The iPhone has a highly sensitive multi-touch display that can recognize complex gestures like pinching, swipes, and tapping. If your component of the display is damaged, you may notice that your iPhone isn’t responding to the slide commands, which could affect the Slide to unlock screen as well as Slide to Unlock the screen and the On/Off sliders. Firmware issues can also be the reason for the display’s irregular behavior that can be fixed by a reset of the display or a firmware restore.

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Multitouch Display

Cleanse your iPhone display using a damp cloth. This could remove any things that interfere with the commands you use your fingers. The iPhone display responds to your touch, so you must remove gloves prior to using gestures. Open the Calculator application and try out the buttons. Turning the screen to the left will bring up the scientific calculators. You can test buttons on the entire screen. Inactive buttons could be a sign that there is a problem with your display. 

Hard Reset

Click both the “Home” and “Sleep/Wake” buttons until the Apple logo appears. This restarts the iOS firmware and may fix glitches in the app or system that cause swipe issues. You must wait for your iPhone to turn on and then go back to the screen at home. Try out the swipe feature using unlocking the iPhone.

Firmware Restore

The iOS firmware may have issues that cause erratic display behavior, including frozen, lag, or abrupt shutdowns. The process of restoring your firmware erases all your personal information of the iPhone and then restores it back to its factory settings. This will fix deeply rooted problems with the firmware. Back up your iPhone data by connecting the device to your computer using a USB cord. Go to the iTunes “File” menu, choose “Devices” and click “Back Up.” Keep waiting until the iTunes progress bar displays that the backup is complete.

Simply go to the “Summary” page and then choose “Restore iPhone.” Choose “Restore” to confirm, and then wait until the process is completed. You can then load your backup onto the iPhone by clicking “Restore From Backup.” If you’ve got an iCloud backup, log into the iCloud account during the device’s setup and then tap “Restore From Backup.”

Apple Support

If your iPhone has swipe problems that are either intermittent or constant, you should take it to a Genius Bar to see if they can help. Repair technicians can help you identify and fix problems that are affecting your iPhone software and hardware and then recommend a solution to the issue.