Chosen Solution
iphone 7 home button not working after screen replacement, help
A lot of questions here and few answers. Here’s my take after gauging the repair community and doing some screen replacements myself in our store: FACT 1: the home button has an embedded chip on the backside of the button. To use simple words, this chip stores the key that allows the board to recognize it. Thus if you use a different home button, whether original or aftermarket, the board will not recognize the home button. As a result, the non-native home button will not be able to scan the finger print and will not react to any input. The phone will act as if it’s missing the home button completely. A message will also appear “Touch ID cannot be activated.” The only way to have the home button function in this case is by using the assistive touch aka virtual on-screen home button. And the only way to wake the phone would be by using the power button or raise to wake. FACT 2: Apple - and only in an Apple owned Apple Store, but starting to show up at some AASPs as I write this - can replace the screen and home button and reprogram the new home button and pair it with the board/phone. If a third party repair shop or DIYer damage the home button during repair, or the owner breaks it somehow, or it fails, the only way to have a home button function restored at this date is to take it to an Apple Store or one of those AASPs that are starting to receive the pairing machine. FACT 3: Apple did nothing to prevent replacing screens with OEM or aftermarket parts. If you replace the screen and transfer the home button without damaging it, everything will work normally. But expect cheap parts to perform poorly. So invest in good quality parts from reputable vendors. Replacement screens should be as close as possible to Apple screens in terms of : color fidelity, backlight, touch, force touch, durability, frame lifting, frame finishing. FACT 4: many replacement screens have a defective home button interconnect cable. When the home button works with the original screen but not the replacement screen, it is a bad screen and you need to warranty it or replace it. And yes a whole batch can be defective. However, sometimes while disassembling the iPhone, you damage the home button extension cable on the broken screen, then you try to fit a bad replacement part. Now home button doesn’t work on neither the old nor the new screen, and you assume the home button itself has failed. Well no, sometimes it hasn’t. FACT 5: you may damage the home button and completely lose all functions, specially if you tear the home button cable. Some very patient people resolder the pieces together. I would rather fit an original broken screen together with the damaged home button and send them to an Apple Store for complete screen assembly replacement and pairing (see FACT 2). The cost of the new screen from Apple is comparable in price to the cost of stitiching the broken home button back together in my opinion. FACT 6: in some instances, a chip (other than the one in FACT 1) present on the home button is damaged (specially during transfer of home button from broken to new screen). When damaged and failing, this chip will prevent home button function from working such as to exit an app and go back to home screen. But the finger print scanner would still be working and you are able to wake/unlock the screen with your finger/fingerprint and use reachability. This chip is accessible (contrary to the fingerprint scanner chip in FACT 1 which is practically unreachable) can be replaced and the issue can be fixed. Sometimes a partial tear to the home button cable can cause the same failure. It is also repairable by some people with the right tools, skill, and patient mindset. EDIT: New Fact (7) FACT 7: some repair techs noticed that a damaged front cam assembly can interfere with the functioning of the Home Button/Touch ID. To rule out this possibility, test the Home Button + Touch ID functions after disconnecting the front camera flex cable. BUT, starting with iOS 11, front cam assembly may need to be present/connected for the iPhone to boot. So may be try a different/known good one. EDIT: iOS 11.0.0-11.0.3 FACT 8: after the release if iOS 11, and up till iOS 11.0.3, we noticed that some iPhone 7 devices cannot boot completely or may boot-loop if home button is missing or damaged (as well as front cam assembly). [Not verified yet: a fellow tech observed that some i7 would boot without home button attached. His theory is that the board version that has a certain Intel chip would boot without the home button while the board version with a Qualcomm chip requires the home button to be installed to boot]. Hope this will be of any help and feel free to message me for additional info or clarifications. I’ll be happy to share.
Hey! Jasen here, from the iFixit team. We played around with some of our iPhone 7 units and swapped around a few screens. We were able to successfully swap a screen from one iPhone 7 to another iPhone 7—and the Touch ID/home button worked after the swap for us. Interested to see some of the results you all get after you swap screens, too. Keep posting here with your results! We’ll keep testing on our side, too.
