Would you like an iPhone / iPad with no home button?

Jakmeehan

Along with the latest iOS 4.3 beta's new gestures comes some new rumours* that apple will remove the home button on future revisions of the iPad and iPhone.

I know it's just a rumour etc but it got me thinking about a home button-less iDevice. I, for one, wouldn't like it at all.


*Funny how this rumour only surfaced after the beta's new gestures suggest a way to circumvent the home button...

princemuzzy

its always nice having a bit of hardware on it makes it feel real

Brian017

As someone with reduced mobility in their hands/fingers, the ease of use in Apples products is the main reason I have the iPhone and iPad over other similar products.

My condition makes it difficult to use things that rely on Multi-touch gestures (particularly the "pinch" motion). So a iPad 2 without a home button would be a no-go area for me as it I would find it too difficult to nagivate; unless as Mr S suggested they have a touch home "button" on the screen somewhere.

Zascar

I'm guessing apple will stop trying to oversimplify things with just one button, get rid of it completely, and have contextual buttons on the screen depending on the application.

I used to have an iPhone and loved it but I switched to a HTC Desire with Google Android. The phone has 4 buttons and its so much better. Many of the tablets with Android are doing the same, but they are contentual buttons on the screen within applications.

Sad Professor

No home button would make operating the iPhone with one hand very difficult if not impossible. So no, I think this is a stupid idea and hopefully just a rumour.

AdMMM

Would be perfect for the iPad but the iPhones screen is too small I'd say.

aidan_walsh

Would make one handed use impossible (as was already said), not to mention being a discoverability nightmare. Lots of people don't know about many of the multitouch gestures already there as it is from my experience.

murpho999

With the advantage of no home buttom being a larger screen, which would be great, am I being stupid in suggesting that they use gestures for those who want and maybe an alternate home switch or button on side or back of phone which can be enabled/disable in settings?

I think a phone that is all screen with small bezel would be cool.

LukeS_

Don't really see the point of it TBH. Why don't they even make it a capicitive button by itself and just have the little square(home icon) at the bottom and just gave it small? That just wouldn't make sense to only have like 3 buttons on a phone and all of them be at the sides. It would make it feel really fake to me.

They could easily make the screen bigger by just not having all of that space at the top where the microphone is like most Android phones do...

EPM

Keep the home button and give us notification lights instead!

Leiva

What a complete irrelevant and useless argument .

hshortt

Interesting but nope

Dman001

From a design point, it would be great to get rid of it and the extra space could used for the screen, giving more room for a bigger screen without making the device itself much bigger. But would be very impractical, maybe re-positioning the home button to the side of the iPhone instead.

aidan_walsh

Scale wise you wouldn't be able to give the phone more vertical space without also giving horizontal space (it would mean that apps would need to be specifically designed to the new resolution rather than being able to simply upscale lower resolution apps), which would mean an overall larger phone - the exact opposite of what every manufacturer including Apple has been aiming at.

Jakmeehan

EPM wrote: »

Keep the home button and give us notification lights instead!

Notification lights?

guil

i presume he means along the lines of the apple logo lighting up or something like that

Jakmeehan

guil wrote: »

i presume he means along the lines of the apple logo lighting up or something like that

Hmm. That takes me back to my old Nokia 3220

Nah that would make the iPhone look and feel like a cheap Nokia if it started flashing when you get a call/text IMHO.

guil

poxy lights stopped working on my one, it would be pointless imo, what if ya have a case on the phone
they should implement something similar to status notifier in cydia

Dman001

aidan_walsh wrote: »

Scale wise you wouldn't be able to give the phone more vertical space without also giving horizontal space (it would mean that apps would need to be specifically designed to the new resolution rather than being able to simply upscale lower resolution apps), which would mean an overall larger phone - the exact opposite of what every manufacturer including Apple has been aiming at.

While I agree that Apple is obsessed with small, I wouldn't at all be surprised to see them at least bump the screen size to 3.7". The 3.5" seems so redundant at this stage, and 4"+ screens seem to be the new thing on Smartphones. Going by the HTC Desire, a 3.7" doesn't greatly effect the size of the device, but the extra .2" in screen size does make a significant difference.

Jakmeehan

Dman001 wrote: »

While I agree that Apple is obsessed with small, I wouldn't at all be surprised to see them at least bump the screen size to 3.7". The 3.5" seems so redundant at this stage, and 4"+ screens seem to be the new thing on Smartphones. Going by the HTC Desire, a 3.7" doesn't greatly effect the size of the device, but the extra .2" in screen size does make a significant difference.

I can't see apple upping the screen size. As someone else here mentioned, it would require all devs to re-tailor their apps' graphics to suit the new screen size. This could piss off a lot of devs who aren't bothered to readjust their apps (especially after just doing so for the retina display and/or iPad), and consequently the AppStore would be filled with "subpar" apps (for the iPhone 5 users). Apple are all about simplicity and user experience etc, IMO they won't risk giving their beloved AppStore a bad reputation.

