Text app won't allow typing when in landscape. Why?

[iMore Question]

Text app won't allow typing when in landscape.

I have an iPhone 4s, with the most recent update to iOS 9.3.1. I've been having a recurring issue with the Messages app.

- When I rotate it into landscape mode, sometimes it will not allow me to type. The keyboard comes up, but when I try to tap at it nothing happens, and I can't make the keyboard go down - like it's not recognizing any input from the screen. Rotating it back upright and it functions normally.

- Sometimes rotating it back and forth makes it work again. Sometimes if I type a little in portrait mode I can get it to work in landscape mode after, but not always.

- Sometimes it won't even rotate into landscape mode. This has NOTHING to do with the Orientation Lock. It is ALWAYS off, and NEVER turned on. At that point, only restarting the phone will fix it.

- Recently it's started to occasionally turn the screen off when I try to rotate to landscape mode as well. Just...goes black. Hitting the home button turns it right back on. Doesn't bring me to the lock screen or minimize the app to show the app pages, it just makes the screen reappear.

I have very few apps, so I can't imagine it's any kind of memory or interference issue. I mostly text on my phone, and I hate the narrowness of portrait mode, so this is quite vexing. I've a few months yet before my spouse gets home from deployment and we can upgrade our phones, but I was hoping there was maybe a fix for this in the meantime.

Thank you!

 

[Ledsteplin]

Re: Text app won't allow typing when in landscape.

Thanks for sharing. I don't have that issue on my 6s Plus. I've never seen it before. Did you try a hard reset?
Hold the top or side power/sleep button and the home button at the same time until the Apple logo appears, then release.
Next would be Reset All Settings
Reset All Settings
Go to Settings >General >Reset >Reset All Settings. This resets to default everything in Settings, including notifications, alerts, brightness, and clock settings like wake up alarms.

Last, a factory restore as new. Not from a back up.

Good luck!