Update (02/09/2017) Ok I think that finally I found the problem so first I want to explain something. A guy wrote here that he just opened an iPhone 7 and he didn’t unplugged anything and the home button stop working. I already open 4 iphone 7 and after open the phone using a heat gun the home button still works fine before unplug anything so the heat won’t damage the home button. Other people is writing that maybe is because the replacement screen is not original well that is not the cause why the home button stop working neither because I just replace the glass from the LCD for two iPhones 7 and the home button stop working and that is with the original LCD and cables. So the problem that I found so far is when yes tried to remove the big metal plate from the screen where the large home button cable goes under with glue. We apply heat on that plate to be able to separate that plate from the cable and looks like the cable is really really soft so even if you don’t break it inside gets damage so we replace the backlight with that cable and the home button start to works fine again. Conclusion: we found that using the original LCD but replacing the backlight with the long cable will solve the issue (we solve the issue twice so far)
I had the same problem. But I got it fixed. The 3D Touch and home button cable (one cable) is very fragile. Remove the metal backplate on the back of the screen an check the complete cable. Mine was broken. I replace the whole backlight + 3D Touch (Removing of the old backlight + 3D Touch is very hard) and the Touch ID is working without any problems.
If you have any questions feel free to write me a message.
When my home button refuse to cooperate I give him a new life How to replace the touch IC on the home button
Hey Guys, Maybe I should post this in the iPHone 6S thread too. After updating to iOS 10, I find that non OEM screens are not working on iPhone 6S. This could be related here if the replacement you’re using for the iPHone 7 is non OEM. I think Apple has added a new ‘security’ measure.
This is a repost, but we had this same issue happen today. we had fixed about 10-12 i7 and 7 plus phones to date with no issues, but on this one the home button stopped responding (fingerprint worked fine). After swapping screens, trying donor phones, etc, nothing. So we backed up phone, dropped it to DFU mode and did a complete restore. Home button came back just fine. Update (05/15/2017) I posted earlier that we had this issue, did a reconnect dropped phone to DFU and restored and were fine. Since then we have fixed 50+ iphone 7 and 7 plus models, and no issues at all, I think for us that first one was an early batch issue similar to issues with haptic feedback on 6s series.
Did you swap the original home button to the new LCD?
Posting here so I can stay on this thread
It is after market screens, we see this every year with the new iPhones. There is always something manufacturers need to work the kinks out. The 5C had bad touch issues, the 6 had frame lifting issues, 6s with force touch and now with the 7 it’s the aftermarket force touch/backlight again. We should be getting answers from suppliers. And iFixit screens do the same thing, I’ve tried. I’ve only had a couple screens from different suppliers work. It’s like a needle in a haystack right now.
After having an issue with an iPhone 7’s home button not working (but the touchID on the replacement screen WAS working, strangely enough) yesterday, I was being rather cautious with an iPhone 7 today. I used a heat gun to heat up the back of the phone (low heat to the point of the metal just getting “warm”) and a slight bit of heat on the edges of the screen, avoiding the home button. I used a razor blade to slide under the edges of the screen, no more than 1/8" in. I didn’t disconnect ANYTHING, but when I turned the phone back on to test, neither the home button nor touchID worked any longer. Again, aside from merely lifting the screen off the metal frame, this is the untouched original screen and home button I’m talking about. Also, I thought it might have been my imagination but I could’ve sworn while I was heating the back (and the phone was off) I felt the haptic feedback engine vibrate, like the home button had been touched. Update 15 minutes later: both touchID and the home button work on the after-market replacement screen so I’m assuming the original screen’s home button cables were damaged in the repair. I think it was the heat, even slight as it was–there is NO damage to the cables from the razor blade. I have not yet installed the rear metal frame to the after-market screen. NOTE: one thing I did different from yesterday’s failed repair was this time I did NOT remove the tiny rubber ring on the inside of the home button, which I thought was merely for waterproofing. I’m thinking maybe that is vital in the functionality of this new home button. I also made sure that the home button metal bracket was properly in place (the plastic bump on the left side was fully inside the circular gap of the bracket) and the three other screws were in place before putting the screw for the actual home button in. I’ve also made a habit of not putting the home button on my magnetic screw pad. Final update: after market screen is fully installed and touchID and home button are still working properly.
