Sony z3 compact xperia back and home button not working

[User105]

I am using z3 for almost a year and dint have any issues. Since last two updates i am facing two problems.

1. The drop down notification menu does not displays properly when slided over from top to bottom

2. Back and home button works once in a blue moon. Previously they were working great. Now i will have to try for more than 25 times to make that happen or restart the device.

Please let me know if this is a software issue caused by the latest software release or is there a way to bring back the old version of software. Eventually i need a working software and not this piece of ugly software quality.

Please respond when this issue will be resolved.

[mws2]

Same issue here ... home/back button stopped working all of a sudden ...

Issue could still be observed after factory reset, software repair (Xperia Companion), firmware upgrade ... even installed latest LineageOS. Thus, it's most likely hardware related.

What a bummer. I'm probably a few months over the warranty.

[JarKen]

But how can it be hardware relayed? If I'll use soft key: home and apps works, but back doesn't. But when I'll switch back with apps, back still isn't working and apps are. This means placing of the buttons doesn't matter. 

I'd like Sony to state what's going on. I don't have warranty anymore and I'm not buying new phone. Definitely not Sony. 

This issue can be fixed,, hardware is acting fine. There's something youSony. If you think differently prove me wrong.

For everyone affected for me glove mode works-not great but 3 out o of 5, for now it's fine, but I'd liked this issue fixed. 

Let's win this fight!

[touchmenot]

You are right. The buttons do not work only if these are at the bottom. They work fine when these are at the top (next to sony logo) once you have rotated the phone.

If you rotate the screen the touch screen function is absolutely good at all parts including the original portion where these buttons were. So cannot be a hardware issue.

For me this problem appeared after i updated the Android System webview two days back. I have tried to remove updates to this and then restart the phone but the problem remains. I do not know if these are related ..

The only problem is roation is not available on the home screen. So you cannot go to recent apps from home screen and you have to keep rotating just to get to these buttons...

[Bullpupp]

I own two Xperia Z3 compacts.

I bought the first one in 2014 and it was fine until the lollipop update which caused the problems that everyone is mentioning.

An easy fix to the problem: settings> display> activate glove mode.

Use your index finger knuckle to press on your home, back or tab button. Works perfectly.

Enjoy 

[farkas]

I have the solution for your problem. Repair the softver with pc companion and deactivate ''wake up by duble tap'' function in the display menu. This helped me.

[JarKen]

Well the glove mode is helping like I laready mentioned. But it also makes the rest of the screen very sensitive and hard to use. Things are pressed that were never intended to be pressed.

[tatz_me_not]

nahh sony knows it but dont care. i have posted same issues a long time ago and they never give me a solution. i just throw the phone to the bin its useless anyway. and guys beware all the xperia series have these issues. its now software issues its hardware. please dont waste your hard earned money on these brands. even thier tv's got so many issues. the age of sony brand has ended.

[tatz_me_not]

this fight started 2 years ago and sony doesnt even care. this is a lost cause bro. lets face it we just throw away our hard earned bucks for this phone.

[MB78]

Dear Support,

Please help. This issue seems to have been happening to users since 2015. I'm hoping in two years someone has worked out why and how to properly fix it. 

Issue: Back, Home and Open Apps buttons (at the bottom of the screen) have stopped working! Issue is not the screen as the Mic, Unlock Phone and Quick camera buttons (when screen is locked) are situated in the same place and still work. This is some how software related, however checking last update time I don't believe it's linked to this. So I'm stumped. I have had a recent warning on memory being nearly full, if that helps you. But I have now moved to SD card and seen no change in the problem.

Suggested fixes are either work arounds, which are not suitable. Turn on Glove mode, which may rarely allow a button to be pressed, but not nearly often enough. Get a new screen, which costs money and would only fix hardware issues not software issues. Or Reset, which I will admit that as this issue has only occured this evening I have yet to try the 'Back-up and Reset with PC companion' method as suggested in other posts. But due to posts saying that doesn't work I'm reluctant to waste time trying.

Please comment so that I know if the PC companion route is worth trying. Or any other options to remedy this issue. I'm currently not working and can not afford a new phone, my warrenty has expired and I will have to use the silly work around of opening a random app turning it on it's side just to use these crucial control functions.

If nothing can be done please, please at least consider updating the home page to have rotating functionaliy (which would be another work around but a better one than needing to open random apps). 

Thank you for your time looking into this and for your expected comments. 

Regards

[inergona]

First time poster - and shocked to find this and related threads on this forum about this issue that I've just experienced on my phone. Initially only a few parts of the screen were unresponsive, but over the course of 1-2 weeks the "disease" spread until most of the screen is not responsive, making the phone unlockable and unusable.

I noticed the failure appeared to occur in horizontal "stripes" - first the lower home buttons area stopped, then the top menu pull-down area, then other horizontal blocks on the screen...

How can Sony simply remain quiet about this long-standing issue that totally kills the phone?