iPhone trubles

February 12, 2017 11:58 AM

I have an iPhone SE that I got in November. It won't turn when I put the phone in a horizontal position. This is happening with photos, YouTube and text messages. I went through the setting in case there was some setting that keeps the phone in landscape. The phone is running the latest public software. It really is a pain in the butt.
posted by kathrynm to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Best answer: Did you check the orientation lock in the Control Center? Swipe up from the very bottom of any screen. The orientation lock is the circle on the far right.
posted by bluecore at 12:05 PM on February 12, 2017 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Swipe up from the bottom of the screen while in the home screen (or most other apps, as long as the on-screen keyboard isn't up, but most reliable on home for me). The top right icon on the tab that pops up is a screen orientation lock. Is this lit up orange? If it is, tap to switch it off.
posted by Alterscape at 12:06 PM on February 12, 2017

If it's not the orientation lock, you could try just powering right down and turning it on again. My iPad does this sometimes. The other thing that sometimes fixes it is opening an app or game that only functions in the horizontal view.
posted by scrute at 12:15 PM on February 12, 2017 [1 favorite]

Set the switch above the volume controls on the left of the phone to its opposite setting. Try to rotate the phone. If it works, then you have that switch set to lock screen orientation rather than setting the phone to silent.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 7:25 PM on February 12, 2017

If it is not due to orientation lock setting as others mentioned above, then I suspect the Gyroscope sensor inside has some issues. It is quite rare, but I guess it could happen. In that case, I suggest going to a Apple store and asking for Genius bar assistance (you may want to first make a reservation). If they can reproduce the issue, they will either offer to replace the phone or get it repaired. Make sure to take a backup of the phone using iTunes before you take it in.
posted by thewildgreen at 8:18 PM on February 12, 2017 [1 favorite]

My iPhone 6s does this every now and then and a power-down/restart does the trick.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 11:06 PM on February 12, 2017

Response by poster: All is good now. It was the orientation lock. I was looking for a setting for that in *gasp* settings. Still, I have no idea how that got turned on.

Way to go MeFi
posted by kathrynm at 7:52 AM on February 13, 2017