iPhone 5 reportedly suffers from quick scrolling issue

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
A so-called "glitch" with the iPhone 5's screen causes the display to pause or seemingly ignore touch input when a user rapidly swipes back and forth diagonally, possibly hinting at a hardware issue that can affect developers that rely on such touch mechanics for gaming.

iPhone 5 Screen Glitch


The issue, first discovered by iOS app developer CMA Megacorp, occurs when a user quickly scrolls back-and-forth across the iPhone 5 screen in a diagonal motion, either from top left to bottom right, or top right to bottom left, and presents itself as an intermittent pause in processing touch input.

"Slide finger back and forth diagonally on screen, input events drop out or stop altogether." the firm said on Twitter.

It is unclear what is causing the issue, however the problem was replicated by UK product comparison website Recombu in a head-to-head comparison with the previous-generation iPhone 4S. Both iOS 6 and iOS 6.0.1 were tested, and each showed signs of the graphical glitch.

AppleInsider was able to replicate the problem in first-party Apple apps like Mail, Safari, and the App Store, as well as in a number of third-party titles.





Recombu suggests the problem is rooted in the iPhone 5's hardware, though stopped short of offering further explanation. If it is indeed a hardware-related issue, the main change between the screens of the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 is the implementation of new in-cell display technology, which could point to an overflow in the on-board touch-controller's memory buffer. However, at this point any guesses are mere speculation.

While most users may not use this quick scrolling behavior, those who play games like "Fruit Ninja" or similar titles may see performance drops during especially heated gameplay. There have been no reports from gamers thus far, however it may be possible that the touch errors were missed in what is usually a flurry of on screen action.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 49
    emig647emig647 Posts: 2,455member


    I'd really like to know when a user would have to beat their phone like in the video? Seems a bit excessive to me. 

  • Reply 2 of 49


    Fruit Ninja.  

  • Reply 3 of 49
    whodawhoda Posts: 29member
    Doc, it hurts when I do this.

    Well don't do that.
  • Reply 4 of 49


    I can't seem to duplicate it on 6.1 beta 1.  However I don't have a lot of emails and my music list is extensive, but I end up touching the letter of the artist and it switches to that letter.  

  • Reply 5 of 49
    Using Mail to demonstrate a Fruit Ninja glitch? Nice...great reporting AppleInsider!
  • Reply 6 of 49
    I don't think it is Hardware issue.
    In your emails, there might be some unicode fonts.

    We are from Burma (Myanmar) South East Asia country.
    we have our Unicode Font Myanmar Zawgyi Font.
    If emails contains not only our unicode font but other language unicode fonts, the email system, webkit all are frozen for a few mins..
    Depends on how much contents on it. Some time the mail or safari even quit.
    Our unicode font is not yet popular like well known fonts (japanese, chinese ).
    Previously on iOS 5 work really good and fine.
    But it suck now.
    I contact, send feedback, write on forum several times but Apple never care.
    If you want to take a look I'll send an email with our language & see what happen.

    thank you
    zhtway
  • Reply 7 of 49
    zoolookzoolook Posts: 657member


    I cannot replicate this on my iPhone 5 running 6.0.1

  • Reply 8 of 49
    @ghostface147
    Can you test my email.? I 'll forward one with our unicode fonts.
    It will not display but ur mail app will be frozen.
    I don't have 6.1 beta, so I couldn't test it.
    We, all Burmese People are frustrated with iOS6.
    Apple Suck ! Although I love Apple product.


    You can copy & paste this sentence below and mail it to your self..you will see the result in ur mail app.
    You won't see the language becoz you don't have a font

    ????????????????? ???????????????? ....
    ??????? ??????????? (??????? - ?????)??? ???????????? ?????????????????? ??-??-???? ?????? ??? ?:?????? ?????????? ?????????????????????? ????????????????? ?????????????? ??????????????????????????
    ???????????????????? ?????????????????
  • Reply 9 of 49


    Touchgate. Swipegate?


     


    I hadn't really noticed this until I saw this, but I can reproduce this on mine intermittently.

  • Reply 10 of 49
    rm03rm03 Posts: 1member
    OMG! I can't beat my high score on fruit ninja now! Send the stock price to $300!

    Is this newsworthy? If it's an issue Apple will fix it. They'll call this the spastic ninja swiping fix.
  • Reply 11 of 49
    aaronjaaronj Posts: 1,595member


    I can't replicate it either (6.0.1).


