The new iPhone 7 has a solid-state pressure-sensitive Home button that does away with the physical button that’s been available on the iPhone since the first model. The new handset will warn you when something isn’t right with the new button, and will offer a workaround until you can get it fixed.
MacRumors forum member ‘iwayne’ shared the above picture of his iPhone 7 display after the device unexpectedly turned itself off while charging and the haptic feedback began malfunctioning after a restart. A dialog prompt warns that the home button is in need of repair, but presents an alternative on screen home button for temporary use until the phone has been turned in to Apple for servicing.
The Taptic Engine that powers the new Home button on the iPhone 7 can become unresponsive if the operating system freezes. (Apple changed the way you reset the iPhone 7, you no longer press the Power button and Home button simultaneously.) And, with the change, Apple also added a workaround, (seen above), for when things go wrong with the Home button.
Apple is rumored to be considering doing away with the Home button completely in the 10th Anniversary iPhone 8, in favor of one hidden in an edge-to-edge display.
Have you seen this on your iPhone? Has the new-style Home button on your device quit working, only to have the iPhone 7 present you with the alternative seen above? Let us know in the comments section below, we’d like to find out how many users this has happened to.
