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LG Spectrum Jumping To Home Screen

I've got a problem with my LG Spectrum. I've had it about 3 or 4 weeks now. It keeps jumping to the home screen. In other words, whatever app I'm looking at or have open, it will just exit to the home screen. It's an intermittent problem. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does it will often happen several times over and over again. It exits, I go back into the app. It exits again a second later. I go back into the app, etc.

I haven't been able to find any particular pattern to it. It can happen in any application. It can happen while I'm typing, swiping or just looking at something. It can happen if the phone has been on for hours, or if the phone was just barely turned on and I'm in my first application. It never shows my any error whatsoever. However, about 25% of the time I will see for a brief flash the Car Mode screen popup or the Car Mode icon appear on the status bar at the top. So, I'm guessing it has something to do with the Car Mode being activated inadvertantly/incorrectly, but I'm not even sure how the phone decides it's time to start Car Mode yet. Every other phone I've ever had you started Car Mode manually.

The phone is not rooted and the latest OTA updates have been applied.

Firmware: VS920ZV4

MUC 6.2.0.3_B013_6

Comments

bblake8480

No ideas? Anyone?

Skatanic13

had mine for about 4 days and I'm noticing this as well. It's almost like it's force closing the app youre in, but you can go right back to where you were when you re-enter the app. any luck finding out why?

mortb

it certainly appears that you have a rogue apps. What is "car mode" and is it deletable? If so, delete it and see if you are still having problems, you can always re-enstall it. Another possibility is that you are inadvertently tapping on the home key which is right on the bottom center (the silver key with the house icon). When tapped, it will always bring you back to your home screen. If held down it brings up the eight most recent apps that you visited. My bet is on a bad apps.

unknown

bblake8480,

Good morning! I hope to make your experience with the LG Spectrum better. I know its no fun to have issues with your phone. I agree with , that it may be a corrupted application causing these issues. An easy way to check this is to enable 'Safe Mode'. This allows the phone to run without interference from the Market/Play applications. I recommend trying it for a few hours to see if the issue persists. If not, then you know it's being caused by an application and you can begin removing any new apps or recently updated apps. If all else fails, a 'Hard Reset' may be necessary to wipe the software clean totally.

Please advise the outcome of these steps so I and the community can assist further.

Thanks,

AdamE_VZW

reamsee

i have that problem and others. Im receiving my 4th thats right 4th spectrum since getting the original on 8 feb 2012. The main problem is the GPS will not connect or take 30 to 40 mins to connect. Sometimes it never connect even after an hour of trying. Every Spectrum I've had, has done this. I've been to two different VZ stores they has worked on it and tried a number of things and cant get it to work properly. I also have the car mode app issue. Matter a fact the 3rd replacement would not let me sign in to my google account because of it. I sent it back without even using it. Ironically, the VZ store manager has a spectrum and it works fines. Im now back to using my HTC Thunderbolt because everything works on it. I hope they LG/VZ realize the prone has problems and get an update out. Because i really like the phone.

mortb

I have had my Spectrum for roughly two months now, with no problem whatsoever. It's funny that both you and the original poster mention an apps called "car mode." I have looked in my application drawer and can not find such a beast. I went into the market (or whatever it's called now) and searched for "car mode." It came up as a free apps. Since both you and the original poster are having problems, I would recommend deleting "car mode" and see if that helps. If not, you can always reinstall it. I looked at it (didn't download/install it) and it looks like an apps you really don't need. I am fortunate enough to be able to bluetooth my phone to the audio system of my car. But before that, I always used a bluetooth earpiece. The author of this apps admits that he does not like bluetooth. Sounds like he is in the minority.

reamsee

Hey Mortb,

thanks for your reply. but the " car mode" problem happen on a brand new phone that i was trying to setup after activating. when trying to input my google account info the new phone would flash different screens with the car mode app flashing in the top left of the notification bar. After several attempts i finally got log in to my google account only to not be able to click any apps icons. As soon as i did the screen would start flashing with different apps. Once again the "steering wheel" icon "car mode" would be flashing in the notification bar. At this point their were no apps on the phone just the bloat ware that came on it. I then did a factory reset on the brand new phone and the same thing happen again. I took it to a VZ store the next day they finally got it to sign in to my google account. This time when they tap an icon it would flash but very intermittently. The main problem that i have had with all three phone is the GPS not locking. Every phone has had this problem. Do you use GPS? If so how is it working for you does it take a long time to connect? Any info is appreciated

