Zombie Finger: An Introduction to This Touchscreen Phenomenon

When you press your finger against a smartphone or tablet, you expect it to respond with the appropriate action. Mobile devices support touch commands. Rather than using a keyboard and mouse, you can control them with your finger. There are times, however, when touchscreen devices may fail to respond to touch commands, including zombie finger.

What Is Zombie Finger?

Zombie finger is a coin termed by Consumer Reports. It refers to a condition in which a person can't perform touch commands on a capacitive touchscreen. It's not a problem with capacitive touchscreens necessarily. Rather, zombie finger is a problem with a person's finger or fingers. A capacitive touchscreen may work fine for other people. When someone who suffers from zombie finger tries to use the capacitive touchscreen, though, he or she may struggle to perform touch commands.

Understanding Zombie Finger and What Causes It

Zombie finger will prevent you from performing touch commands on capacitive touchsceeens. It's characterized by a lack of conductivity in the fingertips. Your fingertips need to be conductive for capacitive touchscreens to register your touch commands. With little or no conductivity, capacitive touchscreens won't register your touch commands.

The human body is an excellent conductor of electricity. Therefore, our fingertips are naturally conductive. But some people have medical conditions that minimize the conductivity in their fingertips. Skin dryness and calluses, for instance, can make your fingertips less conductive.

If your skin is exceptionally dry - or if you have calluses on your fingertips - you may not be able to perform touch commands on capacitive touchscreens. This phenomenon is known as zombie finger. If your fingertip isn't conductive, it won't be able to absorb some of the electrical field produced by a capacitive touchscreen. Therefore, the capacitive touchscreen won't recognize your touch commands.