Help Lay it down with screen turned off & locked, then find it has done "wierd" stuff anyway

[Jerry Bransford]

We have three new LG Optimus S phones and they all are exhibiting the same problem... when the screen is locked, face down on a table and it has been untouched for a while, it will unlock on its own and start doing ramdom "stuff". I first noticed it happening in my pocket, that I would lock the screen and then pull it out to find it has unlocked and I have a history of 4-6 screens with gibberish on them, like it went to text mode and was typing in random gibberish from voice and/or keyboard input. I chalked it up to it being in my pocket and it somehow unlocking (but sliding the unlock slider?? ).

This morning I awoke to find my phone that had been locked with the screen off and placed face down on my nightstand to charge had tried to download a new application from Market I had not selected sometime during the night. The wife's has done similar things several times.


But it also does it when it is locked and face down on a table being charged. The wife's does it too. Locked and black screen when we go to bed. Wake up and this morning, I found it had tried to download a Sprint application. The wife's had unlocked too but it just had a bunch of gibberish on multiple screens.

Does anyone else's LG Optimus S phone unlock on its own and act like you have been selecting random screens?

I assure you (!!!) that after noticing this, I have triple-checked my phone to see that it locked, screen was black, and face down away from anyone and any pets so no one and no animal could have touched its screen to unlock it.

One more thing... in the interest of saving my battery from unnecessary battery drains, I am in the habit of making sure applications like the GPS is off and that I have not clicked on either of its two GPS map applications. Yet once in a while I will check and, sure enough, the GPS has been turned back on and draining my battery. The wife's does the same thing and she NEVER uses her phone's GPS since she has one in her car.

 

[Kmfiremedic111]

So you made sure you have exited out of the apps properly, shut off GPS properly. Have you downloaded any unusual apps? I downloaded a sound board app and it had ad ware with it that randomly took me to a website and started a movie preview. If that is not the case then you may just have lemon phones. Did you try and update the firmware and the software? Have you tried turning the phone off then on once a day to reboot stuff. Also try and take the phones battery out then re install. That helped with mine every now and then.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Our batteries have been out several times to do full reboots and we barely have downloaded any applications. We aren't being taken to unusual websites, it is just normal non-downloaded Android applications running that we DEFINITELY did not start or even normally use. Like voice input, text input, etc. and this morning after it had been "put to sleep" last night by locking the screen and making sure nothing unusual was running, it had gone to Sprint's ID site to download their "Small Business" package which I have no interest in. I woke up to it asking me to install the Small Business package it had downloaded overnight.

And as was already emphasized above, yes the GPS was properly shut off. Firmwear and OS are both fully up to date.

 

[uniquenameEVO]

Wow, this is a blast from the past. Still wheeling a Jeep Jerry?

For the apps "launching" like voice input, etc, don't worry. Typical android behavior. My daughter has had zero issues that I have seen on her optimus. Pretty sure if you are mostly stock, the GPS off should work. Are you going menu->settings->location to take off the GPS check box?

The ID is interesting. I wish I could help, but I moved to launcher pro immediately and don't touch the sprint ID.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

Why do you place the phone face down? Perhaps something on the table surface is causing the capacitive screen to interact like human skin.

Place the phone face up, with the screen not touching anything!

 

[Jerry Bransford]

I'm sorry, I was not clear enough on this. The problem occurs when the phone is both face up and face down. I only started laying it face down to eliminate the possibility that something was touching the screen. My wife and I actually witnessed the phone (face up) with the screen locked and dark and untouched, open the google calendar and start voice input. All three of our Optimus S phones have this intermittent problem where untouched, it will unlock and start a random application.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

Perhaps you have a ghost in the house? Call Ghost Hunters?

Seriously, get a camcorder and record the phones by themselves acting up, and post it here!

If you really want to get to the bottom of the matter, you should list all the apps you have on the phone, any customization you've done, any accessories / cases you're using. We can review the apps one by one and see what may be causing it to act like this.

 

[roadster]

As I am following this topic:

My Question to you are;

1 the pone on charge, exactly wat is te pone doing from te time you are about to plug in? you plug in phone via supplied ac plug, Phone is lit up bright, 5 sec's dimly lit, charging while screen is dimly lit? or are you turning Off that dimly lit screen by pressing upper right button once?

Well as Iam about to look at te Op and I had to come back and post this.

The Op is doing whatever by itself going back and fourth between homescreens.

Reason handsfree wired set resting onscreen.

