# Is iPad screen affected by humidity?



## winwintoo (Nov 9, 2004)

This is dry country, but we've had several days of extreme heat and humidity. The last couple of days my iPad seems less responsive.

I've tried several different stylii and fingers, cleaned the surface, restarted. No joy.

Normally, using my homemade stylus, I barely touch a card in solitaire and I get action. The last couple of days, I have to touch several times with no response.

If this keeps up, I'll have to hold my breath until the first ice storm in November when the new ones will drop


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## Rps (May 2, 2009)

Margaret, I don't have an iPad (yet) but I do have a Playbook. And a BB Bold and I can tell you that both touch screens seem to be affected by humidity and heat. I'm sure it's not just my brand of machines and probably Apple is subject to it as well.

Rp


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## winwintoo (Nov 9, 2004)

Rps said:


> Margaret, I don't have an iPad (yet) but I do have a Playbook. And a BB Bold and I can tell you that both touch screens seem to be affected by humidity and heat. I'm sure it's not just my brand of machines and probably Apple is subject to it as well.
> 
> Rp


Thanks Rp. I thought it was just me. It's cloudy and cooler here today and my homemade stylus is working much better.

I wonder!

I frequent another forum comprised of folks whose common interest is an iOS drawing app. Many are professional artists and most of them have purchased rather expensive styluses - and then complain that the styluses don't work right for them while others praise the same stylus.

Since the members of that forum come from every corner of the world, it would be interesting to plot locations to see if local weather is interfering with stylus performance.

Hmmmm


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## Paddy (Jul 13, 2004)

Margaret, touch screens on devices such as the iPad and iPhone are capacitance touch screens - they work by detecting your body's capacitance (electrical charge, basically) so if it's very humid, it's quite understandable that it would make the touch screen work less well - the extra moisture (both in the air, on the screen and probably from sweatier fingers, too) no doubt somewhat diffuses/confuses the small charge that the capacitance screen is responding to, as water does conduct electricity.

The solution (at least temporarily) is to wipe your screen off. Or turn on the AC. 

Interestingly, you do need a bit of humidity (a minimum of 5% from what I can see online) for a capacitive screen to work. So if your hands are exceptionally dry (or cold, when they tend to be very dry as well) then your screen won't work very well either. I have a hard time with ATM touch screens in the winter - my hands get cold and I can't get the screen to register anything. Luckily, TDCanada Trust seems to have gone back to the mechanical buttons!!

BTW - if you Google "humidity + touch screens" and variations on the same, you'll find a lot of complaints about this being a problem. It could be worse...you could live in some place like Bangkok. At least your humidity is short-lived!


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## winwintoo (Nov 9, 2004)

Paddy said:


> Margaret, touch screens on devices such as the iPad and iPhone are capacitance touch screens - they work by detecting your body's capacitance (electrical charge, basically) so if it's very humid, it's quite understandable that it would make the touch screen work less well - the extra moisture (both in the air, on the screen and probably from sweatier fingers, too) no doubt somewhat diffuses/confuses the small charge that the capacitance screen is responding to, as water does conduct electricity.
> 
> The solution (at least temporarily) is to wipe your screen off. Or turn on the AC.
> 
> ...


Thanks Paddy. Wiping the screen makes it work better at least temporarily. I can keep doing that. I did a quick Google and found several hits. I'll read up on it. It's omforting to know its not just me.


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## Rps (May 2, 2009)

Say Paddy, not sure if Margaret has one of those "film" protectors on her ipad, but would they help or hinder in this regard?


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## winwintoo (Nov 9, 2004)

Rps said:


> Say Paddy, not sure if Margaret has one of those "film" protectors on her ipad, but would they help or hinder in this regard?


I used a screen protector on my first iPad and I'm not sure if it helped when I used it because it was all so new. I didn't like the screen protector when I was drawing because there was a bit of drag.

Keeping the screen really clean helps and we're heading into fall and the dry season so things will be back to normal.

How to people in Toronto cope with the humidity year round? Maybe they've never experienced better response and don't know it's possible to get better performance 

Thanks for the replies.


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## sashmo (Oct 19, 2002)

How to people in Toronto cope with the humidity year round? Maybe they've never experienced better response and don't know it's possible to get better performance 

I'm in Hamilton and while we don't have high humidity all year round, when it is high in the summer, in the house (doesn't matter what it's like outside) it is definitely a factor in erratic performance. I thought my computer had some kind of gremlin this summer during one week of particular high temps and humidity. Unresponsive to me but all sorts of action on the screen: windows opening, closing, text magnifying, programs opening, closing, etc. We don't have AC in the house so if you have AC that will help to keep the humidity down. As soon as the humidity came down, I got my computer back. I didn't have problems with my ipad though, oddly enough.


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## jhuynh (Mar 21, 2011)

It might affect it slightly but I've never had any issues with the humidity and I live in Hamilton and work in Toronto. Never had any issues with my touch screen devices not responding properly or having phantom touches when it's humid in my house or outside.


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## Lawrence (Mar 11, 2003)

My iPad Mini seemed to be fine after taking a hot shower with it left on the vanity,
But, My BookBook cover seems to be separating a bit now, I have a bubble thing happening.


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