I took my screen protector off and now...

[great high wolf]

Surely somebody in this forum should have enough physics/engineering background to tell us whether this is likely to be true from first principles. Indeed, I haven't the foggiest idea how the touch screen works (for instance, do our fingers interact with the screen at only mechanical level or is the some sort of electrical interaction as well?).

At a rough guess, since the touch screen in the iPhone is capacititive, i.e. it works out where it's being touched from the change in capacitance when the body's electric field comes into contact with the screen... (I'm not convinced I'm 100% correct here, but I reckon I've got the basics, so bear with me...)

So long as the electric field of your finger can penetrate the screen protector, that's fine, the "touch" gets through to the screen. However, if the screen protector has a non-constant conductivity, it could produce areas that are more or less sensitive than others. This is very likely to happen, since I doubt most screen protectors are exactly uniform in thickness and density.

Overall, probably happens, but I couldn't tell you whether it would be noticeable or not.

 

[chrono1081]

I agree with the OP. My friend has a screen protector on his iPhone and I definitely noticed touch sensitivity has gone down.

Now it could be the type of screen protector too. Another friend has one also and I can't tell a difference.

 

[dZp]

This thread needs some "I thought I was on MacRumors forum but somehow I stumbled upon twitter. Weird. Oh well. I'm thirsty." treatment.

Sounds familiar ?!

 

[TheSpaz]

This thread needs some "I thought I was on MacRumors forum but somehow I stumbled upon twitter. Weird. Oh well. I'm thirsty." treatment.

Sounds familiar ?!

Yup. Thought it was funny.

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

Spaz at this point you should just get a new account.

Unless you enjoy all the extra attention and like having everything you say criticized through the eyes of "well TheSpaz said this so I will disregard it and just roll my eyes and ask what he's still doing here"

It's amazing the reputation one person can build. You are definitely the most (in)famous iphone poster.

 

[SpaceKitty]

Spaz at this point you should just get a new account.

Unless you enjoy all the extra attention and like having everything you say criticized through the eyes of "well TheSpaz said this so I will disregard it and just roll my eyes and ask what he's still doing here"

It's amazing the reputation one person can build. You are definitely the most (in)famous iphone poster.

I'm surprised that he didn't let us know he was still running 2.2.1 on his iPhone (again ) because he thinks 3.1.2 is just too slow.

 

[Small White Car]

Do you not take out car insurance because you're a really careful driver too?

Yeah, I have insurance.

Do you stick a thin piece of plastic on top of your car's windshield?

I don't do that.

 

[TheSpaz]

I'm surprised that he didn't let us know he was still running 2.2.1 on his iPhone (again ) because he thinks 3.1.2 is just too slow.

But, I'm not running 2.2.1 anymore. I'm at 3.1.3 now like everyone else!

Just kidding!!!!!!

 

[BergerFan]

At the end of the day though. The screen is as tough as nails and nothing can beat the look and feel of a naked screen.
I put some protectors on, because I have a few lying around. When I'm done with these, that's it(unless I get a new case, where there's usually one or two thrown in ).

 

[renewed]

Indeed, I haven't the foggiest idea how the touch screen works (for instance, do our fingers interact with the screen at only mechanical level or is the some sort of electrical interaction as well?).

How the iPhone Touch Screen Works

 

[Shenaniganz08]

You should win an award for dumbest post EVER.

He is reporting his findings and you are saying it is not true because other people are not saying it too

you clearly don't know what a placebo effect is then

I would put money down that using a power support screen protector does NOT lower touch sensitivity

The touchscreen is a capacitive touch screen, not a resistance. I would see how the sensitivity would go down if it was the second.

There was an article that discussed how the apple touchscreen is different than most + some tech specs, showed that the touchscreen apple uses doesn't lose sensitivity until you get to a thickness of about 2+ business cards= 20mils+ (.5mm+ )

The power support antiglare is rated at 4mils ( .1mm)

So to sum up, the power support shields are not thick enough to interfere with the capacitive touchscreen

The reason people think there is a difference is probably because its a different surface ( glass vs plastic). The glass is much less porous = probably feels like your making better contact ( just my guess )

 

[ntrigue]

I respectfully disagree. Accidents happen. I baby my phones and I still ended up with a scratch.

All generations of iPhone have been scratched within a year of babying. The 3GS scratched with an actual drop in my car. I will never go without because at $199, I'll lose some sensitivity.

I thought everyone knew this. Any additional surfaces between your fingers and the touchscreen are going to make it slightly less responsive - however small a difference it makes.

Nope, TheSpaz is 100% right on this one.
There is a slight loss of sensitivity, noticable if, like me, you use feather-light taps on the screen, when typing and when pinch & zooming.
It's a trade-off between the peace of mind a protector gives, and the 'can't-be-beaten' feel of a naked screen.

My setup is a black Incipio Feather, and a screen shield.

Although I think there is some misdirection in the thread I have noticed marginal differences between protectors. The 'crystal' are the worst while the 'Seinheil Anti-Fingerprint' are the best as far as accuracy. The uncovered screen has a more distinct (less slippery?) contact.

*FWIW, the Seinheil cannot be installed without dust so I'm back to PowerSupport Antiglare.

 

[TheSpaz]

Just for the record. When I'm typing fast, I'm barely touching the screen... This may be why using a screen protector may not work as well as a bare screen. We all know it's capacitive, that's true, and I never found myself having to push harder with the screen protector on, but sometimes I'd push too light and it would not register. However, without the screen protector on, I can hit keys when barely touching.

It's not a placebo effect.

 

[Wicked1]

I never liked those things, and the ones they sell for the Android phones are even worse, my wife took hers off after I spent 20 minutes making sure it was on perfect with no lifted edges or bubbles, they are horrible, unless you have a real need for it and can tolerate the inaccuracies with it.