     


    And, OT, but just wanted to say:  Jesus, this phone charges fast.

  • Reply 12 of 49


    I have not seen this exact problem. But prior to installing the latest update (iOS 6.0.1), I was seeing periodic lag in (not nearly as frenetic) scroll response on two iPhone 5's and occasional freezes on one. Both phones have been "cured" with the update.

  • Reply 13 of 49

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AaronJ View Post


    I can't replicate it either (6.0.1).


     


    And, OT, but just wanted to say:  Jesus, this phone charges fast.





    Noticed the same thing too (charging, that is).

  • Reply 14 of 49
    It's a palm detect feature. It stops the moment you swipe off the edge of the screen. You can see it if you slow-mo the Youtube video. And it only triggers on a diagonal motion, you know in the shape of a palm and a thumb. But I will take Recombu's advice and since it's a permanent hardware flaw, and therefore I'm returning my phone and buying a SGIII.
  • Reply 15 of 49
    konqerror wrote: »
    It's a palm detect feature. It stops the moment you swipe off the edge of the screen. You can see it if you slow-mo the Youtube video. But I will take Recombu's advice and since it's a permanent hardware flaw, and therefore I'm returning my phone and buying a SGIII.

    Troll much?
  • Reply 16 of 49
    I have gotten this on the iPhone 4 (on iOS 5, and 5.0.1, with camera app and actually on this web page, yet I figured it was the CPU couldn't, load it quickly enough, does it happen on other 4 & 4s?
  • Reply 17 of 49


    Mr, Administrator


    I KNOW this may ne a weee but off topic - but when i view appleinsider on an MBP in SAFARI the nice little video appears above but the right part of the video is cut off. This happens on so many of your articles when you have video...


    is it a glitch or is it intended


     


    thanks so much if you answer it this time, and thanks even more if you fix it

  • Reply 18 of 49

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by zhtway View Post



    @ghostface147

    Can you test my email.? I 'll forward one with our unicode fonts.

    It will not display but ur mail app will be frozen.

    I don't have 6.1 beta, so I couldn't test it.

    We, all Burmese People are frustrated with iOS6.

    Apple Suck ! Although I love Apple product.

    You can copy & paste this sentence below and mail it to your self..you will see the result in ur mail app.

    You won't see the language becoz you don't have a font

    ????????????????? ???????????????? ....

    ??????? ??????????? (??????? - ?????)??? ???????????? ?????????????????? ??-??-???? ?????? ??? ?:?????? ?????????? ?????????????????????? ????????????????? ?????????????? ??????????????????????????

    ???????????????????? ?????????????????


     


    Nothing but boxes.

  • Reply 19 of 49
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by konqerror View Post



    It's a palm detect feature. It stops the moment you swipe off the edge of the screen. You can see it if you slow-mo the Youtube video. And it only triggers on a diagonal motion, you know in the shape of a palm and a thumb. But I will take Recombu's advice and since it's a permanent hardware flaw, and therefore I'm returning my phone and buying a SGIII.


     


    Why don't you get a Nexus 4 instead?


     


    That's the latest and greatest, beats the S III handily in benchmarks and you get butter and jellybeans.


     


    $299 for the 8GB and it only costs $50 more for the 16GB model.


     


    It has that weird  "imitation" of the iPhone 5's panorama mode and glass front and back like an iPhone 4 too.


     


    Of course the lack of LTE and MicroSD may be a slight issue but think of how cheap it is?

  • Reply 20 of 49


    Originally Posted by zhtway View Post

    ????????????????? ???????????????? ....

    ??????? ??????????? (??????? - ?????)??? ???????????? ?????????????????? ??-??-???? ?????? ??? ?:?????? ?????????? ?????????????????????? ????????????????? ?????????????? ??????????????????????????

    ???????????????????? ?????????????????


     


    What an absolutely beautiful character set. So complex… Shame I'm still missing a few. Though it seems my right-click menu can display them all, despite some showing as squares in the browser… 




    WAIT A MINUTE. I JUST GOT THE NORMAL RIGHT-CLICK MENU TO SHOW UP IN THIS AI POST BOX?! I can't replicate it… even doing the same thing again…


     


    Here's a screen grab for those who can't see anything:


     


    image





    Originally Posted by konqerror View Post

    …since it's a permanent hardware flaw, and therefore I'm returning my phone and buying a SGIII.


     


    Enjoy your trash, troll.

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