Dropped calls with long hair?

[smokiedabong]

I have long , dark hair and for the last 10 minutes I tried to replicate this and couldn't . Is the hair blond , or does it have any chemicals added like hair color ?

 

[deadernie]

I can vouch for this, this exact thing is happening to my girlfriend. You can do a simple experiment to repeat this bug on your phone, you will need a test subject (with hair):

1) Go into a call (you can call your voice mail).

2) Put the phone right up to your subject, if your subject has long hair, you can go ahead and put the phone next to the subject's ear but **make sure that his/her hair is between the phone and his/her ear**. You can also just put the phone on top of your subject's head!

3) If you giggle the phone you will notice that the Droid's screen will periodically light up, indicating that it is unlocked and subject to accidental key presses. In normal operation the proximity sensor should keep this from happening. (NOTE: By "giggling" I mean, try and move the phone a few millimeters up and down and side to side.)


I've got long hair but none of these problems. Maybe test the proximity sensor with the. test app from the market? BTW, still haven't been able to make the phone giggle. LOL
4) Now for the control part of the experiment : Try this same experiment up against your subjects ear **make sure there is no hair in between the ear and the phone**. You will notice that the phone screen stays dark, meaning it's locked, working as normal and not subject to accidental key presses.

. No problems here. Got long hair too. How do you make the phone giggle? LOL

 

[Hugh Jass]

3) If you giggle the phone you will notice...

I think I re-read that about 34 times before I figured out what you were actually trying to say. I thought at first it was bad grammar, "If you giggle, the phone.." and I was like WTF.

>.>

 

[bpad10]

I was informed this phone uses capacitve sensing to detect touch or movement. From what I understand the phone uses the skin's weak electrostatic charge to detect movement and user manipulation. Once the finger or skin is removed the electrical curcuit is broken.

Anything that blocks the connection such as a glove, clothes, possibly hair may not allow for user manipulation. Also, continuous movement (which would pull the phone away from the skin...such as walking) may also "break" the connection.

Just a theory, at first I thought the screen used thermal sensing, but was quickly informed otherwise. This would make more sense of course.

I've also noticed that when I have a beard I tend to lose calls. My wife use to also answer her phone thru her hair and had the same result.... sense keeping it in contact with our skin we haven't had any problems..

Anyone has any other hypothesis???? I could be wrong

 

[cereal killer]

I just posted in another thread about this issue. It is known and documented on Motorola's site that long hair interferes with the proximity sensor while in calls.

I am on my Droid so I can't link it but the info has been out for some time.

 

[patriot839]

all this sounds like user error

 

[shiccy]

If you have long hair and are seeing greater than normal dropped calls on Verizon, this might be reason for it. See the post from "Pamela". Verizon/Moto should really fix this problem if they don't want people blaming Verizon's network for a problem that lies elsewhere.

Dropped Calls? - Android Forums

In short, the proximity sensor on the Droid does not work well if you have hair between the phone and your ear. While you are in a call with the phone held to your ear, the sensor accidentally activates the screen.

The hair interferes with the sensors detection that your face is still near. Your cheek ends up hitting the end key or the mute button while you are in the call and you think that the call dropped.

My wife sees this issue on almost every call but it works fine for me. We got the phone replaced and she sees the same problem on the second droid as well.

This is a very frustrating problem that they need to fix soon. I think the droid is meant to be a phone first and camera, browser, etc, second. While all the additonal features are cool, I can't justify spending so much on it if it can't do calls well.

Just to play devils advocate, my old smartphone (which obviously wasn't very smart) wasn't able to turn off the screen automatically with a sensor. I learned very quickly that pushing the power button to turn OFF the screen was a "must" for every phone call unless I want to have 10 programs running and accidentally hanging up on the person at least once every ten minutes ... oh and then there was the whole "battery drain" / "there's a bright light shining on the side of my face" thing...

If it's pissing her off, have her push the button on the top. I inadvertently do this on my phone most if not all of the time anyways just out of habit. I don't have long hair, as I'm a guy, but this would definitely solve her problem!

 

[marcuslee06]

dropped and muted calls...

My wife had the same exact issue with this phone. She has long dark hair, and I don't think hair was the issue for her. We think it was caused by her diamond ear rings. We could see the screen go dark when it came close to her face, then suddenly light back up. Need less to say, she is on her second unit sans earing with no issues. Now we just have to test the new phone with her earings on.

 

[Canyouhearmenow?]

They have replaced my Driod 4 times! The long hair IS the issue. It has to be.

