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Help Proximity Sensor/S-View problem

K

keldar

Newbie
Very recently, I have been having problems with, what I believe to be, the proximity sensor :confused:. I have the S-View case installed which works perfectly well; when opening/closing the cover the S4 switches between S-View mode as expected.

But when I'm using the phone to browse the Internet, send a text etc. the phone can randomly just switch to S-View mode despite the S-View case being tucked behind the phone, completely out-of-view. I.e. it's not even close to the proximity sensor. It's really irritating since it's a pain to close the cover, re-open it and unlock it etc. to exit that mode, and I wondered whether anyone has experienced this?

I read a thread (S4 Proximity sensor issue - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com) which states that it is as simple as dust in the ear piece. My pockets can be quite dusty and the phone does noticeably collect dust around the edges. I've tried giving it a clean out - blown into the ear case and wiped it down just now; could it be something as simple as this? It is quite sporadic so I hope the clean out has fixed it, but I will have to wait and see.

And if so, then where is the proximity sensor located? There's a few sensors next to the ear-piece or is it actually in the ear piece? And if so, how does the phone know when the S-View case is installed versus the full-screen cover (without the S-View window)?

Thanks!
 
Actually I think this might be an issue with the case. I'm pretty sure it is genuine (bought off eBay but it stated it was genuine with official packaging etc.). But I'm reading about the Hall Sensor.

Apparently the S-View case has a Hall Sensor in it. This is meant to be a tiny magnet but mine seems pretty large. It's protruding from the inside of the flip cover. I'm thinking, if this is generating a large magnetic field it could be why I'm seeing the issue.

I will try out an unofficial one I have all day tomorrow to see whether the problem reoccurs and report back.

I hope it's the case and not the phone!
 
Sorry to spam my own thread. But I have just found out it IS down to the S-View case/magnet. If I tuck the cover back against the phone and push it right against the back cover so the magnet is quite close to the Hall Sensor from behind then sure enough, the phone goes into S-View mode without doing anything else.

So it was the nature of how I was holding my phone and the proximity of this magnet. Just means I need to be careful in how I hold it now!
 
Thanks Rukbat! So cans of compressed air aren't generally a good idea to clean the ports/openings of the phone?
 
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