Hello everyone and welcome to How-Fixit.
In this video I will show what can you do if the home button on your iPhone does not work
To get started, let's figure it out with iPhone models.
If you have an iPhone 4 or iPhone 5, the Home button is simple and responds to physical
pressure, and you can replace it without any problems.
If you have an iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 or iPhone 6s, the Home button already has a built-in
fingerprint sensor called Touch ID.
You can still replace the button yourself, but the Touch ID function will not work, but
more about that a little bit later.
If you have an iPhone 7 or iPhone 8, the Home button is no longer a physically clickable
button, but responds to the sensor and the button uses vibration to create a click-like
effect.
The bad news is that you cannot take any button from another iPhone or a copy of a button
to replace it.
The good news is that there are special buttons that will work when pressed, but the Touch
ID will still not work.
Back to our question - what to do if the home button does not work.
I can offer several solutions to this problem.
Option # 1: AssistiveTouch This is the easiest and fastest way to get
a working home button if your Home button is broken and you need to use your phone here
and now.
The AssistiveTouch function creates a virtual home button on the screen of your iPhone.
To enable AssistiveTouch, go to Settings – General – Accessibility - AssistiveTouch.
Turn on and now you have a virtual button on the screen.
Option # 2: Universal Home Button If everything is simple with the iPhone 5s,
iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s, you can replace the broken home button to any other original or
Chinese copy of the button, and it will work for physical pressing with a return to the
main screen, but in later models of iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 , not so simple, but let's
take it in order.
Let's figure out why just replacing the button will not give the working fingerprint function - Touch ID
That's because the original button is installed at the factory and connected to the smartphone’s
motherboard using a unique software code.
Therefore, when replacing a button, the touch id function will not work, because the connection
of the program code will be lost.
All the same thing happens with the later iPhone models in which installed the face
recognition function.
Face ID is also connected by software code to the iPhone motherboard and no other Face
ID module will not work.
But there is one way to solve the problem of replacing the broken button on the iPhone
7 and iPhone 8.
There is a home button that is completely identical to the original button and it is
called the "universal button".
The only one drawback of this button - the Touch-ID function will not work.
If it is impossible to restore the original button, this option remains the only working
one.
This button also works on iPhone 7 plus and iPhone 8 plus.
Previously, there were different universal buttons, but they worked using a bluetooth
connection, or it was necessary to install a special jumper on the motherboard.
But the old version of the bluetooth buttons drains the iPhone battery very much.
This button does not need any additional connections, and works directly through the display module
cable like an original button.
How to install the home button on an iPhone you can use our step-by-step video instructions
on how-fixit channel.
I leave the links in the description, and leave a link where to buy such a universal
home button.
These iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 already have such universal buttons.
This universal button does not have a physical mechanism like older versions.
This home button responds to a touch response and has the same slight vibration when pressed
as the original home button.
If you look closer, the button completely fits in size into the case and looks like
the original.
Option # 3: Repair the Home button You can try to restore your original home
button.
For example, your iPhone was damaged by water, after which the button cable and the display
module cable were oxidized.
Here you can clean the connector yourself with isopropyl alcohol and restore the button.
But in many cases the button stops working due to burning of the button’s cable itself,
and you can restore by replacing directly the cable, which can be take from the original
other button.
But here you need experience in repairing at a completely different level, it is much
more difficult than just disassembling and replacing, but at least you can disassemble
and make a diagnosis the cable for traces of burnout or oxidation, and our step-by-step
instructions will help you with this.
In which cases it is impossible to restore the home button.
Inside the button itself, there is a chip that cannot be restored or replaced, this
chip is tied to the iPhone motherboard, and if this chip is damaged, the only one option
is the universal button or AssistiveTouch.
Well, I hope this video was useful for you, and I helped to understand this problem.
You were on HowFixit and see you soon.