Suggestion If the phone is just laying Why not make sure it is covered off the counter, could possbly lil critters are around............

the screen is sensitive especially to a handsfree wired resting, as I can demo this

 

[sksahai]

Mine is doing the exact samething! Weird stuff all by itself!
I caught it making chriping noises and cycling between home screens a few days ago. Just now, it tried to make a phone call using the emergency dialer. Then, when I picked it up by the edges to get a closer look, it went to the lock screen, and tried to draw a pattern all by itself! (i use a pattern for the lockscreen). The only apps I know that are running are juice defender and lookout. Launcher Pro as the "home app"
No critters, no random breezes, no nothing. I power cycled the phone about an hour prior to it doing this because it was lagging between screens and apps.
I don't use much, just the messaging and email apps, along with blue tooth enabled.
I'll try to rememember to get a video of it if it does it again.

 

[roadster]

no metal, crumbs or debrea. the sensor is finigy.

 

[Spark5091]

When you say the phone is locked, I assume this means you went into "Settings" and selected "Set up screen lock" and selected Pin, Password or Pattern. Is this correct? (not trying to be offensive, just trying to be clear)

If so, have you tried one of the other locks? That is, if you selected 'Pattern' doe sit also happen with 'Password'? Does it happen without a lock being used?

I have only had mine for a couple of months, and do not use a lock and have not seen this problem. One of the previous responders had a similar problem using a pattern lock (I think). Might indicate that is the area that has the problem.

Good luck.

 

[babygirle]

Ok so I'm truly not the only one that experienced this problem.. First one question to anyone this is happening to... DID YOU ALLOW ANYONE TO HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR PHONE????? If so you have spyware added to your phone.. People HEAR me when I say my own brother yes blood brother added programming I thought look harmless actually thought I needed it.. NOT It was spyware when I begin to notice he told me "oh it will do that it's the phone updating". When I caught him reading my text from a remote computer. I flipped my lid and demanded it to be taken off. He told me I was crazy and made sure everybody else thought I was too. After about $200.00 and one of the best hackers I could possibly find. I got my sanity back. I had the programming removed and proof I wasn't crazy... As far as the apps they endless from a "standard notepad" it's a camcorder app that can be remotely turned on.. to yes even the prized LOOKOUT SECURITY app is also spyware... People please beware don't allow anyone access to your phones. If a friend wants to play say I'm sorry I can't. And by the way all android phones big an small to cheap an expensive can have this done to them.. There is only one solution to the problem keep the phone in your grip at all times. If you lay it down lock it.. The is an ADVANCED LOCK that will allow you to lock your phone to different ways. It is free an in the android market. But first you must reset your phone to the factory settings deleting all apps and everything. When you have reset your phone, download the advanced lock, then a task killer (preferably the one with the green android body and a blue X on his chest), set the settings to crazy and it will kill running apps every 20 or 30 minutes, ensuring that you have no programs running. it will keep the advanced lock running... I hope this helps...

 

[uniquenameEVO]

Everybody got that grain of salt? Good, take two if you don't mind.

 

[stchman]

Mine has not exhibited this behavior.

 

[sksahai]

When you say the phone is locked, I assume this means you went into "Settings" and selected "Set up screen lock" and selected Pin, Password or Pattern. Is this correct? (not trying to be offensive, just trying to be clear)

If so, have you tried one of the other locks? That is, if you selected 'Pattern' doe sit also happen with 'Password'? Does it happen without a lock being used?

I have only had mine for a couple of months, and do not use a lock and have not seen this problem. One of the previous responders had a similar problem using a pattern lock (I think). Might indicate that is the area that has the problem.

Good luck.

Correct: pattern lock as stated above. I'll switch to another lock and see what happens.
This only happens after full charge has been achieved, and the screen remains on (i.e, I don't manually turn off the screen by tapping the top button).
It's done it consistently in this situation. (Pattern Lock/Screen On/After full charge) about 2-3 a week. sometimes the pattern lock shifts around, like a ghost is trying to unlock it, sometimes the emergency dialer kicks in and trys to dial a 5555... number.
It has never done it when the screen is off. I keep meaning to try and capture it on video.

I swicthed to Go Launcher, and the same issue is occuring, and I also switched to green power instead of juice defender, and same issue.

 

[Spark5091]

I think you have just answered your own question. Let me explain.

Since an earlier post in this thread, I have implemeted a screen lock (experimented with both types). I have occassionally seen a similar problem (similar weirdness), when I left the screen on. I assumed this was a little like leaving the screen on and placing the phone in my pocket and making the dreaded phantom call. When I remember to turn the screen off (manually or via timeout) I do not have the problem.

