Apple iPhone 7: Virtual Home Button as workaround

A user saw this message after a reset when the home button stopped working on the iPhone 7.

In case the new home button on the iPhone 7 fails, Apple has you covered with a virtual home button that will be enabled automatically, a user discovered.

Alexander Fagot, 10/17/2016

Apple may have foreseen, that their new Home Button on the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus may eventually fail and added a routine to check for such a situation, a MacRumors forums user discovered. After a reset of the device and a subsequent malfunctioning of the Home Button, the user was greeted by a never before seen message, stating that the iPhone 7 Home Button may need service and that a virtual Home Button was available to use in the meantime.

Apple has decided to switch from the regular clickable Home Button in previous iPhone-generations to a pressure sensitive pad supported by the new haptic engine in the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. This makes the iPhone more durable due to a lack of moving parts and also helps with water resistance, according to Apple. However even that design might fail, so Apple apparently checks for a malfunctioning Home Button and might completely replace it in the iPhone 8 next year, that is rumored to be an all-glass-design.