Geo-Specific Phantom Touches

[BernardWright]

My iPhone 6 gets a slew of phantom touches every time I walk along a particular small road in the hills where I live, in a Los Angeles suburb. Other than that, it's been a problem-free phone for over a year. I've been experiencing the phantom touches for as long as I can remember owning the phone, always and only on that one road. I'm not concerned with fixing the problem; I'm just curious as to what the cause might be.

 

[Alexrat1996]

did you take it to apple

 

[Flow39]

Call Ghostbusters!

 

[BernardWright]

Thanks for the replies folks. I haven't taken it to Apple, though I did call Verizon today and they forwarded my call to an Apple specialist. Neither rep had heard of ghost touches corresponding to a particular locale. I've grown accustomed to the issue over the past year and don't mind keeping my screen locked for a couple of minutes to prevent its occurrence. My phone has been otherwise flawless over the past year and I just find this one phenomenon intriguing. As I stated above, I'm not concerned with finding a solution. I'm interested in understanding the cause. Thanks in advance for any further insight.

 

[Skorpio]

Do you have a screen protector installed, or a new screen replaced?

 

[BernardWright]

The phone is all original with a plastic/rubber Otter Box case and a glass screen protector adhered to the screen.

 

[Skorpio]

The phone is all original with a plastic/rubber Otter Box case and a glass screen protector adhered to the screen.

I've had several glass screen protectors installed but one particular one caused ghost taps. It cured right up once I removed it.

 

[BernardWright]

Thanks, but I've had the screen protector on the phone the life of the phone and I've never had ghost taps unless I've been on a 20 meter stretch of one road. I've been abroad, I've been in freezing temperatures and 100F+ temperatures, and I've only experienced ghost taps on that road. There's something about the environment. Does anyone know what environmental factors can cause ghost taps?

 

[chestvrg]

Hello I want you to know you're not alone with this anomaly.. About 3 years ago with a different iPhone I used to have, at work when connected to the charger I would get phantom touches as well and it became so annoying at time that even apps would launch all by themselves, when I was typing a msg additional letters would type themselves, causing misspelling on my intended msg, and other strange anomalies would happen as a result of these ghosts/phantom touches.

Now my old iPhone would only do it when charging, let me ask you, do you have your iPhone inside a charging case like morphie?

 

[BernardWright]

Good question. My case is nothing fancy. It's just plastic and rubber.

I called Apple yesterday and they didn't have any idea what the cause was. However, the guy did agree with my suspicion that a magnetic anomaly might have something to do with it. I'll pass through with my compass app open and see what happens.

 

[kjotwani]

Well not to be alarmed. I guess ghosts like iPhone as much as living beings.

 

[BernardWright]

Right.

So I tried the compass app and I did get one "false touch" (this is apparently the proper term), which was fewer than I'd usually expect to see. The compass didn't exhibit abnormal behaviors. It appears that a magnetic anomaly is an unlikely cause. Perhaps there is a radio signal that affects the phone somehow.

 

[cruisin]

The touch screen essentially loads a static charge in a grid to the screen and monitors where the static charge is disappearing. Since you can use other conductive things like capacitive pens or bits of aluminum foil to register as a touch, maybe this location is prone to static buildup? Radio interference should drop your call, but it shouldn't do anything to the screen. My guess is something electrical, since chestvrg mentioned issues with charging.

Have you walked this location during a rainfall or just after a rainfall? The static should be less, and the phantom touches should be gone (if it is static buildup). Or you can put the phone in a Faraday cage (like aluminum foil) and see if it changes anything. It will likely block the radio signal, so don't do this if you are expecting a call.

 

[BernardWright]

That info about the screen measuring static along the grid is very useful to know. Thanks cruisin.

Looks like Southern CA should get some rain this weekend. It'd be a good time to test. Thanks again for a very thoughtful post.