You’ve probably read reports suggesting that your smartphone’s screen is somewhere between a toilet seat and a used tissue when you put it under a microscope. Yet, if you’re anything like most people, the chances are decent that you rarely—if ever—give your phone screen a good wipe down.
If hygiene—and the prospect of handling a device with more culture than a UN summit—won’t convince you to clean your device, maybe sheer practicality will. Turns out, a dirty screen can sometimes cause your phone to act erratic and buggy. 
I recently found this out firsthand when my father came to me with a gripe: His Nexus 4 had become unusable. Whenever he made a phone call, the screen went black, and wouldn’t turn back on until the person on the other end of the line hung up. He couldn’t press “1 for English”, or merge a conference call, or turn on speakerphone, or even hang up the call himself. He was so fed up, that he was ready to buy a brand-new phone.
It took me just a quick glance at his phone to diagnose the problem. His phone was covered by one of those tank-like cases that promises near invulnerability against drops and shocks. However, the various holes in its armor were caked in dust. This grime had managed to trick the phone’s proximity sensors into thinking the the device was being held up against my father’s face, even when it wasn’t.

from Forbes – Tech http://ift.tt/1IibowQ
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