Check the inner cables where the home button connects and make sure all of the connections are solid
Hi Guys Sharing here, my experiences with iPhone 7 screen repairs: Until last week, I’ve done 7-8 LCD original Foxconn assemblies, (and one refurbished assembly), all without any home button, or other issues. For all of these, I have re-used HB/Touch key, and all other “small parts”, moving them over from the cracked screens. I have NOT moved the back plate, with HB key extension cable, I have only used VERY little heat on the lower part of the LCD metal back plate, to get the adhesive to let go of the LCD/Touch flex. Very little heat is needed, as the material is thin, and heats up in a flash. Better to apply a tiny amount of heat, than to pull the flex cables. BUT my lucky streak ended suddenly… The one I got in the shop last week, had a broken screen, AND a small crack in the HB glass disc. HB was/is dead.. (also before screen replacemnt, which the customer forgot to tell me). So, no click / no touch. It was dropped onto pavement, from “chest height”, and the phone is now useless, and I can’t help my costumer, due to these sneaky / childish construction politics from Apple, and because he dropped it, he has no warranty either. The result, is one ridiculously expensive “Jet Black - 256GB” - just ONE month old, and ready for scrap. It amazes me, that Apple even bother to spend time and money deliberately creating hassle, and annoyances for their own costumers, and subsequently for us “repair-dudes”. They are making billions, so I really don’t get the point. This could prove to be an even greater annoyance than “Error 53”, if they don’t fix it somehow, in later IOS’es. I actually hope, that there is another explanation to this, but even after serious speculating, I still don’t get why the HB’s has to be paired with the logic boards? Some intelligent ppl tried to explain, that “it is constructed that way, to make it harder to work around the touch ID feature”. But why should pairing the specific reader to the board make that any harder. You only have 5 or so attempts, until the iPhone requires the pass code anyway. Furthermore, I presume that the “finger print data”, read during setup, is stored in the logic board.. NOT in the IC on the flex, and thus the whole pairing-idea makes absolutely no sense.. not to me anyhow. As a result of all this, plus the missing mini jack, the protruding camera lens, the awkwardly positioned “sleep key” key, the monopoly (and a few other annoyances), I have decided, that my own next phone, will be a fling with the brand, that has an “i” in the end of the name… not in the beginning!
I am repairing an iPhone 7 plus and changed the screen, as original was broken, keeping all other original parts like top camera/speaker and home button, i have found that with the top camera/speaker connected to the motherboard the home button stops working and there is roughly a 5-10 second delay on the screen, with the top camera/speaker disconnected everything works completely fine with no delay and i can use the home button completely fine, i have tried this with the original broken screen and same issue is happening with that even though it worked fine before (the digitiser was just cracked badly), also now i have replaced home button and camera/speaker with new parts, and still having same issue. i’m thinking it’s something to do with the hardware on the phone but unsure, please help.
The Home button on iPhone 7 will not work if you replaced a new screen. If your screen is broken and wants the home button works, send your iPhone to an Apple store.
Actually, I had the same issue. I tried to adjust the home button intensity, changed the home button click speed, and uses AssistiveTouch to override this issue. And it really worked for me.
