That's pretty weird and indicates your phone or its touchscreen might be defective, you should get it looked at, because other than with old resistive touchscreen phones I've never had capacitive touchscreen phones need multiple presses.

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l72 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I have Raynaud's which causes loss of circulation in my fingertips even when the weather isn't that cold (so even in a car with the heat on). Then this happens, touch screens do not register correctly, and I end up having to use a knuckle or do what my sister does and use the tip of the nose

	▲	Paradigm2020 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		While still available I'd recommend getting a galaxy s / note from lateryear with the stylus. Response time, accuracy etc near perfect. Hope it helps

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WalterBright 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I've had multiple Apple touchscreen products. The same on all of them. Sometimes I have to lick my fingertip to get it to register.

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eep_social 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

My understanding is that as people age their skin stays drier and causes this issue.

The parent post is a chef’s-kiss-perfect illustration of the problem with modern tech.

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2143 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

We’re going off track, but I’m curious as to whether you experience this problem only on Apple devices, and not – for example – Android devices?

(btw, it’s an honor to be able to reply to you; hope you’re doing well :) )

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WalterBright 4 hours ago | parent [-]

I have a cold, but all in all I'm doing very well. Thanks for asking!

My portable electronics devices are Apple. But there are other touchscreen products I have, like the thermostat and the one in the car. Sometimes they work, sometimes not.

Of course, buttons wear out. The membrane cracks or the conductive material rubs off. It happens with my computer keyboard. Fortunately, the keyboards are cheap and I replace them regularly. For my car with the touch screen, the service manager at the dealership told me that if the touch screen went out, the car would be totaled (!).

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2143 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Wow.

> I often have to make repeated presses on my iphone until it registers.

This makes me really curious.

And you seem to have a problem with all your Apple devices. That’s why I wondered whether you’re experiencing that only with Apple or whether it happens with Android devices as well. Perhaps you could borrow a friend’s, or try using a demo phone at a store etc.

Also have other people use your problematic devices and see if they experience a problem.

I’d love to dig into this further with you (because, curiosity), but alas we live in different universes.

Wishing you a speedy recovery from your cold.

	▲	WalterBright 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Thank you for the kind words. I haven't had a cold in several years, and this one seems to be a bit persistent. It's annoying, but not a particular problem. I do have a samsung tablet, and have not had issues with the touch screen. The swipe up thing on my iphone is particularly irritating in its unreliability.

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SauntSolaire 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I assume you're young? Finger capacitance can reduce quite significantly with age.

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WalterBright 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

You can tell that most touchscreen interfaces are designed by young people.

	▲	bigstrat2003 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Not just young people; young people who have lived in a high tech bubble their entire lives. Most designers are completely out of touch with their users these days.

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AnimalMuppet 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I worked on a (desktop) telephone for the hard of hearing. It had a touch screen. Our customer base tended toward older people. We had problems with them being able to register a touch on the screen. We called it "cadaver fingers" (not in front of the customer). Yeah, it's a real problem.

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not_your_vase 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Touchscreens need to be used in a specific way. Most people does it already instinctively, but it is very easy to do it wrong. E.g. if you try tap on a button, but you move your finger 2mm on the screen, that tap becomes a swipe, and nothing happens.

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tokai 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Try working with you hands for a living. Not all of us has warm, pliable, moist hands constantly.