Accidental pocket dialing 911 - Galaxy Note Edge

Ok guys... I KNOW one (or more) of you out there have figured out how to "fix" this - so I need your help.

I bought my son a Samsung Galaxy Note Edge for Christmas - and he has pocket-dialed 911 twice today. I've spent about 15 minutes googling this issue to see how to fix it and have come up empty-handed. Do any of you have any experience with this and how to prevent it from happening?

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer! :thanks:

Can't stand Android phones that magically unlock after you've put them away; it happened with pretty much all of the ones I've owned. You'd look something up, click it off, stuff it in a backpack pocket - fifteen minutes later there's a radio station streaming from the backpack pocket. Completely defeats the purpose of a lock, and phone design in general. Replaced a long series of models from various manufacturers with an iPhone, problem solved.

Well yes - that would be my solution too but he just switched from an iPhone to the Galaxy. For all other purposes for him, it is perfect. Just this one flaw - but it is a big one!


I used the CandlePowerForums iPhone App to post this!

1st ... bear in mind I don't have a new modern phone .....

But I'll share my thoughts on your question .

For any phone to AUTO-dial a number ..... doesn't that number have to be included in the SPEED-dial list and assigned to a button for single press dialing ? Or maybe on modern phones the speed-dial number would be assigned to a special APP button on the screen ?

See if you can remove that SPEED-dial assignment for "911"
Or remove the APP button that is causing it.

It's easy enough to dial "911" manually if you have to.

Or contact your cell phone provider store for a remedy.


(My sister BUTT-dialed ME only yesterday)

TooManyGizmos said:

1st ... bear in mind I don't have a new modern phone .....

But I'll share my thoughts on your question .

For any phone to AUTO-dial a number ..... doesn't that number have to be included in the SPEED-dial list and assigned to a button for single press dialing ? Or maybe on modern phones the speed-dial number would be assigned to a special APP button on the screen ?

See if you can remove that SPEED-dial assignment for "911"
Or remove the APP button that is causing it.

It's easy enough to dial "911" manually if you have to.

Or contact your cell phone provider store for a remedy.


(My sister BUTT-dialed ME only yesterday)

Click to expand...

Nope! Can't do any of that with this phone and no, it's not a "speed-dial" option... it's just... well... THERE! I think it has to do with the phone being locked and pressing the "home" button. Supposedly all phones have to have some kind of emergency dialing "thing" on them by law now that cannot be disabled. Android has chosen to do it in this shoddy way where you can't even add a secondary (voice, touch, single key, etc.) verification that you really do want to call 911! Stupid... really, really stupid. :shakehead I'm sure 911 loves it. Especially when people like my son don't know what the hell is going on and they just hang up. And then 911 calls back and they get REALLY freaked out!

Not a direct fix but may help..........Have you considered a case Greta,i always have one on any expensive phone I get .For many reasons,main one to protect and keep like new,but also stop accidental dialling etc etc.

There is an app called Battery Keyguard

May be worth a look at and free

Well ....... sorry I couldn't help

That's just another reason I don't own a modern phone.

Contact your cell provider and demand a resolution .

Ask THEM what is causing it ........... and WHY ????

Did you check the speed-dial list for "911"

Are you saying modern phones don't even have a speeddial list ?


( Also , ask the people at "911' if they know a solution )

ven said:

Not a direct fix but may help..........Have you considered a case Greta,i always have one on any expensive phone I get .For many reasons,main one to protect and keep like new,but also stop accidental dialling etc etc.

Click to expand...

I've already told my son to go get a case for it today. We'll see what that does.

ven said:

There is an app called Battery Keyguard

May be worth a look at and free

Click to expand...

I saw that when I was googling a solution. Will try that also...

TooManyGizmos said:

Well ....... sorry I couldn't help

That's just another reason I don't own a modern phone.

Contact your cell provider and demand a resolution .

Ask THEM what is causing it ........... and WHY ????

Did you check the speed-dial list for "911"

Are you saying modern phones don't even have a speeddial list ?

Click to expand...

They have a speed dial list but 911 is not in it. Here's what Samsung has to say about it...

"We should inform you that, in general if we assign Password/PIN or pattern lock option as screen lock on the phone then you will get "Emergency call" option on the lock screen of the phone. While phone is in pocket and if any thing touches that "Emergency call" option accidentally on the lock screen then it will automatically dial the Emergency numbers. So, please disable the PIN/Password or pattern lock on the phone to stop displaying "Emergency call" option on the lock screen of the phone."

It's a BAD feature!!!

Sorry ....... now I understand.

And Yes , I agree , it's a poorly designed "feature".

You said in your OP :
I bought my son a Samsung Galaxy Note Edge for Christmas -

It was BAD LUCK to let him open his present early .......
It's NOT even Christmas YET.

Since it's a design flaw .... see if the store will let you exchange it for an I-phone or return it

Since it christmas time ... maybe they will give you a BREAK ... I hope.

I have nothin else to add ......... bye-bye.

TooManyGizmos said:

You said in your OP :
I bought my son a Samsung Galaxy Note Edge for Christmas -

It was BAD LUCK to let him open his present early .......
It's NOT even Christmas YET.

Since it's a design flaw .... see if the store will let you exchange it for an I-phone or return it

Since it christmas time ... maybe they will give you a BREAK ... I hope.

