How to fix a broken or unresponsive iPhone home button

You don`t have to worry anymore! One of the most common problems of iPhone has now, not one, but four ways to repair. The unresponsive button of your favorite smart device can now easily be fixed, and we are here to teach you how do it, even if you are out of your warranty.

Although there are a lot of accessories to protect your sensitive toy, the home button of the phone can`t be protected as much as the customers would want to. Even though they try to be as careful as possible, with time passing, the wear and tear of the only button of the device can`t be avoided, and finally the users  face this annoying fact.

Concerning this matter, the happiest customers will be the ones of the new iPhone 5, because the designers of the new smartphone were aware of this issue and tried to fix it. The home button of the new device has a new structure that makes it more resistant to inevitable wear and tear that occurs in time. As for the preceding models of iPhones, this matter is still disturbing for the customers, even more if the warranty of the phone is off.

If this problem occurs while you`re still benefiting the one-year warranty, covered by Apple, and if your phone is still in a good shape, with no traces that can be considered accidental deterioration, then you can address to Apple services. Within the warranty certificate your iPhone can and will be completely substituted by the company or fully fixed by their specialists, implying no extra costs for you as a customer.

There’s another case, of those who are less fortunate, and encounter this problem not within the warranty period, but after. In this case Apple can`t help, so they should pay extra for the repair of the home button.

At the moment, before you let go of your money, we are able to present you 4 ways, which most likely will solve the home button issue, or at least you can give them a try. But keep in  mind, that we will not assume any responsibility for your failure if you do not apply correctly the advices that will be presented next. So pay attention, and take care mostly with method 2 and 3, because you can seriously damage your phone and neither of us want this to happen.

Method 1: Calibrate (and possibly restore)

If your home button does not respond anymore when pressed, is probably because of a software issue. If this is the case, you are a little bit lucky than the other customers and you can try to recalibrate your iPhone and most likely fix the problem that you have. Look what you have to do in order to make your home button respond to your command:

You need to open up one of your app, for example the Clock application in your phone. You keep pushing the switch off button, until “Slide to power off” appears on your screen. After it does appear, slowly remove your finger from the sleep button and move to the home button and hold down that one for about 5-10 seconds. After these 5 to 10 seconds, the Clock application should close.  Now you just have to use the home button to see if the problem was solved. If so, consider yourself one of the luckiest customers and you can now enjoy again your device.

If the problem persists, we advise you to restore your iPhone, after that you can try the next method.

Method 2: Realign the docking port

Another common reason of your not working home button, because of the wear and tear of your device during time, is a wrong alignment of the docking port. That misalignment can affect also the home button we are talking about. In this case, the recommendation of the repair shop would probably be to entirely replace the home button, but we found and brought to your attention another solution. Here is what you need to do:

Plug an USB cable into your phone and slowly push down the connector of the USB cable, until it pushes up behind your home button. While doing this procedure, you have to press the button, and after that you can remove the USB cable from your phone. Again if you are lucky this method solved your problem. But don`t forget to be careful because this procedure can harm your iPhone, and we`re not taking this responsibility.

Method 3: Clean the home button

You need to pay attention to everything that can damage your home button, because it is quite easy to affect that button with dirty hands, a drop of juice and so on. This is another method that needs a little bit more attention from your part. Here’s what you need to do  in order to proceed:

Make a visit to a hardware shop and buy a 98-99 percent isopropyl alcohol. You will also need a clean tissue, a cotton swab or an eye dropper to help you with the isopropyl alcohol, because you`ll have to apply 2-3 drops of this substance straightly to the home button. While doing this, try to avoid the screen of the iPhone. After doing this, continue by touching the home button with a tight and opaque object until the liquid enters the frame.
Now clean the home button and wait about 10-15 minutes before you try and see if the problem was fixed.

Method 4: enable the on-screen home button

If you were not lucky enough to solve the issue of the home button with one of the three methods above mentioned, it is most likely that your home button can`t be fixed anymore and you`ll probably need to go to a repair shop with your device, where you`ll benefit of professional advice and support.

Don`t be sad, we have an alternative solution for you, until you manage to do that. You can still use your iPhone for the moment, using an accessibility option like the on-screen home button. Many customers used it when they had this common issue with the home button of their devices.

To enable the on-screen button, go to Settings > General > Accessibility >Assistive Touch. After you turn on the Assistive Touch, a small circle will appear on your screen – that is the on-screen home button which will allow you to see four options as soon as you tap it. You`ll be able to see: Home, Siri, More (includes multitasking and playback controls), and Favorites. The last one can be ignored, and you can tap on the on-screen button anytime you need to see the options that you could`ve seen before by double tapping the home button.

At some point you`ll find that on-screen button annoying because of its position on the screen. Don`t worry! You can drag and move the button anywhere else on your screen.

We know and we agree that this is not the most pleasant option for an iPhone owner, but it will be helpful until you manage to pay for the repair of your device, or until you can buy yourself another one.