Screen locks, videos pause, pages reload and screen turns black randomly

Since one week I have several related problems that make my phone almost unusable, and I haven’t found a solution for it in the forum so far. Here is what happens:

  • Screen locks randomly (when using any app, suddenly the screen locks and I have to unlock it. Also during video calls, very annoying.)
  • Screen turns black randomly (not completely black, what is still visible are the battery and connection etc. symbols on top and the navigation symbols at the bottom)
  • Pages reload (when I’m using any internet browser, Gmail or Facebook, the page I’m on randomly reloads. So when I try to read something, suddenly I find myself at the top of the page again)
  • Youtube videos pause (I can’t watch any videos anymore without constant interruption)
  • What I noticed is that often before any of the above issues happen, a black (slightly transparent) dot appears at the bottom of the screen for a few seconds. No idea what this means.

All the problems appeared at the same time, so I think they are related. What can I do? Thank you for your help!

  • Do you have a screenshot App or similar installed, which could indicate some kind of activity this way?

  • Go to Settings and search for “draw” to get “Draw over other apps” as a result, tap that, and again, and you should get a list of Apps with this permission … deactivate or uninstall them one by one to check whether one of those is responsible.

Ghost touches perhaps? …

Else you could contactsupport .

I will try that. But I haven’t installed any new apps. Maybe the problem was caused by an update.

Here is a screenshot. Was very difficult to capture, as the dot appears only for a second and then fades away. On the screenshot it is almost faded away, but still visible at the bottom.

I tested if the problem still persists in safe mode according to this instruction https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/217869383
Unfortunately all the problems described above still continue in safe mode, so it seems that they are not caused by an app. What else can I try to troubleshoot? Or is the only option a factory reset?
Thank you in advance for your help!

I found a workaround for my problems now, the problems described above were caused by SIM2. During the last days I suddenly also had connection issues (the same ones as described here Since update: SIM-cards connection problem). I took out SIM2, and suddenly everything was fine, no problems anymore!

How can I solve my SIM issues? I use my second SIM card when I’m traveling for data (it’s a UK SIM). Any idea @AnotherElk ?

I don’t use Dual-SIM, so I have no experience with that. Some generic thoughts …

Try to put the second SIM into the phone again, perhaps this reseating already does the trick (seems to work for all kinds of cards now and then with a little luck)?

Try to swap the slots for the SIM cards.

If the fault lies with some malfunction of the OS, a factory reset might not fix this. A factory reset on the Fairphone 2 only deletes all Apps and user data, leaving the OS as is (it doesn’t get re-installed or anything).
Instead …

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