Didn't respect the home button

My Problem

So I had a family friend whose kid had just broken a brand new iPhone screen, and they weren't sure how to fix it. I had done screen repairs on other phones, and the process seemed pretty straightforward, so I offered to help.

My Fix

Honestly, the repair went pretty well—except I damaged the cable for the home button, which is game over on this device. It was already bricked from digitizer damage, but this was still a huge bummer. Screen looked great though. I'd also say, as someone used to repair, but new to this device, it was about an hour long repair without any troubleshooting steps.

My Advice

I've seen some guides characterize the use of a heat gun to loosen the internal adhesives as "Helpful but Optional," and I wouldn't agree at all. You need heat to safely remove the glued-in internal components, like the home button and earpiece assembly or you *will* damage the cables. Earpiece assembly would have been one thing, but if you damage the home button, the only people who can do a thing after that is Apple, and nobody wants that.