Broken iPhone 7 home button? There’s a fix for that

If you break the home button on your iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus, there’s a work around to ensure you can keep using your phone while you wait to get it fixed.

If your iPhone notices the sensor is broken it'll serve you a screen notification saying your “home button may need service” and provide an onscreen home button to use.

A user on MacRumors forum spotted the quick fix when he broke his iPhone 7.

A quick fix

If you're unlucky enough to break your home button, you will likely lose the use of the Touch ID fingerprint sensor too. We'd recommend using the PIN or password function to unlock your phone in the meantime.

An onscreen home button isn’t anything new for Apple – you can turn yours on now in the Accessibility tab of iOS 10 – but it appearing naturally when your phone is broken is a useful touch.

You’re likely to get frustrated with the broken button very quickly though so it may be time to set up an appointment at your local Genius Bar to get it fixed.

James Peckham

James is Managing Editor for Android Police. Previously, he was Senior Phones Editor for TechRadar, and he has covered smartphones and the mobile space for the best part of a decade bringing you news on all the big announcements from top manufacturers making mobile phones and other portable gadgets. James is often testing out and reviewing the latest and greatest mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets, virtual reality headsets, fitness trackers and more. He once fell over.