7

I dropped my Motorola Charm (Android 2.1) and the proximity sensor doesn't work which is annoying, it makes the the touchscreen disabled when I dial anything (super annoying).

I would rather like to disable the proximity sensor, so it will never disable the touch screen.

Does anybody know how I can do so?

In case of absence of any ready made solutions, I am even willing to write my own app for that (there are programs that do that but for Android 2.2).

ale
  • 19,723
  • 34
  • 110
  • 159
Medya
  • 171
  • 1
  • 1
  • 3
  • If all other readymade solutions let you down, you can do a small app that will do exactly as you asked. Please see this StackOverflow question which talks about the same. – Narayanan Dec 04 '12 at 09:32
  • 2
    You need root and an app called Hardware Disabler from Google play. See also here – ce4 Dec 04 '12 at 09:34
  • See also http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1658474 – ce4 Dec 04 '12 at 09:41
  • 1
    The first review of @ce4's suggestion looks to fit your case nicely: For me, this is very good app. I found that my proximity sensor is not working and the phone app is freezing because of it so I just found propriate drivers with other app and disable them with Hardware Disabler... Works like a charm – Matthew Read Dec 04 '12 at 16:06
  • @ ce4 Hardware disabler is for android 2.2 and above, it wont install on mh 2.1 android. – Medya Dec 05 '12 at 12:42
  • this device is android 2.1 so unfortunately hardware disabler wont work on it, I wish I had the source code for the hardware disbler so I could compile it with 2.1 sdk – Medya Dec 28 '12 at 07:28

2 Answers2

1

We have come a long way.

Almost a decade later, Android 10 comes with a Quick Setting Title to disable all sensors temporarily.

  1. Enable Developer Options. If you don't know how to do it, check the steps here on my blog.
  2. Tap on Quick settings developer tiles
  3. Enable "Sensors off"
  4. Swipe down to open notifications shade and you will find the "Sensors off" title.

You can now toggle the "Sensors off" title to enable and disable all sensors on your device including the proximity sensor

Firelord
  • 25,084
  • 20
  • 124
  • 286
Amar Ilindra
  • 121
  • 5
  • 1
    Hello Amar. Our policy requires full disclosure of affiliation with the product/website mentioned in any of your post. I have edited your post to reflect your relation with the weblink. In future, please do keep that in consideration when writing answers. Otherwise, your answer is likely to be treated as spam, and would be dealt with accordingly. – Firelord Jun 10 '21 at 12:20
1

Motorola CHARM has a proximity sensor located on the upper left corner; as stated in Motorola CHARM product support site, external lighting conditions will affect this sensor.

Motorola CHARM proximity sensor location

My suggestion is: each time you need to use the touchscreeen while making a call, try to "trick" the proximity sensor illuminating it with a flashlight or LED, so the sensor "thinks" that you've moved away the smartphone, thus re-enabling the touchscreen circuits.

If you don't have any of these items on hand, look for a place with bright light toward which to move yourself/your phone.

Francisco Alvarado
  • 3,624
  • 4
  • 27
  • 41