Nintendo is Working on a Fix for the 'Sentient Switch' Screenshot Issue

Although I never encountered the bug myself it's good to know that nintendo are already on it.

My Switch is so unstable that it has become sentient! Help!

I have not seen the random screenshot issue that was mentioned, but at least four times since I downloaded Minecraft the game has popped back to the home screen without me touching the home button. I thought at first I had inadvertantly pressed it, but after a few times I realized it was doing it by itself. The Switch is so fast at popping in and out of the home menu it has not been a big inconvenience, but is nice to see it aknowledged!

>update promises to make NS more stable
>update actually makes NS less stable

YOU HAD ONE JOB, UPDATE!

...I'm looking at the sidebar and just now noticing Minecraft is listed under the "education" genre...

I'm one of the people affected by this, the home button has never been phantom pressed, only the screenshot. But it's nice to know a fix is on the way because it is a bit of an annoyance.

I've had precisely one unprompted screenshot happen. Here's hoping it's the first and last of its kind!

Haven't encountered this glitch yet but then again, I didn't have much time to play the game yet. Definitely be sticking to building on PS4, though.

Look, I don't see an issue. The Switch is merely SO stable that it's confident enough to take selfies. No patch needed.

That doesn't necessarily mean that it's Nintendo who are working on the fix... if the issue is only with Minecraft, then that's what will need to be fixed... it sounds like Nintendo had just pointed out the problem to 4J Studios, and it's 4J Studios who are working on the bug-fix.

IN OTHER NEWS

The render distance was once much higher when undocked in the beta version.

The other day I had about 40 phantom Zelda screenshots*.

Are we sure this is just for Minecraft? I was worried I'd have to send my Joy-Con away.

* Not a single hourglass

Now, why would the program be allowed automatic access to the screenshot function in the first place?

That's not only weird, but also concerning.
How can you trust any device if just installing a game can cause such privacy-invading behaviour?

Don't forget, the fault doesn't lie with the game that causes this, but with the system that allows this. Or as @PlywoodStick put it:
"Why would the program be allowed automatic access to the screenshot function in the first place?"

If you ask me, that's a privacy desaster and Nintendo can be glad that no one noticed this so far.
If it became public widespread knowledge that Nintendo's new gadget - which is marketed as safe for kids - can easily be manipulated into heavily invading the user's privacy, it would surely lead to public outrage and the stock value plummetting.
If Minecraft was able to do this, what other horrors does the Switch have in store for its users?

@shani screenshots of nintendo gameplay is less concerning to me than the kinect that is always on, always listening, and always watching your living room.

More stability is needed, you can't deny it now! See? We can't get enough stability I told you!

@shani For Christ's sake, you make it sound like it's the end of the world. Give us a break!

@shani Okay, you're gonna have to explain how you got from "involuntarily saving screenshots" to "privacy disaster". Merely pressing the capture button doesn't allow anyone else in the world to see what you're doing, and the system tells you when a screenshot is taken so if it does capture something you don't want people to see (having a hard time thinking of examples...) you can just delete it.

Ah ha. My Switch wasn't charging the other day, hopefully this was why.

So, it's not Nintendo's screw up but the Minecraft porter's because it's game-specific...? Kind of a false headline in that case.

Considering people have built entire computers in this game, I wouldn't be surprised if someone built some kind of thing that could manipulate the Switch OS in certain ways.

Who knows, this could be the back door Switch modders have been looking for! (and have allegedly already found.)

My Switch is definitely sentient. It's... weird... XD

@Zyrac @Alikan Oh my bad, I thought it also took photos with the built-in camera, not just screenshots (I have to admit I only hastily read the article on the go).
Still, even making unwanted screenshots is an invasion of privacy, even if they don't necessarily contain sensitive material. But it doesn't really matter how sensitive the material is (just because they were so lucky, doesn't mean they're safe from something worse happening - like taking control of the camera), it's a matter of principle.
There's also another question: if a simple piece of software like Minecraft can cause 'false Home and Screenshot button presses', what could a sophisticated hacker do with the Switch? How can you trust a device that doesn't even prevent the most basic things from happening, like random/unwanted button presses?
Surely you have to see that there are a lot more dangerous things that could happen, and if a simple game (which was originally written by one coder alone) can unintentionally do these things because Nintendo is selling an unsecured tablet, just imagine what someone who actually means somebody harm could do?
Imagine the damage people with bad intentions could (and probably will, if Nintendo doesn't secure its device properly soon) do. That's what I meant by 'privacy desaster'.
As I said before, just because Nintendo got lucky that no one so far has used this security hole to do real damage, doesn't mean you can relax and feel safe. They just got lucky.

@Cosats: Well if you think it through (see above), it actually is. Security holes get exploited all the time and if you have followed recent news, it can cost people their lives. But things like Wannacry are only possible because a) software/hardware producers leave their products vulnerable for attacks and b) people are just careless (they don't care about updates, they open random links in their emails without hesitating).
It's exactly this kind of "For Christ's sake, you make it sound like it's the end of the world. Give us a break!" attitude that allows hacks to happen in the first place. Why give you a break? Why do you feel it's already too much? Are people constantly reminding you how unsafe your devices are? No, of course not. Because most people don't care. But they should. You should. Everyone should be reminded of this on a daily basis until everyone gets it into their head: privacy and safety aren't some fictional things and they also don't take care of themselves. At the same time, it doesn't really take much effort at all to keep yourself safe, but apparently, even the tiniest bit of effort is too much to ask for people to be safe. They rather prefer to just 'feel safe' by having politicians babble some random nonsense.

@shani Pretty sure the Switch doesn't have a camera. There's a light sensor on the console and an infrared depth sensor on the right Joy-Con, but nothing that can actually take pictures.

In any case, I don't see this becoming a major problem. This particular issue will be patched in a hurry, and what an attacker could do with the Switch is relatively limited anyway, which means they probably wouldn't bother when there are better targets (they certainly haven't with any Nintendo console so far, to my knowledge).