screen freezing/touching apps, keys, numbers on its own...

[Brad09]

This is an iPhone 5 that I have had since new. A month or so ago I dropped it in the sink and then waited for it to dry back out/rice/etc. The front camera and proximity sensor no longer work. Early on, the sensitivity of the touch screen started going in and out. Sometimes when the lock screen came up it wouldn't let me swipe to unlock the phone.

The apple store said the water sticker inside was pink, so no replacement. I gave it a couple days and the phone slowly started working again. After a week, other than some moisture behind the screen the phone was like new again. Everything worked fine until a few days ago.

Now the screen started freezing again and the phone will open apps on its own, and if the keyboard is pulled up it will start hitting keys over and over on its own. It will also swipe safari pages forward and back on its own etc.

But....anytime it is acting up I can hit the lock button, then push the home button/unlock the phone and it goes back to normal for a short while. Of course, I am over my 1 year warranty and apple wont do anything anyway since it has water damage. Is there anything that can be done for it at this point? The fact it started working like new for a few weeks makes it seem like its a software issue, it just doesn't make sense for it to start getting worse like this. Is there a part I can order/replace to fix it?

Thanks in advance - Brad

 

[behappy123]

On many phones these days, you cannot get replacements for certain parts. I think before going for any replacements, you should try and trick Apple. Go to another Apple store (not the one where you had already reported your problem) and then tell them what is happening, but don't mention the cause, i.e phone fell into sink. I once got my problems solved in this way, of course, the idea was given to me by an Apple store staff itself. Probably, he was puzzled whether doing anything would make the situation worse. I went to the other store and then told them my problem without the cause (just told that this was happening) and they got it sorted out lol. Though its kind of lying, its worth trying out.

 

[behappy123]

Oh! I forgot to tell you! Try resetting the phone first. Press and hold the power and home button simultaneously for some time, this may take longer time than usual. Welcome to iPF and hope you have a good time here.

 

[Brad09]

Thanks for the response. I have tried resetting it that way many times as well as restoring the phone to factory settings with no luck. If I take it to an apple store as you suggested, does it matter I'm past my 1 year warranty ? I don't have apple care either...

Also just realized there is only one store in my state, would they have a record of my last visit where they found the water damage?

 

[behappy123]

Ya, that warranty thing is the only problem, but if you don't tell them, they might change it because it is in an unusable state, right? They don't keep records of your past visits, but make sure you don't bang into the same person.