Dman001

Jakmeehan wrote: »

I can't see apple upping the screen size. As someone else here mentioned, it would require all devs to re-tailor their apps' graphics to suit the new screen size. This could piss off a lot of devs who aren't bothered to readjust their apps (especially after just doing so for the retina display and/or iPad), and consequently the AppStore would be filled with "subpar" apps (for the iPhone 5 users). Apple are all about simplicity and user experience etc, IMO they won't risk giving their beloved AppStore a bad reputation.

Yes, very true I suppose. Never thought of that end of it.

aidan_walsh

Jakmeehan wrote: »

I can't see apple upping the screen size. As someone else here mentioned, it would require all devs to re-tailor their apps' graphics to suit the new screen size. This could piss off a lot of devs who aren't bothered to readjust their apps (especially after just doing so for the retina display and/or iPad), and consequently the AppStore would be filled with "subpar" apps (for the iPhone 5 users). Apple are all about simplicity and user experience etc, IMO they won't risk giving their beloved AppStore a bad reputation.

Especially since the devs have already upped the graphics work with the Retina Display, and look likely to have to do so again with the new iPad. I think the Retina Display will be here for one or two more refreshes myself.

gbee

IMO, the home button was a necessary evil.

Never liked it, but it had a function, a function so simple that made it almost but not quite dispensable.

Johnmb

I think they have to keep it. As an earlier poster said, he has mobility problems that would stop him from being able to effectively use the devices without a home button. He is not the only one, there are lots of people in the same boat. Apple would be creating a PR nightmare if they alienated a large group of people with various physical handicaps. Plus they've already set a precedent on their MacBooks. I can switch apps, and open Expose, via multi finger swipes of the track pad, but the keyboard routes to achieving those same things are still there. So Apple don't have a problem with providing two ways to do the same thing and letting the user decide which is handier for them.

EPM

Jakmeehan wrote: »

Hmm. That takes me back to my old Nokia 3220

Nah that would make the iPhone look and feel like a cheap Nokia if it started flashing when you get a call/text IMHO.

It could work if the little square on the home key flashed slightly if there was an unread text or missed call. Really useful once you get used to them. My old HTC desire had one and miss it. It's my one biggest gripe with the iPhone...well that and dropping calls since the last update...

Foxhole Norman

I think if they were to remove it that they should replace it with capacitive buttons like my HD7 has.

Oafley Jones

Jakmeehan wrote: »

I can't see apple upping the screen size. As someone else here mentioned, it would require all devs to re-tailor their apps' graphics to suit the new screen size. This could piss off a lot of devs who aren't bothered to readjust their apps (especially after just doing so for the retina display and/or iPad), and consequently the AppStore would be filled with "subpar" apps (for the iPhone 5 users). Apple are all about simplicity and user experience etc, IMO they won't risk giving their beloved AppStore a bad reputation.

Why so? If they (likely) retain the current resolution and increase the screen by half an inch where's the issue? I'm not sure what point you're making as regards users experience and simplicity of the App store and how it ties in with the discussion on screen size.

Someone earlier mentioned liking the physical buttons on his desire, but Google's Matias Duarte has expressed his desire that Android tablets shouldn't have any physical/capacitive buttons and that all interaction with the UI to be in the form of on-screen contextual icons. From a user perspective I think this is the way for tablets to go, but having the likes of five finger gesture for home in an iPhone would be horrible.

Jakmeehan

Oafley Jones wrote: »

Why so? If they (likely) retain the current resolution and increase the screen by half an inch where's the issue? I'm not sure what point you're making as regards users experience and simplicity of the App store and how it ties in with the discussion on screen size.

Someone earlier mentioned liking the physical buttons on his desire, but Google's Matias Duarte has expressed his desire that Android tablets shouldn't have any physical/capacitive buttons and that all interaction with the UI to be in the form of on-screen contextual icons. From a user perspective I think this is the way for tablets to go, but having the likes of five finger gesture for home in an iPhone would be horrible.

User experience would be degraded if a lot of apps were pixelated/stretched.

This could piss off a lot of devs who aren't bothered to readjust their apps (especially after just doing so for the retina display and/or iPad), and consequently the AppStore would be filled with "subpar" apps (for the iPhone 5 users)

Oafley Jones

Jakmeehan wrote: »

User experience would be degraded if a lot of apps were pixelated/stretched.

On a half inch* increase?!? Seriously given the current density it's not going to make that much of a difference and would still be far sharper than the 3GS


*Could never see them going above that, if they even went that far.

Jakmeehan

Oafley Jones wrote: »

On a half inch* increase?!? Seriously given the current density it's not going to make that much of a difference and would still be far sharper than the 3GS


*Could never see them going above that, if they even went that far.

In any case (I think someone else mentioned this too), if they did increase the screen in length they would also need to increase it in width. Else it would be freakishly long

Oafley Jones

Jakmeehan wrote: »

In any case (I think someone else mentioned this too), if they did increase the screen in length they would also need to increase it in width. Else it would be freakishly long

I don't think anyone is seriously suggesting they're going to change the aspect ratio.

nightster1

Apple have the iphone5 well thought, i'd say. They'll probably change everything again, like they say.
i'm looking forward to it.

i had the first iphone, I then broke it and went to Nokia, i didn't have ip3 or ip3gs. now i have ip4 and its brill:)