iPhone screen won’t turn off
Just above the iPhone screen is a special proximity sensor that detects whether you hold the iPhone near your head while calling. If that is the case, the screen will be temporarily turned off to prevent you from touching the buttons on the screen with your head. But it can also happen that the screen does not turn off and there are a few causes that we will discuss with you below. If the screen does not turn off in other situations, your iPhone is probably frozen.
- Not holding well
- Software problem
- Sensor broken
- Have your iPhone repaired
With this function you can also clearly see whether someone is making a fake telephone call. If someone receives a phone call and the screen remains on continuously during the call, that person is probably trying to get away from a conversation or meeting with an excuse. Unfortunately, you often see things go wrong in films.
You are not holding the iPhone properly
Steve Jobs already said it: “You’re holding it wrong!” This involved antenna gate, where users clutched their device with their hands a little too fanatically while making calls. This caused reception to drop.
But if the screen does not turn off while calling, it could also be a case of wrong holding. Maybe you’re holding the iPhone too far from your face. You sometimes see this in reality TV shows, where the main characters have their iPhone on speaker, so that the camera can record the conversation. Some people imitate that habit even when they are not near a rolling camera. In that case the screen remains active. After all, no ear or head is detected by the proximity sensor. You may be holding the iPhone upside down or tilted, which prevents the sensor from properly detecting your ear.
Try holding the iPhone a little more in the standard way and then check if the screen still doesn’t turn off.
Screen does not turn off while calling due to software problem
An iPhone is in fact a computer and can behave strangely just like any other computer. The sensor may no longer receive a signal that you are on a call with the device against your ear, so the screen is not instructed to turn off. What can always help is restarting your iPhone to see if that solves the problem. It takes less effort than going to the Apple Store only to hear the familiar words: “Have you restarted your device yet?”
The sensor is broken
Of course, the proximity sensor could also be broken. You can quite easily check whether your iPhone’s light sensor is not working properly. All you have to do is call someone. As soon as you pick up the phone, cover the top with your hand, i.e. the part where the front camera is located. If the screen turns off, you can at least be sure that the sensor is still working fine. Does the screen stay on? Then there may be something wrong with the sensor.
Have your iPhone repaired
We of course hope that the problem can be easily solved by holding the iPhone differently or by restarting your device. If that is not the case, it is better to have it looked at. This can be done at the Apple Store or at one of the authorized Apple repair partners, such as Amac. You can contact Apple Support via phone, chat, and other channels. You can then decide for yourself whether you make an appointment with the Apple Store or have your iPhone checked and repaired at another party.
If your iPhone is less than a year old, you can have the device repaired free of charge under warranty. In the following year, you can still invoke European consumer law, but you must return to the store where you originally purchased the device. We have created an extensive explainer article on the topic of iPhone warranty.
If you are no longer under warranty, you can of course have this problem resolved by Apple itself, one of its service partners or an independent repairer. You can read all about it in our tip about iPhone repairs.