HOME BUTTON SOLUTION!! I had the same home button issue as many of you guys, with 5 iPhone 7’s in a row while using expensive $50 oem screens. After a lot of research I’ve come across of a suggestion which sounded interesting to me. Low and behold, this solution has actually worked!! I have simply loosened the screw in the back of the home button which holds it to the metal bracket, restarted the phone, and the home button has started working perfectly. All credits go to: 05/31/2017 by screensaviors I loosened the screw behind the center of the home button (holding it to the metal bracket), and it magically works now. This may not fix a lot of them, but it worked for me. I was just tightening that screw snug, but must have been too snug. Which makes perfect sense, since a slight warping of the touch sensor could cause it to malfunction, creating all the dreaded touch issues. Now, there could be other causes too, such as cheap/low quality replacement screen (don’t be a cheapskate! lol), broken ribbon, or corrupted software which can all be solved fairly easily, but the home button screw loosening should be tried first. :)
*** FINALLY A SOLUTION TO FIX THE TOUCH SENSOR ISSUE!! *** Guys, I had the same frustration with five different iPhone 7’s, while using expensive $50 oem screens, so it’s not always the screen that causes the issue. After reading through all these messages, here’s a couple of interesting ones to try. Low and behold, the second solution has actually worked!! I have removed that single screw completely, restarted the phone, and the home button started working perfectly. 06/27/2017 by sam Try replacing the top camera/speaker/proximity sensor flex cable with a new one, and everything should work fine again. That seems defective if causing phone to act up when connected. You can replace that with new one, and should fix everything. 05/31/2017 by screensaviors I loosened the screw behind the center of the home button (holding it to the metal bracket), and it magically works now. This may not fix a lot of them, but it worked for me. I was just tightening that screw snug, but must have been too snug. Which makes perfect sense, since a slight warping of the touch sensor could cause it to malfunction, creating all the dreaded touch issues. Also, the top camera/speaker flex cable has to be connected, otherwise the home button will malfunction. In concludion, use high quality screens only (don’t be a cheapskate! lol), and don’t over-tighten the single screw in the back of the touch sensor. Which makes perfect sense, since a slight warping of the touch sensor could cause it to malfunction, creating all the dreaded touch issues.
Can confirm at least in this one instance that replacing the prox sensor on the iph 7 did bring the home button back to full functionality .
An update - I had the same HB issue-fixed my own iPhone7 screen with an iFixit screen (not cheap), reused my HB and my old camera/speaker assembly. Touch ID worked, but the button was unresponsive. Removing the screw from the back of the button was not the solution. I went through the DFU, and what it gave me was a “virtual” HB that appears on my screen as a ghost button. My touch id opens the home screen and when I want to return to it from an app, all I do is touch the virtual button. It’s a weird work around, but it works.
HI: In my case was the front camera/speaker/sensor flex, After change flex , the home button works successfully.
Try swapping the home button link cable using the original one on the new screen. It is under the wielding on the lcd
Someone try this, Make a back up of iPhone 7, Replace the screen with a aftermarket screen, seal it up and then put it in DFU mode, let it wipe it self then restore it in DFU mode. just interested to see if it will replace the firmware and accepting the new screen and the HB as the original. I would do it but I do not have a iPhone 7 for testing.
Has anyone found a reliable work around or can verify that replacement screens will not work. I’m still getting conflicting reports. Some say the button not working is just a bad repair, others are saying Apple is up to nastiness again.
Solved it. I recently had this issue on a iPhone 7 Plus. I replaced the screen just fine first time. I then noticed that the sensor that turns off the screen when making a call was not working. Upon opening the phone a second time when I put it back together I got the message about home button may needing service. The phone was also extremely slow. The front facing camera was not working, nor the sensor. Many apps stopped working. With my electron repair microscope I could spot a problem with the motherboard. I replaced the small chips and all was working well. It gave me a few hours of headake and rabbit holing. This issue is mostly due to a defective screen, but can sometimes be motherboard. I own and run a small repair shop in sweden.
It’s something else, other stuff is going on. We constant having issue that we had to stop repairing iPhone 7 in our store. I was playing around with my person iPhone 7 today. I opened my phone 140 degree and without doing anything else I put it back and homebutton stop responding. It’s reading my finger print but no click.
My experience on this is two fold… you either break the HB or the screen flex is faulty. Of hundreds ive done this is the only two issues ive seen. I thought i had a broken HB on one of the latest repairs, tried 5 different screens and gave up. Turns out i had a bad batch of non oem screens that had faulty flex (serious bad luck there!). Just be careful with the HB removal (gently pry up a little to the right, a but of iso spray and a playing card and comes out nice, be gentle around the u10 ic chip (the large ic in the middle of the HB), it can be replaced but you need skillz! Get quality screens, i know people like to maximise profits by cheaping out on screens but its not worth it for the ip7 as it stands, you only end up moving the HB more and that causes extra stress on a already weak cable. We go refurbished original LCDs from now on and have great results, around 95% of all screens work perfectly. Ive not seen any issues or with SW or just by opening them up, IMO they are just myths for bad repairs.
