and say try turning on the Accessibility feature that turns the power key into a hang up key. Earlier when I suggested turning off this feature, that was because I thought it might be stopping the phone from taking input from the screen to hang up. However if nothing is allowing the phone to hang up via the on screen button turning the physical button into the hang up key may be the best solution.

After finding out that the phone is from a senior center I was leaning heavily towards this being due to the Accessibility feature. It is listed under Interaction and Dexterity and a senior user would likely have need of something like that but I tested it on my device and both worked, the onscreen button and the power key/side key. I would imagine it being the same on all Samsung devices but even if disabling it doesn't correct the issue, enabling it may offer a reasonable work around.

Turn on the feature and see what happens.

Best wishes.