Is Your Galaxy S10 Randomly Waking Up Inside Your Pocket?

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The Samsung Galaxy S10 hit stores only last week. As more users get their hands on the device, we will learn more about its performance and any issues Samsung overlooked during the production phase. One likely issue we are hearing about is related to the Galaxy S10’s accidental touch protection, which some users say is not working.

What users say about Galaxy S10’s accidental touch protection

Several users have taken to Samsung’s product forums, Reddit and social media platforms to complain about the Galaxy S10’s accidental touch protection, PiunikaWeb reports. Affected users say they can feel the phone vibrating in their pocket, and when they pull it out, the screen is on. Because of this, the phone is heating up in their pocket, and the battery is draining fast.

“I had this problem with the S8 with the haptic home button but it didn’t happen half as much as the S10. I have fingerprint unlock enabled so I’m thinking it may be down to the scanner constantly scanning as the screen is pressing down on my leg,” one Reddit user said.

Users are facing the issue even when the “accidental touch protection setting” is enabled. The Samsung Galaxy S10 also has an option called “Block accidental touches.” This feature keeps the screen from turning on by itself in dark places, such as inside someone’s pocket.

However, affected users say the Galaxy S10 accidental touch protection doesn’t work as intended, even when they have enabled the “Block accidental touches” setting. The issue can occur even when Safe Mode is enabled, suggesting a fault with the proximity sensor.

“The ‘Accidental Touch Protection’ setting doesn’t seem to do anything. My phone still detects inputs from my leg through my pocket, causing things like messing with the AOD, waking up from a double tap, etc.” a user said on Samsung’s product forum.

The issue even led to an embarrassment for one user, thanks to “butt-dialing.” The user said somehow his Galaxy S10 managed to call 112 while in his pocket, and when he got home, he found out that police had come to the house asking if there was an emergency.

As of now, there is no comment on the issue from Samsung, but Samsung forum moderators are in touch with affected users.

Possible workarounds

Some users say disabling double tap to wake (DT2W) and/or the always on display (AOD) has worked in some cases. One user who tried this setting noticed an improvement.

“I have over 50% left tonight compared to less than 20% I had left yesterday evening,” the user said.

Affected users can also use Samsung’s Edge Touch functionality. The feature enables users to adjust the length and thickness of the phone’s sensitive zones to reduce accidental touches around the edges. One can use the Edge Touch app to set the edge zones where touches will not trigger any response from the phone.

The Galaxy S10 phones feature a curved screen. Although it looks great, many users have found that the curved screen makes it easy to accidentally trigger a touch on the sides with the edges of their palms. To avoid such issues, Samsung introduced Edge Touch. It must be noted that Edge Touch has been added to fix the side effects of curved displays and not as a workaround to help users overcome the issue with accidental touch protection. However, users affected by the Galaxy S10’s accidental touch protection issue can use it until Samsung comes up with a fix.

To use Edge Touch, go to “Good Lock” and look for “Edge Touch.” Once you get it, install it on your handset. After the app is installed, open it and you can now change the touch areas around the edge screen. The app allows users to select different modes: Optimized (Default), Sensitive zone and Insensitive zone. Users can also add the edge zone by changing the Blocked and Grip zones.

Samsung’s Edge Touch also allows users to customize the lock screen, quick settings menu, task changer window and more. The app basically makes OneUI a lot more customizable. Moreover, users are not required to have any prior knowledge about rooting to operate the app. Just download it, and you are good to go.

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