I decided I wanted one of those matte screen protectors for my iPhone as the one I previously had was too shiny. So I bought one and just now went to remove the old one, but I’m damned if I can get it off.
Which led me to think, maybe I already did take it off a while back, and forgot. I can’t seen any imperfections on the screen - no bubbles or anything, and the surround for the speaker hole and “Home” button is absolutely flush. I can’t believe I would have put the cover on that well.
Are there any ways to tell if there’s one on or not before I go gouging at it with a knife? E.g. is the glass completely flush with the silver edging, or is it slightly raised? If I look at its face in detail, there’s a tiny little groove all round the edge of the screen - is that normal, or evidence of a cover? And I look at the iPhone edge on, the front of the iPhone does stick up about 0.5mm above the edging. Is that just the regular screen glass protruding, or could it be my elusive plastic cover?
The feel of your fingertip on the touchscreen should feel absolutely smooth on a “naked” iPhone display, almost frictionless, most screen protectors introduce at least some level of “drag” or friction to the screen surface
I have a Zagg InvisibleShield on my iPhone, and it’s great (I also have the phone in an OtterBox Defender, it’s a “ruggedized” iPhone now…), the IS is a tiny bit tacky to the touch, but the protector material is incredibly durable and tough, if you want the absolutely toughest screen protector on the market, the IS is the way to go
it Depends…is it a 1st Gen, 3G or 3Gs? The 3Gs has an oleophobic covering that rejects finger and faceprints. So if you have a 3Gs and it’s oily/greasy, you probably have a cover on it.
The Glass they use is VERY hard and VERY scratch resistant…so if you have a lot of scratches on the face, you probably have a cover on it.
So, positive indicators of the cover’s existence, and negative ones:
It’s very very smooth to the touch. -1
It also holds grease. +1
There’s a scratch on it from when I was trying to get it off with a knife. +1
The only iPhone I can compare it with at the moment has a cover on too; they look the same. +1
I remember putting a protector on it. +1
I don’t remember taking it off. +1
So on balance of probability, it does appear to have a protector.
I just can’t see it, can’t find an edge, and I cannot get the damn thing off, no matter how hard I try.
Can you take it to an Apple shop, or a Carphone Warehouse or something and see what they think? They ought to be able to give you a new model to compare it against, at the very least…
OK, I got microscopic and concentrated on looking at the bit that goes down to the earpiece. There was a smooth transition between the tiny angled piece down to the speaker, and the front glass: there was no cover. The old one must have fallen off, or I took it off in the past few months. Thus the scratches are now permanent; what an arse.
Still, I now have a matte cover on the screen, which is what I wanted.