Thanks

mortb

Yes I do use GSP. I usually go to Settings>Location and tap on all three choices. If you pull down the Notification Bar and tap on their GPS icon on the very top, you usually are given the Standalone GPS Services. Nothing wrong with that, but I like to use all three GPS systems. It usually gets me right on the dot, or pretty close. How long does it take to get it working? Usually about a minute or less. As for "car mode" I do not have that in my apps drawer. I even went into the system manage apps section and could not find it. The only place where I did find it was in the Market, or Play Store, as they call it now. I don't know how you got it into your Spectrum. Personally, I think that is the cause of your problem. In some of the Motorola phones, there is an application called Car Dock which does have a steering wheel as an icon. It is generally used when placing your Droid X, or whatever Droid, into a dock. However, as I said, the LG Spectrum does not have this application. Could it be that you brought it over from a previous (Motorola Droid) cell phone?

911Enginer

After reading all of the posts, I would suspect the following on your problem:

1. Car Dock issue. The car dock function is triggered by a magnet in the dock. If you have a cell phone case with a magnetic closure, this can trigger the docking function. I had that problem with my old Droid X and certain cases. Finally had to go to a case that didn't have a magnetic latch.

2. The issue with taking forever to find a satellite seems to be caused by the phone not updating its A-GPS tables on a regular basis. On my phone, it still thought I was in Colorado (last place it picked up a GPS fix) but I was actually in Dallas. Stupid thing tried for 2 days to get a GPS fix and couldn't find the satellites! You can force the phone to update the A-GPS tables one of two ways: (a) pull the battery and force the phone to cold start (royal pain in the a**!!!!), or (b) go to the Google Play store and download a utility like GPS Test (free!!! and no spamware!!). Using GPS Test, you can clear the A-GPS cache and tell the phone to update its tables. Once the tables are updated, my phone will generally get a GPS lock within 30 seconds or so.

Hope those suggestions help!

The 911 Engineer

reamsee

Thanks for the info. However,

1. I have never put my phone in a case for any of the five Spectrums that I have had. So no problem with magnets.

2. GPS.. I had downloaded the GPS test app and used it on all but one of the phones. Some phones would show as many as 22 Satellites but would not connect. Some phones would connect but would say searching for GPS when using the navigation on the phones. This could take up to 15 mins or more.

After the 5th phone replacement I was given a choice of another phone. Chose RAZR MAXX ....works perfectly

JenniferR

I've been having the exact same issues. It's very irritating. Especially when I am playing a game and it just exits the game and goes to the home screen. I think there is an issue with the car mode app that is preloaded on the phone. I wish there was a way to delete it. But seeing that I can't find it ANYWHERE on the phone, it's pointless.

pingle

I have a spectrum that has completely shut down and I cannot get it to come back on. I have charged it all day and still nothing this is the second time this has happened in the two months I have had this phone....help

collegepeach702

I have had mine for a little over 14 days and it started doing the same thing. I only downlaoded 5 apps. I called in and they walked me through all the normal steps I even defaulted my phone and it is still doing it. They are sending me out a new phone and hope that this will not happen again.

Were any of you given new phone and if so dod you experience the same problem?

macdofco

I have had the same issue. The application that tries to launch is called 'Car Home' not Car Mode, or anything else. Got to your home screen (or just wait for the phone to do it for you!) and open Settings, go to Applications, click Manage Applications, go to ALL (not Downloaded apps) and scroll down... viola! Car Home. Force Stop the app and the problem will go away for a little while.

I have had 2 Spectrum phones, the first returned for this reason just last week, and Verizon swears that they have never heard of this issue, and that they have NO information on the problem. WHAT IS THIS THREAD AND WHAT GOOD DOES IT DO? Apparently, Verizon ignores us here, the same as they do when we call for Technical Support.

