Hi,
I noticed that the multitouch detection does not work reliable when I do not hold the phone in my hand. I noticed this when using Google Maps and confirmed it using a Multi Touch Test App.
When I hold the phone in my hands, a touch with two fingers is detected reliably (e.g., when zooming). However, when I place the phone on the table, only one finger’s touch is detected and only sometimes both fingers are detected.
Can anyone reproduce it with their Fairphone 3?
Thanks!
Matthias
I can’t reproduce this, it works for me.
You don’t need an extra App for this, there’s a touch screen test in Settings - System - Advanced - Developer options (how to enable them in Android is all over the internet) - Service Menu - Service tests.
With one finger the test will follow your finger to draw a freehand line, with two fingers it will draw a straight line between the two end points of your move.
Thanks for the hint to the Service Test. However, this is not a multi touch test. It does not check whether the device detected both fingers continuously during the time they touched the screen which is important for zooming.
Also, it seems to me that the straight line between the two end points of your move comes from lifting one finger earlier than the other rather than from a detected multi touch.
Have you tried to reproduce this with another test, too?
Interesting. Why wouldn’t that be a valid test?
If the service test wouldn’t detect both fingers continuously, the straight line wouldn’t reach to the end points of the move, but it would end somewhere earlier where one finger wasn’t detected anymore, wouldn’t it?
Lifting one finger of two would be the end of a multi touch then, or not?
Perhaps I’m on a wrong track here, but I don’t get just now where the illogicalness is.
I try to avoid Play Store Apps, so I checked out Multitouch Test from F-Droid … which detects more than two fingers and works just fine for me, phone in hand or lying down.
Thanks. In my case, this app also shows a difference between holding the phone in hand and lying it on a table when moving thumb and forefinger.
I can confirm there’s definitely some weird issue with the touchscreen regarding multitouch (tested using the mentioned app from F-Droid, first noticed it in Google maps):
(handling two phones at once is hard 
)
A restart has fixed it (for now).
Weird.
Could this be fingerprint sensor related?
I haven’t configured mine, so it shouldn’t have to do anything. But since it has been reported that it seemingly tries too hard when configured … and it’s getting a surface near itself when the phone is lying down. I just wonder.
I have configured the fingerprint and I did that test: it works perfectly in my hands and also on a surface 
Hi
i can confirm that i have a similar problem
when holding the phone in my hand, multi touch work in Waze.
as soon as the phone is attached to the car holder, the multi touch dont work anymore.
Dear all,
I confirm that I’ve the same problem, but less impacted than what I could read above.
According me, it’s an inconvenience from the form factor in plastic:
When the phone is on my bed, the multi touch doesn’t work, I have to grab the phone in my hands to zoom in Google maps eg.
Is there anyway to escalate the matter to FP SD? I mean they can try to see if there is way to decrease the inconvenience…
Multitouch is still working for me without a problem.
As it doesn’t fail on every phone, this is no inconvenience to live through or to ride out, it’s a clear fault of the individual device.
Contact support and get your phone fixed … https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us.
I observe the exact same problem. In my case it is like this: Holding the phone in my hands OR placing the phone on a solid surface, multitouch works just fine. As soon as I place the phone on a soft surface (bed, sofa, carpet, cushion) it won’t work. Even not if I push with all my power onto the screen, no chance. Very weird.
Just checked for myself.
Having no problem at all detecting up to 8 fingers, whether the phone is hold in hands, layed down on a table or on my bed.