My boyfriend and I both have Droids. Ever since I got the phone, it has been dropping calls infuriatingly. I seriously started to think I was cursed, because sometimes it would happen all day long with every single call I made, and somedays not at all. I now realize that when I was wearing my hair pinned back it was not an issue. The phone censor starts doing things while I am on a call, going into a call screen mode and then muting my voice. Other times it just hangs up the phone. The people at the Verizon store here kept acting like I was just getting lemon phones. They were like: oh that's really strange. So they actually replced my phone FOUR TIMES. It has happened to me with every phone they gave me. My boyfriend doesn't ever have this problem due to his short hair.

Lemmie ask you a question Verizon...how hard can it be to make this work for people? People have hair on their heads! IPhone does it. I have been so frustrated about this before I realized what was going on that I almost kicked a hole in the wall. I thought I was cursed by the gods of cellular service, but now I know it is just a bad design. There can be no other answer. Since I read this forum, I have been holding my hair back during calls and I have had no problem.

They really need to fix this issue. It is ridiculous. People who do not believe this is a problem, do you have any other explanations for me?

 

[jenjen]

This is getting SOOO frustrating!!! I am extremely tired of muting or hanging up on people. I know it's my hair, because it does not happen when my hair is up/back. I love my Droid with the exception of this issue, but it's an annoying enough bug that it's starting to make me consider switching to something else. I shouldn't have to wear my hair in a certain way just to use a phone! (Although I don't know what I'd switch to; Eris is out of the question due to no physical keyboard, and I'd have a rough time ditching the Android platform So I guess I have a choice to make!)

 

[amyk]

I have long hair,, but because I can't stand something pressed against my hair (like putting a jacket on and leaving in underneath ugh) so I guess this has never been an issue for me

user error---simply put it under your hair, gotta be able to hear better that way anyway....end of problem = no dropped calls, no unwanted button presses;seems like a no brainer

 

[Canyouhearmenow?]

Why do people say "user error" when what they really mean is bad design

I'm annoyed when people say user error. Until I found this random forum, I had no idea. One would think that HAIR (you know the stuff that grows on most peoples heads) shouldn't be an issue. I don't even have long hair, it is shortish. Once I figured it out it has been working alright. But it is really frustrating that they can't seem to design something right. Also, that the people in the store wasted all of my time, and were not able to just simply tell me that this bug exists, instead of replacing my phone 4 times. Massive waste of time and phone calls. I'm just glad I finally figured it out. My take on it is design error NOT user error!

 

[electramom]

How to keep the screen locked during a call

If you are having problems during calls with your droid doing weird random things like ending the call, muting, going to speakerphone, or trying to call merge, then probably something is interfering with your proximity sensor and keeping from screen from staying locked during your call. It is extremely easy to activate one of the keys if the screen is not locked.
This should help: Your proximity sensor is near the M in Motorola. Make a call and move your finger over this area. You should should see the screen turn off and on. Assuming this works properly:
Then, watch yourself in front of a mirror during a call. The proximity sensor SHOULD make the screen lock (go dark) when you are holding the phone to your ear. However, you will probably see the screen light fluctuate on and off, because your sensor isn't sensing correctly. Make sure that there is no hair between the phone and your ear. Also experiment with how you position the phone--figure out the position that does best at keeping the screen locked. My phone works best if I hold it in my right hand; I guess the sensor is over my ear better. Anyway, hopefully by watching yourself in the mirror, you will figure out how to position the phone so that the screen stays locked.
The other options are to use the speakerphone or to use bluetooth.
AND--make sure you document your problem to motorola and your provider. If they hear enough complaints, they'll have to do something about it.

 

[[email protected]]

Screebl

Does anyone know if the app Screebl could fix the problem? The program would know if the the phone is up to your ear or whether you are looking at the phone to add a call. This would negate the sensor issue. An app could decide if the phone is in a normal talking mode or position and lock the screen when a call is in progress. If the app decides the phone is in a position that someone would be holding it in front of their face it would unlock the screen and allow you to add a call or whatever. This Screebl app might work if modified slightly.

 

[porterbl1]

Okay, I seriously thought I might be going crazy. I have been having this problem since I first received my phone. I mute or accidentally hang up during almost every call. I have long dark hair.

I am so glad I know about this now. My sister was seriously getting a complex about me dropping her calls. She didn't want her husband to get one either because of my problems.

I love my phone so I am very glad to at least be aware of this now, so I can prevent it.
-Becca