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My phone just loves to butt-dial. In the ~6 months I have owned it, I've made about 10 butt-dials, 2 of which were emergency phone calls. Naturally, I don't want to clog their services. How can I get my phone to stop butt-dialing?

My phone is a Kyocera Contact, so it's keypad is always exposed. I've tried locking the keypad on the phone (by pressing and holding the back button); all my butt-dials have happened when the keypad has been locked.

After a butt-dialing spree, I tried to make sure that I wasn't putting pressure on my phone when I was sitting down, by shifting its position in my pocket. This worked... for a while, until I made my second emergency phone call butt-dial.

Things that won't work:

  • Putting my phone in a bag instead of my pocket. I need it in my pocket so that I can feel its vibrations, and it must be on the vibrate setting
  • Not carrying a phone with me. Unfortunately, in this world, I need to have a way for people to contact me.

What are some good ways to prevent accidental butt-dials?

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6
  • +1. The problem must be very common indeed! I always have a hard time unlocking my phone when I need it, especially when under pressure, like in case of an emergency. Yet often, when nobody needs it, the phone somehow gets unlocked all by itself and tries to make an emergency call. I still haven't figured out how it does that.
    – Zaaikort
    Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 11:13
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    We shouldn't hate those stupid anonimous downvoters. They are probably voting with their butts.
    – Zaaikort
    Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 11:14
  • Even when your phone is locked, dialling an emergency number such as 999 or 911 or whatever, will bypass the locking system in case it is a genuine emergency. Any other number inadvertently dialled should be ignored by the phone when locked.
    – Bamboo
    Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 16:11
  • @Bamboo I didn't know that. I've accidentally dialed an EMS service (not 911/999) from my phone, but that was because I had them on speed-dial.
    – Shokhet
    Commented Jan 25, 2015 at 4:58
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    @Bamboo EMS = Emergency Medical Services. There are some that are not three-digit numbers, mostly because they're not gov't funded. I have the number of one of those in my phone, on speed dial.
    – Shokhet
    Commented Jan 26, 2015 at 19:01

3 Answers 3

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This may seem obvious, but possibly place it in your FRONT pocket, rather than your rear? Perhaps the looser pocket in the front will eliminate the pressure on the keys?

Outside of that, the user manual indicates these steps for locking the phone (different from your method described with the back button):

enter image description here (Screen shot above is from page 91 of this document)

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4
  • I do put it in my front pocket; never use the back pocket. I will try this locking the phone.
    – Justin
    Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 2:26
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    so the term "butt dial" you are using isn't really a butt dial then?
    – Phlume
    Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 5:37
  • That's right. I've always heard the term "butt-dial" for accidental pocket-dials, so I assumed it was the correct term
    – Justin
    Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 16:08
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    I'm going to try this out for a while and see if it works (the locking), so I'll accept this for now. If it turns out to still butt-dial, I might change my acceptance.
    – Justin
    Commented Jan 24, 2015 at 6:05
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Get, or make, a case that covers the buttons. Cardboard or cereal box and duct tape should work well, I would make it thick so that button presses can't make it through. Use colored duct tape if you want a more refined look.

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2
  • 1
    Pocket protectors are back!
    – GuitarPicker
    Commented Apr 13, 2015 at 19:07
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    +1 for duct tape and refined look in the same sentence.
    – Digital Trauma
    Commented Oct 15, 2015 at 2:02
1

I installed a free Android app named Call Confirm which has helped greatly to stop this problem. I would suggest you try it or look for another that does something similar.

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