Phone call app is now just a black screen during calls (proximity sensor is working fine)

Question

For the past few days, both for incoming and outgoing calls, the call app shows nothing but a full black screen, so I can't hang the call, push numbers, mute call, turn on speaker, etc. But the calls can be heard perfectly, it's just the interface

In the past few months I noticed that the phone takes longer and longer to show the caller ID, at first it was instant, lately it would take like 4 seconds between the moment it starts ringing and vibrating and the moment it shows who is calling on the screen. I don't know if this is related.

Things I've tried

• Reboot the phone
• Wipe apps cache/temp files
• Reboot with Power+VolumeUp buttons pressed and then Wipe Cache Partition
• Free up some space on the phone
• Checked phone settings
• Checked the proximity sensor: it shows 5cm, and when I cover it with my hand it shows 0cm, so this doesn't seem to be the problem. I don't use any covers for the phone
• It's just the "phone call app", because if I tap on the home button the screen works as usual and I can use any other app even during the call

It's a Huawei P Smart (Android 9)

Do you have any ideas of something else that I could try or check? Thanks

Answer 1

I had the very same issue on my P20 Lite. After searching through the internet, I found this video, and following the steps shown there did actually solve my problem. Now the Phone app works without any issues, same as before it broke.

As shown in the video, you have to clear the stored data from the following two apps:

• (Google) Maps (com.google.android.apps.maps)
  1. Go to Settings / Apps / Apps
  2. Search for "Maps" and select it
  3. Click on "Storage" and then press the "Clear Data" button
  4. Select "Delete" on the popup window
• Google Play services
  1. Go to Settings / Apps / Apps
  2. Search for "Google Play services" and select it
  3. Click on "Storage" and then press the "Manage Storage" (in my case, "Manage Space") button
  4. Press the "Clear All Data" button and select "Delete" on the popup window

Disclaimer: these steps seem random, and I have no idea whatsoever why it works and what is the connection between these apps and the Phone app. However, its validity seems to be verified both by the linked video's comment section and this Reddit thread.

Answer 2

I work in a mobile shop/service. In the last 1 month, I have come across 7-8 such phones that produce the same thing, and all of them were such "older" Huawei. They were all different years and models (Y5, P10 Lite, P10, P20 Lite, etc.) I tried to flash the factory ROM on some phones but it didn't fix the problem. As far as I have experienced so far, there is no solution for this.

Answer 3

I installed an alternative phone call app and the new one works totally fine (I had to allow it to set itself as the default phone call app)

Answer 4

P10: Had the same problem & managed to fix it.

Go to Settings > App & Notifications > Huawei Home > Permissions > App permissions (all must be ON, e.g. Calendar, Contacts, Phone, etc.) > Additional Permissions > Dial through Contact (must be ON).

That did it for me.

Answer 5

Like golimar, I installed another dialler app and this cured the problem. It also shows that the proximity sensor is working, so that is not the problem. The problem seems to be an update to the Huawei dialler app.

I had previously tried resetting the phone; this cured the problem but only for a few days, after which the problem returned.

The dialler I installed was Right Dialler from Goodwy.