One UI 6 Touch Screen problems on S23 Ultra

[avn128]

This only started happening yesterday after phone turned off. Randomly, the touchscreen will appear to not work anymore.

I pretty much lifted this desciption below from a s21 user from 2 years ago.

- Edit 

Found a s22 user that had the same problem when updating to One UI 6. 

Edit 2

- Dec 9th at 1AM Est. I was able to go into "phone link" and click the download button and an update showed up. This update is a tease and will probably fix the problem. However, the problem is I'm unable to click update button because it's on the main screen. And doesn't show up in the settings area where update software is. However it looks like the phone will force the update on Dec 12th as mentioned on the screen. 

Recent bug - touch screen stops working except in notifications/navigation : r/GalaxyS21 (reddit.com...

Except:

1. The notification bar, it can still be dragged down, and touch works normally across the entire screen as long as the notifications is dragged down. For example, I can go into "settings" (top right) from here, and the touch will still be perfectly functional.
2. The navigation buttons at the bottom will always work.
   1. I can go into the "recent apps" screen, but nothing else on the screen can be "touched"/dragged, except for the navigation buttons and notifications at the top. I can't tap on a recent app to switch into it, nor drag to see apps further back.
   2. Similarly I can tap the "home" button and it works, but the whole home screen is non-responsive. Dynamic elements (e.g. weather, clock) continue to update.
3. The lock/unlock screen is also always fully functional. All parts of it, including fingerprint sensor.
4. The power menu (holding down the power button) is also fully functional.

Additional Context I found on my own.

1. I am able to use Microsoft "Phone link" to access all my apps on my phone except anything secure such as Authenticator or Secure Folder.

2. When I attempt to mirror the phone on the computer, its pretty much the same in terms of input directly on the phone, mainly not working.

3. When i plug in a USB mouse into the phone its pretty much the same as direct input, the only difference is that there is a mouse pointer that moves all over the screen. I can't click on anything except notification and navigation buttons.

4. I do use Microsoft Launcher and was able to switch back to Home UI and noticed that when i clicked on recent apps the launcher would crash. During one crash i was once able to use the touch screen for 1 second.

It almost seems as if there is some kind of invisible app that is Drawn on top of every open app and doesn't allow any touch input in any app, while using the phone directly. All I could find of anything related was this problem people were having with the Phone app. Solved: Re: Phone app Crashing after One UI 6.0 update. - Page 7 - Samsung Community - 2728668

Edit

I think the "repair apps" in recovery mode should fix it but when I click it, it just turns on the phone. I even wipe the cache before hand. 

[avn128]

I am part of the beta program.

I found another post that was sort of like mine. However the person was able to fix the problem by going into the Android loader and clear the cache as well as clicking the repair apps button. The problem I'm having with that is when I click on the "repair apps" button it doesn't do anything. It just restarts the phone and put it up as normal. It's supposed to be a screen that says optimizing apps or something like that.

[maury62]

Same thing happened to me I'm on the beta! Has anyone found a fix ?🥺

[TayStaehle]

I fixed mine by doing a factory reset and installing all the updates again. That was last resort for me but first I wish I had checked if I had an update for the official ui release

[DanBaerga]

Yep, I too was on the beta and hadn't installed the official update yet and my S23 plus is experiencing the exact same issue. I also REALLY don't want to factory reset my phone either. This is awful. I've never had this issue before and I've been a beta tezter for years. 

[user991]

Im having the same issue with an S23. I am part of the One UI Beta and have had minor issues in the past but I cant get past this issue now. Nothing seems to fix it. The screen will not work apart from the notifications dropdown and the lock screen. Ive tried entering recovery mode (holding Volume UP + Power button when turning on) and clicking the "repair apps" button, but that doesnt actually repair the apps and will only restart the phone.

My main issue is I cannot factory reset my phone right now or I will lose a lot of photos. Im not able to backup my phone or connect my phone to my laptop because I cannot click the allow device button when connecting the usb to the laptop. I would hate to lose all of my photos and contacts that I havent saved. Im just going to keep hoping for a solution but things arent looking good.

In the meantime I am able to call and text using the google assistant at least.

[avn128]

When I connected my phone I was able to connect to DEX as well as Samsung switch.
Try to install the Samsung switch desktop application and then plug in your phone. This Samsung switch you're able to back up most your stuff. But from what I read it won't back the secure folder. Which is why I haven't factory reset yet. However I am here in report from other people even though many people have factories reset it doesn't fix their problems.

I read from one post that a someone was able to do a factory reset a few times and then saw an update.

[user991]

My problem is I cant allow my computer to access my phone because I cant click the allow button. I tried using DEX on desktop but it still requires me to click the "allow access to phone data?" button on my phone when I plug it into the pc.

[avn128]

I'm assuming you've never connected your phone to your computer before l,right?
I did a previously to this situation. So whenever I connect it now, it does ask me to press a "start" button. And I am able to press it, currently .

[user991]

How can we escalate this problem? This is preventing me from using my phone and is incredibly frustrating.

[avn128]

Really Samsung doesn't really have to do anything, Because it is beta and they give a lot of warnings. Sorta sux though.

Hopefully they pull through and do something about it.