How to fix a broken home button on a Samsung Galaxy phone

The Samsung Galaxy S8 finally ditched the physical home button, but it’s still very present on plenty of old Galaxy phones. One of the problems with physical buttons is they can break. If you use a phone for a long time, like many people do, the chances of that home button breaking are pretty good. So what do you do when you can’t go home? Go to the Play Store.

Something that people with iPhones don’t understand is how easy it is to solve problems on Android. You can find an app in the Play Store for pretty much anything, including a broken home button. easyHome is an app that turns the physical home button on Samsung phones into a capacitive touch button. This app works with most Galaxy phones that have fingerprint sensors.

If pressing the home button doesn’t work, but it can still detect your fingerprint, easyHome will work for you. Instead of physically pressing down on the home button, you’ll only have to touch it. Just like with the Back and Recents buttons. Even if your home button isn’t broken, this app can make it a lot easier to use Samsung phones.

Here’s how to set it up:

1. Download easyHome from Google Play
2. Open the app
3. Tap Let’s start and accept the terms
4. Tap Please Activate easyHome
5. Give access to easyHome
6. Go back to the app, tap Ok, Got It

In the Settings, there are options for adding actions to short and long touches. Some of the extra options require the $1.49 Pro mode. easyHome works with the Samsung Galaxy S7/S7 Edge, Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 Edge/S6 Edge+, and Samsung Galaxy Note 5. It may also work with other Samsung phones with fingerprint sensors.

Note: If easyHome randomly stops working, it has probably been killed in the background. Samsung phones kill apps that run in the background to save battery. You’ll want to go into the Battery settings and turn off “App optimization.”

That’s all there is to it. Not everyone can afford to rush out and buy a new phone every year. Android is full of solutions that can help you use a phone for as long as you need. Hopefully this trick works for you until you can buy the next big thing.