Cracked my i7 screen. I open the screen and realized it was a lot more effort than other iphones. I put the screen back down. Now home button will not initialize. Any suggestions?
The issue is the i7 after market home button cannot work, at least for me I tried a couple of them but no success.
i replace my screen the home button is working but the Touch ID scanning its not working it all,¿any clues?
Hi I’ve changed an ip6 complete rebuild for a new back housing chase all ribbons changed over from original Apple screen under metal plate and original home button moved over .HB works but doesn’t recognise finger print scanner .i got told to take a small square plate under the connector that the HB connector connects to screen it’s under the screen ribbon .is this true ? I’ve updated iOS but no prevail.i don’t mind it to be honest because I can still enter a 4 digit access code to open phone .im thinking of doing same upgrade to a blue or red back chase for my ip7 but after reading all posts I’m weary of eaven opening the ip7 now just in case the HB stops working altogether .this is just so my phone is different not due to damage .any info on this upgrade so I do have a operational HB once done and what to watch out for . Update (01/05/2018)
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Just update or restore iOS. It’s help for me.
Had this problem with a broken iphone 7 plus i purchased with a damaged screen. The phone worked perfect with the cracked screen including the home button and touch id , how ever when I replaced with a copy screen the home button and touch id both would not work so i put the parts back on the old original screen and they both worked. I then purchased a original refurbished LCD from a different part store and both home button and touch id worked. This is hardware related.. for iphone 7/7plus i recommend using higher end LCD instead of the cheap copy. Also this problem can occur if you were too rough with home button itself so make sure to heat it up before removing from original lcd.
So , im buying iphone 7 with broken screen and home button , so what tools and parts i need to buy? Can someone maybe help me?
I think this is a new solution for home button Iphone 7 https://youtu.be/JV6tl04-Rdk https://www.unionrepair.com/new-charging…
my i phone 7 plus home key not workafter screen replacement how to solved this problems
Either the flex for the homebutton on the new screen isn’t working - or the cable in the button it self is damaged. If it’s the flex in the screen - use other screen, if it’s a tear in the homebutton flex, there is a problem. Only apple can replace homebuttons for iPhone 7/8. However, recently there has been “invented” a solution that goes around apple. You can buy a new chargeflex, where there is a new homebutton with it, that’ll bypass the hardware-check on startup and make you use the phone. However without touch id and in som cases the lightning port won’t work with headsets as well..:)
So, update…my daughter dropped her iPhone 7Plus and the screen shattered. I replaced it with the screen replacement kit from iFixit, one replaced everything worked except the home button. Neither the functionality nor the fingerprint scan worked. I took it apart and checked connections several time to no avail. About three weeks later she dropped it again and beaten down and my confidence crushed I took it to a repair kiosk in the mall and they replaced the screen and everything works now? So not really sure what fixed it or why it wasn’t working before.
Hi everyone, i am going through this pain in the a** too…few days ago i swapped a broken screen with a not so good new one, and i tested it (unfortunately without immediately installing home button) to see if it worked. Once i saw that it worked, i installed the home button on the new screen, trying to be as gentle as possibile, and the phone gave me the touch id error message. So i put the home button back in the broken screen, but i found a weird behaviour: touch screen was unresponsive (and home button didn’t work anymore). After some attempts, i noticed that if the screen connector on the right is connected, touch screen is unresponsive, with or without the connection of home button. If only the left screen connector is connected, touch screen works, but not home button. In the new screen, touch screen works with all two connectors connected, instead, but home button doesn’t work. Have any of you experienced something like this? Thanks!
HiI had a couple of iPhone 7 with button replaced.After playing with buttons and screens I found a combination that worked for one - guess what?It was boot-looping with button and not with original broken one!2nd phone, similar problems, then replaced home button with 5th generation [I think] copy and it worked - Chinese keep modifying them - testing new ways to overcome problems, but … it needs to be hard pressed and use thumb!I only repair them, I have never owned one!#Right2Repair !
