How do you deal with the constant screen touching?

[Hanafuda]

Ok, the Vita is a product of the era when touchscreens were just starting to be a thing in gaming, and everyone overused the new gimmick. I get it. But it also drives me crazy, because I'm a little anal about keeping the screen clean on a handheld and I absolutely will not glop my greasy digits onto a screen just to advance a menu selection. I know the Vita has a Settings option to allow a button press in some instances, but not all. Just getting to gameplay in Super Monkey Ball, for example, requires 9 touches on the screen from when you start the game, or 8 touches if you want to sit through the whole opening video.

Right now I keep an eyeglass/screen wipe handy, or else use my shirt over my finger. I'm sure some of you are thinking 'whats the big deal?' and rub your finger on the screen and don't care about the smudges and prints. But I can't deal, and I bet I'm not the only one.

So anyone have a diy 'fix' that's better? Is there some kind of stylus out there that works but can't damage the screen? (DS/3DS stylus doesn't work on Vita) This bothers me so much I have actually considered making a cloth 'finger condom.'

 

[XFoxPrower]

Even Nintendo had to tone down their gimmicks promote Switch to be a TV console (No more 'Everything must use a Wiimote gesture'). I never really noticed smudges on Vita. Maybe there's comfy tech gloves? You may be pleased to know that Sony designed their system apps with accessibility in mind, so they're even keyboard compatible. Enter=Confirm, Esc=Cancel. But then it's still a matter of getting crumbs on the keyboard. Few homebrew apps follow that. But here's VitaShell suggesting 'Alt+Enter' for linebreaks.

 

[SpideyLiker]

I wouldn't trust any screen without a tempered glass screen protector. Even if there were a "softer stylus", all it would take is to drag it across one speck of dirt, and that would etch a huge scratch into the screen.

Your finger condom sounds like the best plan. Or a glove that works on touchscreen devices.

 

[The_Dizzy_Vizzy]

I wouldn't trust any screen without a tempered glass screen protector. Even if there were a "softer stylus", all it would take is to drag it across one speck of dirt, and that would etch a huge scratch into the screen.

Your finger condom sounds like the best plan. Or a glove that works on touchscreen devices.

THIS. If you're going to be touching that screen, ALWAYS have a screen protector for your Vita. ALWAYS. I've got several Vitas and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM has a screen protector. As a matter of fact, all of my screen protectors cover the entire face of the Vita.

Ok, the Vita is a product of the era when touchscreens were just starting to be a thing in gaming, and everyone overused the new gimmick. I get it. But it also drives me crazy, because I'm a little anal about keeping the screen clean on a handheld and I absolutely will not glop my greasy digits onto a screen just to advance a menu selection. I know the Vita has a Settings option to allow a button press in some instances, but not all. Just getting to gameplay in Super Monkey Ball, for example, requires 9 touches on the screen from when you start the game, or 8 touches if you want to sit through the whole opening video.

Right now I keep an eyeglass/screen wipe handy, or else use my shirt over my finger. I'm sure some of you are thinking 'whats the big deal?' and rub your finger on the screen and don't care about the smudges and prints. But I can't deal, and I bet I'm not the only one.

So anyone have a diy 'fix' that's better? Is there some kind of stylus out there that works but can't damage the screen? (DS/3DS stylus doesn't work on Vita) This bothers me so much I have actually considered making a cloth 'finger condom.'

Have you tried one of these?

If not, what about one of the blue gloves???

Post automatically merged: Oct 24, 2025

I wouldn't trust any screen without a tempered glass screen protector. Even if there were a "softer stylus", all it would take is to drag it across one speck of dirt, and that would etch a huge scratch into the screen.

Your finger condom sounds like the best plan. Or a glove that works on touchscreen devices.

FUCKIN' A - THIS. If you're going to be touching that screen, ALWAYS have a screen protector for your Vita. ALWAYS. I've got several Vitas and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM has a screen protector. As a matter of fact, all of my screen protectors cover the entire face of the Vita.

 

[lightwo]

I was hoping a capacitive touchscreen stylus like this would be a decent option (notice the clear disc on the tip):

...but then I realised that the Vita digitiser isn't sensitive enough for the stylus to be usable, at least with a screen protector applied.

However, the much more common type of capacitive touchscreen stylus works much better (notice the rubber cap):

So, go ahead and find one of those, and carry it alongside your Vita. They can be found for cheap and in very compact sizes!