this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2025
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[–] als@lemmy.blahaj.zone 18 points 3 days ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_vibration_syndrome

One of the names given on Wikipedia is a "fauxcellarm" which I love.

"Researcher Michelle Drouin found that almost 9 out of 10 undergraduates at her college experienced phantom vibrations" so it's certainly common.

[–] hitmyspot@aussie.zone 9 points 2 days ago

Apparently muscle twitches and spasms. Perfectly normal and common. Before phones, we all got them but just ignored them and filtered them out. Phones trained us to monitor for them so we now notice them.

[–] monovergent@lemmy.ml 15 points 3 days ago (8 children)

Vibration "ringtones" should be a thing. Less likely to confuse with phantom sensations and other people's phones vibrating.

[–] platypode@sh.itjust.works 10 points 3 days ago

This has been a feature on iOS for a long timeβ€”I’ve still got some custom patterns from back in high school

[–] trk@aussie.zone 4 points 3 days ago

I'm sure Android (well, Samsung anyway) had this years ago... I remember it on my i7500 back in the 1.5 days.

I wonder when it went missing....

[–] DominatorX1@thelemmy.club 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Like, distinctive vibration patterns.

Hmm, surely it's been done. It seems like straightforward good thing.

[–] isame@hexbear.net 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I've got a thing in my drawer that'll do that. Doesn't take calls, though.

Just imagine if it had Bluetooth so you could use it as a silent ringer though

I have a different vibration pattern for my wife's calls and messages, work calls and messages, and all others. I swear I will get phantom vibrations from a specific set randomly.

[–] HatchetHaro@pawb.social 1 points 2 days ago

I cannot believe buttplugs have phones beat in this area.

[–] skrlet13@feddit.cl 3 points 3 days ago

there are, back from polyphonic times

[–] ByteMe@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

I think nothing phones have it

[–] LikeableLime@lemmy.world 12 points 3 days ago

I thought I was getting these but then realized that my Fingerprint reader was triggering in my pocket and it does a very light vibration on a failed Fingerprint attempt.

[–] vxx@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Not since I turned off sound and vibration in my phone.

Before that, yes.

Yes, but additionally I started getting actual random vibrations from my phone with no notifications. After a while I discovered that if I put my phone on a library book, my phone will buzz. I tested it over and over before believing it. Guess it interacts with the electronic tag the library uses for checkouts.

[–] Fermion@feddit.nl 8 points 3 days ago

The ridges of the weave in my pants sometimes produces a vibration that is similar frequency and intensity as my phone vibrate. It totally triggers the check the phone reflex even if it happens while my phone is in my hand.

[–] nucleative@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

A long time ago.

These days, I keep both audio and vibration turned off. If somebody needs to reach me they will want to message and then wait until I check.

[–] Tenderizer78@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago

I keep my personal phone in one pocket and my work phone in the other, I frequently feel the vibration in the wrong pocket and end up checking the wrong phone

[–] Beebabe@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

Yeah. Sometimes I hear the message ding too. Guess I’m lonely.

[–] peteyestee@feddit.org 2 points 3 days ago

Used to when I had a flip phone. But my phone now has been on silent for years.

[–] hellinkilla@hexbear.net 1 points 3 days ago

I remember talking about this with friends 10+ years ago. Haven't noticed it or heard anyone else mention it since, but I don't know why.

[–] vortexal@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Assuming I'm understanding what you mean, I did somewhat recently. I don't remember what game it was but it was caused by a game I downloaded from the Google Play Store. The game never gave me notifications as I actually had them disabled, but the game would cause my phone to vibrate randomly for seemingly no reason. As soon as I uninstalled the game, the random vibrations stopped.

[–] candyman337@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

Yes, I was in a friend's pool yesterday, so obviously without my phone, and I felt a vibration that felt exactly like Snapchat. I just chalk it up to muscle twitches.

[–] Gibibit@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

I started getting those daily a few years ago. It annoyed the crap out of me so I decided to use ringtones instead of vibration. Took a few weeks for the phantoms to get out of my leg.

[–] ByteMe@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

I don't cause I don't use vibration that often

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca -3 points 3 days ago

30 years ago we called this Beepilepsy. You fail History.