[D_Dog]

Most of you have probably experienced the "Cheek" clicking issue where you may accidentely click the screen in with your cheek while you're on the phone with someone, which could mute the call, put the call on hold, speakerphone, etc.

Of all of the things wrong or quirky about the Storm that have been listed in these forums (most of which can and will be fixed via software updates) this one is a MAJOR F$#@ up. I can't believe RIM didn't anticipate this problem or experience it in testing, WTF! Did Apple patent their proximity sensor capability and RIM couldn't find a workaround or what? Or did they just drop the ball here.

Maybe this can be fixed somehow with a clever software update.

I am somewhat familiar with how a capacitive screen works. Like I said "somewhat" familiar. A capacitive screen carries or holds a charge, and when a conductive surface (finger) comes in contact with it, it draws a charge off of that area of the screen. Sensors on the edges of the screen sense this draw in the current, and in a sense, triangulates where on the screen the touch came from. (Right?) I think this is why you have to lift your finger between typing actions, so the screen can recharge, (Yes?)

Maybe this next part is wrong but... If a finger touch draws some charge and affects the screen, wouldn't a larger skin area like a cheek draw a larger charge? Thereby letting the phone differentiate a cheek or palm, from a finger? It seems like the sensitivity of the screen that is being touched could be adjusted in such a way that a "larger than a finger" (cheek) could be differentiated from a "finger sized" touch. That way when the screen detects the touch of a large skin surface, (cheek) the screen click diode (sure type click) could be deactivated until it no longer detected the large skin surface.
Anyone?
I know the only trouble with this theory (if it's even sound) is, what if you have a beard? (no cheek contact)

Actually, the easiest way to fix this is to have the phone lock, or turn off the screen click diode when on a call, incoming or outgoing, until you click one of the physical buttons, like the back button, then the screen click is re-activated so you can use the mute, speakerphone, etc. Or at the very least, add this as an option "Lock screen click when on a call?" This would be a sweet option to have.

Thanks,

[JRSCCivic98]

I PMd CX with this same exact idea. Told him if he has the means to ask RIM people if this can be changed to detect larger surfaces and limit actions on the screen to only that of a finger sized touch. We'll see where that gets us.

[snape]

This is the one quirk that is pushing me back to my Curve. I like the Storm, its features and its potential, but I use it as a phone, and the phone needs to be functional. Muting or holding a call inadvertently isn't going to work long-term for me. And it isn't feasible (for me, at least) to use a headset for every phone call.

I'm going to wait a few days to see if an OS upgrade is actually released, in hopes it will address this issue. If the phone's screen behavior isn't modified by that point, then it's onto eBay for this slick device.

[secretsexyninja]

havent suffered from this yet but i can see it being an issue. good point

[Tumaz04]

How about you guys don't press it against your face so hard....?

[dontfeedthenerd]

Maybe this next part is wrong but... If a finger touch draws some charge and affects the screen, wouldn't a larger skin area like a cheek draw a larger charge? Thereby letting the phone differentiate a cheek or palm, from a finger? It seems like the sensitivity of the screen that is being touched could be adjusted in such a way that a "larger than a finger" (cheek) could be differentiated from a "finger sized" touch. That way when the screen detects the touch of a large skin surface, (cheek) the screen click diode (sure type click) could be deactivated until it no longer detected the large skin surface.
Anyone?

ERrr...

I used to work with a company that provided the sensing solution for Apple's ipod scroll wheels. The way a capacitive touch screen works is by detecting changes in capacitance. You're not drawing away charge really.

Wikipedia can probably explain it better than me.

But, your idea would still be possible to implement. Especially because the Storm is Multitouch capable. It'd just take a lot of tweaking with firmware.

The best way I can explain it is by using one of those pin art toys. Imagine the screen is one of those toys. Say you put a finger into one of those. What the firmware on the phone actually would do is scan the entire surface of that toy looking for the largest depression and register that as "touch". So with multitouch, what it's actually doing is looking for 2 indentations.

So the problem with detecting say a face is.. imagine if you slapped your entire face up side one of those pin toys, (our virtual "screen"). You'd get this big fat indentation, but the firmware is programmed to look for the largest 2 indentations. It's hard for it to actually recognize that this giant blob has placed itself squarely against the screen, because your face isn't going to be perfectly and evenly distributed against it. Most of the measurements that are made are relative.

So yes, it could be done, but there's a reason why the Apple iPhone uses a proximity sensor instead of the capacitive touch screen to detect if a face is closer.