So I suggest you remember to turn the screen off when not using the phone. (I know easier said than done) You might also shorten your timeout so that the screen turns off more quickly.

Just my experience... good luck

 

[sksahai]

I think you have just answered your own question. Let me explain.

Since an earlier post in this thread, I have implemeted a screen lock (experimented with both types). I have occassionally seen a similar problem (similar weirdness), when I left the screen on. I assumed this was a little like leaving the screen on and placing the phone in my pocket and making the dreaded phantom call. When I remember to turn the screen off (manually or via timeout) I do not have the problem.

So I suggest you remember to turn the screen off when not using the phone. (I know easier said than done) You might also shorten your timeout so that the screen turns off more quickly.

Just my experience... good luck

I understand the issue, and have taken steps to prevent it from happening as you mentioned above. It does not happen on the password/pin lock screens. I guess my concern is a bit more abstract.

The "weirdness" (for lack of a better term) should not happen at all, in my mind, it's mark of a poorly designed/tested product.

I don't like iphones or apple much, but from a user experience point of view, they deliver the goods. I can't imagine giving my father an android phone to use, but he was up and running with my brother's iphone in 5 minutes.

I am very good at tech stuff, can fix my home server, rebuild a computer and fix most windows issues. But it took me FOREVER to figure out how to hang up the frigging phone if by some chance I ended up on a different screen then the call screen. I had to post to this forum to get the answer (pull down the notification button)(enable top button to hang up).

Something as simple as a lock screen showing my name, home phone number, and email address (standard on blackberry, NOT on iphone) seems to be a no brainer to me (average user) but from an engineering point of vew gets left out.

Bluetooth implementation is funky, my previous phone, NonSmart Samsung M300, always connected to my car. Now I have to double check every time I get in. I put my phone in my briefcase before getting in, to physically prevent me from the temptation of texting while driving. I need the blue tooth connection to work flawlessly, but it doesn't.

I like the phone, it works for me just fine, it's the details that are the issue. I understand that alot of this is due to the very nature of the android ecosystem, and it's a matter of getting used to quirks.

At the end of the day, all else being equal, it's a phone to connect you with the people you need to talk to, and for that part, it fulfills it's mission just fine.

 

[tsw_2008]

I had the same problem and then I put the pin number on screen lock always using my birthday with all numbers ex: 00000000. Well woke up to unlock my phone and it wouldn't work. I have tried everything under the sun to unlock it but no dice. I then took it into a sprint store and they told me the only way they can unlock it is to do a manufactory reset. This means I will lose all my data. All of my notes that I use regularly important dates on some special calendar etc. I don't want to lose anything. Does anyone have any suggestions or know how to fix it?

 

[he_slices]

after reading this is leaning more to the ghostly presence, anybody have a voodoo doll in the house.

 

[MyNamesTooLong]

Warranty replacement...obviously its not a normal thing for the phone to do

 

[CarrieK]

My husband and I both have had our Optimus phones since December. Mine is rooted, his is not. We have never experienced that type of behavior. I recommend using Lookout as it scans anything you download for anything malicious. I am interested in finding out what is causing this so if you learn something please let us know. Good luck...this has got to be frustrating!

 

[Reverb7]

I have the exact same issue and have had some success at stopping it but not enough. On my phone I am pretty sure that it is only ghost opining whatever I have set on the screen as a shortcut so I have limited the shortcuts that I have on screen to the ones that I use the most and have made sure that none of them have to do with accessing the phones contacts so that I don't end up pocket dialing. On top of that I do not have any shortcuts on the main screen, they are all off to the left or right and I switched to a password to unlock. Like I said, this helped but has not completely fixed the issue. The other day after talking to my wife I went to the call log to do a quick redial and saw that the phone had called my sister immediately after I hung up with my wife. I am going to back everything up and doing a factory reset but if that doesn

 

[SomeWhoCallMeTim]

I've had this problem every now and then. I implemented a pattern lock and I thought that had fixed it but it hadn't. In another thread they suggested using an app called Confirm Call which I downloaded and am using but it is still too soon to know if that will fix the issue.

It hasn't been a huge problem as it seems to happen rarely but those times it has happened the phone has been in a belt holster and was manually "put to sleep" using the slight touch on the power button before being put into the holster.

 

[Reverb7]

CarrieK, does the Lookout app scan what you already have or just what you are downloading? Does anyone know of an app that will check for and get rid of spyware on a smart phone? Its worth checking out but my phone had this issue before I downloaded my first app so I don

 

[he_slices]

mine has started doing it now, i know i click lock screen and i text someone or the id changes , just crazy touch screen stuff