The 2nd Spectrum that I received started having the same problem yesterday. I called Verizon IMMEDIATELY. 5 different Tech Support and Customer Support reps said they had never heard of this problem and had NO documentation on it.

I am FURIOUS!!! I am demanding a differnet 4G phone with at least a 4.5" Gorilla Glass screen as a replacement. LOL... oh wait! THEY DON'T HAVE ONE!

As a side note, there is a pseudo- workaround for this Car Home problem. Go to the new 'Play Store' and search for "Car Home". Install one of the apps (like Ultra Car Home) and then the next time the Car Home steering wheel flashes, your phone will ask you which application you want to use to perform that function... DON'T Choose One! Simply hit the Back arrow. What ever app you were using will continue to run a least! YES, this is an enormous PIA, but you at least don't loose what ever you were doing.

LET'S ALL DEMAND NEW PHONES, perhaps the Samsung Galaxy Nexus or Maybe the upcoming Samsung Journal (the Samsung NOTE for Verizon)!!! It doesn't matter who created this problem, Verizon or LG. Verizon is responsible for it. We gave them our money for a phone that works for ALL it's advertised functions WITHOUT issues.

Dustink10

I am Also having the same problem with my LG Spectrum jumping to the home screen! It is the most frustrating thing ever! I am also having a problem not being able to get my home email to sync to my phone! I have the same Home email account for years and the same password, it keeps telling me wrong user name and password. But I am also getting two different error messsages about the same issue! I think I would know my email address and password! There is know way I should get three diff error messages for the same prob! Then it wants me to go in and set it up manually, wich I also tried to do with verizon support tear 2 tech on the line! NO DICE! He told me it was my email providers fault! Yet I can log into my home pc and my laptop from anywhere with the same email address and password I am trying to use! And I have noticed that the phone gets a little warm, anybody else?

JUSTSHOE

Also having the same problem at times with mine. Screen wakes up or exits apps and the steering wheel icon appears in the notification bar. I have not downloaded any apps relating to this and do not use any kind of car dock. My girlfriend has the identical phone purchased at the same time and her's also does it. No idea how to fix this problem,seems as noone does.

goonerjag4

Im having the same issues. I went ahead and reset my phone back to its factory settings and still have the screen wake up, apps will exit randomly, or apps will jump to the home screen. Super annoying. I also tried going to settings>applications>manage applications>all applications>car home and force stopping it. The issues persist. Did the safe mode and hard reset. Nothing. Stinks because I really want to like the phone but its hard when I'm trying to watch a video and the app (youtube, which is already installed) keeps closing. Also the car home app can't be uninstalled. Can anyone suggest any other fixes/workarounds?

sabretts81

I had the same exact problem. Whenever I was using apps they would crash and I usually always saw the steering wheel in the upper left of the screen when it occurred. It most happened when I was at work so I thought it might have something to do with the signal strength. It never happened when I was at home and using the phone on my WiFi. My wife got the same exact phone at the same exact time and she didn't have the same problems. It was very frustrating to me that I wasn't able to fully use my phone. The other day, the phone automatically updated itself to the following versions:

firmware version VS920ZV6

software update version MUC 6.2.0.3_B016_4

android system image 2.3.6

Since the update I have no longer had the problem with my phone continually crashing back to the main screen and it works just fine no matter where I am. I am very relieved and hope that everyone else with this problem can resolve their issue with the update as well.

indyphil

I also have the exact problem described. I had older firmware so I am updating to see if it helps.

However based on the fact that its the magnet sensor that is triggering the mode I wonder how firmware can help, it seems like the root cause might be an over sensitive sensor and thus is a hardware issue.

If the firmware is re-written to require a more consistent and longer signal from the sensor (rather than jumping at the first flutter of signal) then it will help.

My worst symptoms occur on my desk at work which is steel. It has also been known to happen in my pocket maybe because of proximity to my keys or other electronics.

I will report back if the firmware helps, but it would be nice to have the option to disable the car mode (or make it a manual switch and disable the magnetic sensor switch)

Ironically I don't even use the car mode, and I wouldn't want it even if I had the car dock.

Update: Seems to be working great,. It was flickering into car mode pretty regularly before, Since the update, not once.

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