I have nothin else to add ......... bye-bye.

Click to expand...

I considered making him wait til Christmas but he really did need a new phone - his "old" one was an iPhone 4 that was a couple years old. He has always hated the iPhone and even turned down my "old" iPad when I got a new mini. He is simply a Windows/NON-Apple person. I still love him though...

Merry Christmas TMG! And thank you for your input! :santa:

Greta said:

I considered making him wait til Christmas but he really did need a new phone - his "old" one was an iPhone 4 that was a couple years old. He has always hated the iPhone and even turned down my "old" iPad when I got a new mini. He is simply a Windows/NON-Apple person. I still love him though...

Merry Christmas TMG! And thank you for your input! :santa:

Click to expand...

Greta, do you know why a computer is like an air conditioner?


















A: Neither one of them works as well with windows open.

PS: On the cell phones I have seen dialing 911 also locks the phone into Emergency mode and will not let you dial other calls until remotely released by the 911 operator or power cycled.

Greta said:

He is simply a Windows/NON-Apple person. I still love him though...

Click to expand...

Get him a Windows phone and send me the Samsung............problem solved.
It is a known issue going back 3 years, a hard case that covers the screen seems to be the only solution.

Now this whole butt/pocket dial thing is a sore spot for me I get at least 10/week on my land line and usually late at night..........I get woken up to hear muffled talking while feeling like I am a set of keys in the pocket of someone walking! :hairpull:

I will gladly pay a King's ransom for an app that allows me to *69 these folks with a nice little 30kv jolt! :devil:

Merry Christmas

FWIW, On Samsung Galaxy smart phones, at least on the 5 different versions in my family, there is a setting called "Lock Screen", usually found under the "My Device" tab. Change the Screen Lock to "Swipe". Yes, that means essentially no _security_ lock, but at least a specific finger motion has to be used to unlock the screen. I have never observed a '911' call or possibility with only a 'Swipe' enabled.

Yes, I have been called from phones that accidentally redialed the last number - mine. irritating to say the least. In every case, the owner claims to have had the phone in his pocket.

I run my Galaxy S4 in "Swipe" mode also. Not because of the 911 problem,, just because I'm lazy.
I'm veery careful with my phone an usually have it locked away in a pocket somewhere.

With the case, make sure you get one with a hard cover that flips over the screen like Beamhead suggested above.

That is, if you want to keep the security setting.

Just remembered: One time while using one of the Android phones, the phone began to mindlessly cycle through programs, flip through screens, make bizarre scrolling motions, etc. I noticed the Bluetooth had turned itself on, and it occurred to me that maybe there was some sort of outside influence causing the phone to go berserk; looking out of my second story window to the sidewalk below, there was a guy on his Android phone scrolling through programs and swiping - his finger motions were being followed on my phone. He didn't know anything was going on, and of course his layout had nothing to do with mine, hence the motions made no sense on my phone. Since it was following his input and not mine, I was unable to turn off the bluetooth and eventually had to just remove the battery.

So that's the level of design awesomeness we're dealing with here..

Thanks guys for all of your stories and suggestions - yeah, I'm sticking with my iPhone. My son really does love his Galaxy with just this one exception and he just unlocked it and he can live with it. I guess it's kinda like flashlights in the end - we all have our own needs and preferences. I don't judge (except when someone is using an ugly incan mag when a sweet little two-mode LED would suit their needs MUCH better!!). I was hoping there was some kind of "hack" or something that one of you had figured out. Oh well. He still loves his Christmas present... that's all that matters to him...

Firstly, my phone (HTC) isn't stock, so let me first say what I think is happening. If it's wrong, feel free to ignore.

When the phone comes off of standby mode, it is "screen locked", you have to push a bubble across the screen to access the phone. Thus, you can't make an emergency call accidentally. If you then set a password (pattern, pin, password), this initial screen is bypassed, and you're shown the password screen with the emergency dial button only. Thus, by not having a password, you can solve the accidental dialing problem.

I got my phone from a friend, who installed CyanogenMod, which is an open-source Android. Among other things, this allows a truckload of customization. For my phone, I've set it to show me the "screen lock" before I see the password screen. Thus, it's virtually impossible to have this problem.

Take a look at the capabilities of the software before you go ahead an load it though. Being community supported like Linux, it's only available for a specific selection of hardware platforms. It also replaces your phone's OS, and the complexity of options could present you with more problems than the one you're trying to solve.

Alternatively, have you considered either a holster or holder to hold the phone on a belt or one of those "fanny packs"? It's a cheap way to avoid the problem.

I have never experienced this problem, although I've only owned two android phones the last few years. What Norman points out is interesting, and likely explains what is happening. I have my Samsung Galaxy set to swipe for unlocking, and there is no emergency call button on the screen. However, when I activate pin, password or pattern to unlock the screen, sure enough that stupid emergency call button appears. It's not inconceivable that if one of the buttons that activate the screen is pressed while in the pocket, the emergency call feature that automatically appears on the screen can also be tapped. Interestingly, the older Android version on my previous phone had a slide to unlock feature that would appear first regardless of whether pin or password was set. I bought my current phone about a year ago and it has Android 4.2, so I don't have the latest version. I wonder if this issue has been fixed yet.