</nerdiness>

[polidox]

How about you guys don't press it against your face so hard....?

the problem is that you dont have to press it very hard against your face to make it click....

[ghosthound]

hmm... havent had an issue of this but i can definitely see how this can be an issue.

[yapkuen]

The only way I could even press mine hard enough to make it click is if I tried to hold the phone with my shoulder, which I never try to do because I always inevitably drop things. Maybe it's just the way I hold my phone, but my cheek doesn't even touch the vast majority of the screen when I'm holding it normally.

[ChuloMxcn]

Ive ran into this issue as well and im really not sure how to get around it without my bluetooth earpiece, but like u said, I dont want to use one everytime. Id be interested in trying to get something done on this too. The only other thing I can thing of as a temporary fix is to use your left side convenince button here.

For example. I have mine set to my calendar but pick whatever u want. So when you make a call, press the left button and itll ask if u want to continue your call and go to your calendar and you click ok. Then you're there in your calendar and your cheek cant mess up too much there and if you needed to get to the mute button you can just hit the back button.

[anon(96573)]

I would just use a bluetooth headset if it was that big of a problem. Its never happened to me though.

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[Dogbert]

After initiating a phone call, what happens if you press the lock button on top of the phone? Can you continue your phone conversation while the Storm is locked? If so, then maybe you could use the lock button before/after phone calls to prevent accidental cheek clicks. I don't have a Storm to test this out.

[jma78b]

What about just putting the speaker phone option on? After all, that's what its there for.

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[allsounds]

What about just putting the speaker phone option on? After all, that's what its there for.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Sometimes you don't want the whole world to know your convo.

[D_Dog]

Especially because the Storm is Multitouch capable. It'd just take a lot of tweaking with firmware.

I was not aware that the Storm was multi touch capable? Are you sure?
Apple uses two types of capacitive technologies, self capacitance and mutual capacitance, How Stuff Works - iPhone this is what gives it the ability of multi touch. This double layer implementation of these existing technologies, along with their firmware, is patented. Did RIM find another way for multi touch?
Does anyone know exactly what screen technology is used on the Storm?

I understand the dilemma with the detecting the "size" of the input area, but I still think is feasible, like you said with just the right firmware and sensitivity settings.

[mike240se]

I was not aware that the Storm was multi touch capable? Are you sure?
Apple uses two types of capacitive technologies, self capacitance and mutual capacitance, How Stuff Works - iPhone this is what gives it the ability of multi touch. This double layer implementation of these existing technologies, along with their firmware, is patented. Did RIM find another way for multi touch?
Does anyone know exactly what screen technology is used on the Storm?

I understand the dilemma with the detecting the "size" of the input area, but I still think is feasible, like you said with just the right firmware and sensitivity settings.

wouldnt it be multitouch if you can use two fingers to highlight to copy/paste?

[D_Dog]

wouldn't it be multitouch if you can use two fingers to highlight to copy/paste?

This is true... well, then that furthers my point that there could be some type of software update that would allow the click mechanism, and screen, for that matter, to shut off when it detects that it's up against your face.

Also... if the screen has multi touch capability, why isn't it implemented in many other ways? Seems like such a waste. One I could think of might be two fingered fast scrolling? Since the storm doesn't have the "rubberband" style scrolling to get down a long list very quickly, couldn't they implement a fast scroll using two fingers?

This is off topic, maybe another Thread about touch and multi touch all together.

[MustangChris04]

I could care less about my cheek hitting on the screen. It can highlight the buttons, but why in the world would you be hitting the phone against your cheek hard enough to actually make the screen click? After a few seconds the screen dims and shuts off anyways so you can click all you want with nothing happening...

[mike240se]

I could care less about my cheek hitting on the screen. It can highlight the buttons, but why in the world would you be hitting the phone against your cheek hard enough to actually make the screen click? After a few seconds the screen dims and shuts off anyways so you can click all you want with nothing happening...

its been easy for me, i didnt even know i did it.

plus, i think when you click it, it turns the screen back on. next time, you can mute it. i guess it takes 2 clicks.

[Five]

This is a deal breaker for me. If this isn't fixed, I will surrender the phone.

[mike240se]

This is a deal breaker for me. If this isn't fixed, I will surrender the phone.

i think a simple firmware mod to sense "large capacitance change" larger than a finger could ever be, would simply ignore a click in this situation. whenever your on a call.

or even an option ot auto lock the phone during a call or something.