Apple Community Envisions Better Ways to Activate Control Center on iPhone X

[Mad Mac Maniac]

Am I the only one slightly ticked off with the way apps are closed on the X? Feels like a completely unnecessary step to press and hold the app instead of just swiping up.

I have an easy solution for you. Don’t close apps. Unless an app is frozen or misbehaving in some way (happens to me like maybe once a week) there is zero reason to close apps and actually slows down your phone. You’re welcome

 

[bornmann]

****ing armchair designers.

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

Just because it makes no difference, doesn't mean it can't be easier to close out apps that are very rarely used. No reason to scroll through countless apps.

App switcher is not meant for scrolling through all your apps (that’s what the home screen is for)... it’s only for switching between your last few used apps, so any “rarely used” apps would quickly move far out of view.

 

[WatchFromAfar]

Another way to write that headline is "activating control center on the iPhone X is a pain"

 

[jimbobb24]

Maybe X2 can have a home button. Because they are awesome. Like mice on computers, it’s an interface that should not be replaced by gestures for aesthetics.

 

[iPhone_X]

I've been thinking about this a lot as it's my biggest gripe and was my biggest worry before launch since the display was so tall. I had a few ideas both before and after I started using the X:

1. Be able to change Reachability to a Control Center shortcut
2. 3D Touch on the Home Indicator to open Control Center
3. Have Control Center appear to the right in the app switcher
4. Have swipe "areas" at the bottom. For instance, if you swipe up on the center 70% it activates the home button action. This would make it difficult to accidentally invoke. If you swipe up on the left 15%, Notification Center; the right 15%, Control Center. This would match the top gestures.
5. Remove shake to undo gesture and put an undo button either into or below the keyboard. Then have a shake to control gesture, in which it immediately pops into view instead of sliding up.

I'm not a fan of the idea of 3D touching and swiping the side of the display. This was always somewhat difficult to do for multitasking on older devices. But if it's the only option they end up giving us, it will likely be an improvement. But for the sake of consistency, it should probably be placed on the right side since you get a sense of apps moving from the left while multitasking. I think what makes the most sense is either option #3 or option #4, in that order.

 

[i hate phones]

swiping left to right on the homebar switches to the previous app, why not swipe right to left on homebar for control center?

 

[DNichter]

Maybe X2 can have a home button. Because they are awesome. Like mice on computers, it’s an interface that should not be replaced by gestures for aesthetics.

The no home button/gesture UI for the X may be the best part about the phone. Super smooth and works great. The control center location isn't great, but I haven't had an issue with it.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

Why not just get rid of the widget dashboard and put control center there? I'm not sure what the stats are on people that actually use it, but anecdotally I do not know anyone who does.

 

[linkmaster02]

swiping left to right on the homebar switches to the previous app, why not swipe right to left on homebar for control center?

Swiping right to left already switches back to the app you just switched from.

 

[mustrd_seed]

Funny I just sent a message to Apple about better placement of control center. I like some of these ideas. 3D Touch home bar probably being the best.

Agreed. 3D touch should be more embraced in general. Even Samsung figured it's best to have a 3d touch home button. Not sure why apple can't do the same and retain the swipe up for control center.

 

[DNichter]

Why not just get rid of the widget dashboard and put control center there? I'm not sure what the stats are on people that actually use it, but anecdotally I do not know anyone who does.

Probably a fair point here, I only use it to check sport scores or weather occasional. Control center would be more useful here.

 

[linkmaster02]

Maybe X2 can have a home button. Because they are awesome. Like mice on computers, it’s an interface that should not be replaced by gestures for aesthetics.

I'm curious if you've used an iPhone X yet. I think the home button gestures feel really great. The animations make it feel very fluid and responsive.

 

[i hate phones]

Swiping right to left already switches back to the app you just switched from.

I've had that work on occassion, but most of the time for me it does nothing. technically the app you just switched from would become the last app used which would be swiping left to right. maybe it works right to left if you do it immediately after you switched... not needed imo, you can just keep doing left right to switch back and forth.

 

[asleep]

We saw a woman trying to achieve one of those gestures with here new iPhone X yesterday at a coffee shop,

She was contorting her hand and reaching and swiping and frustratingly not getting the result she wanted, then the phone fell out of her hand...

For a second I thought it was going to hit the stone floor... she let out a little "eek"... but it luckily landed in her giant purse that was on the floor next to her chair.

She looked down into the purse for a second, seeing it was okay I guess, and let out a an exasperated sigh.

She just went back to her coffee and her snack and left the X sitting in her purse, almost as if she was punishing it. We couldn't stop laughing.

 

[itsmilo]

There should be a left handed and right handed choice at least to move it to the left or right hand side.

I usually hold my phone in the right hand when i carry things so having to swipe right gives me less room to actually hold onto the phone if that makes sense

 

[ugahairydawgs]

I've had that work on occassion, but most of the time for me it does nothing. technically the app you just switched from would become the last app used which would be swiping left to right. maybe if works right to left if you do it immediately after you switched... not needed imo, you can just keep doing left right to switch back and forth.

Swiping left and right should scroll you through your apps much like if you had the app switcher up.

 

[mustrd_seed]

Agreed. 3D touch should be more embraced in general. Even Samsung figured out that a physical press for home anywhere is best. Not sure why apple can't do the same & for really everything we used to use the home button for.

 

[chako]

Why not a swipe up on the bottom right corner for Control Center? If they can use the top right corner, why not the bottom? Everything else stays the same...and we are all happy. Swiping in the middle keeps all the new iPhone X fanciness.

 

[emulajavi]

Right to the app switcher, as it was originally planned.

That should be the place, like ipad. And leaving the swipe from anywhere from the top for lock screen and notifications, as always.

 

[BulkSlash]

Personally I’ve been fairly happy with using Reachability and then swiping the top right. It’s not ideal but I find it a fairly smooth and quick gesture.

What I would really like is some sort of quick pairing for AirPods like a toggle in Control Centre rather than having to press on the music player to pair up.

 

[earthTOmitchel]

It's probably because other then an app that has gotten stuck/crashed there really is no reason to close an app because it doesn't really make a difference.

It'll be 2070 and I'll still be explaining to my sister that force quitting Messages after every time she opens it to send one text is pointless and does more harm than good.

And she'll still do it.

I really hope the new UI in the X makes people realize this. I've already exhausted all explanations that I can think of and haven't gotten through to my family

 

[linkmaster02]

I've had that work on occassion, but most of the time for me it does nothing. technically the app you just switched from would become the last app used which would be swiping left to right. maybe it works right to left if you do it immediately after you switched... not needed imo, you can just keep doing left right to switch back and forth.

Currently, swiping left/right on the home indicator switches through your apps in chronological order, meaning you can also swipe to go forward once you've swiped to go back. However, if you swipe back, then either wait a few seconds or interact with the app, that app moves to the front of the recently used apps, which means you can't swipe right to left anymore. Hopefully that clears up the issue you were having.

 

[i hate phones]

Swiping left and right should scroll you through your apps much like if you had the app switcher up.

Does this work consistently for you? for me most of the time swiping right to left does absolutely nothing. Technically speaking, the app you have open is always the app furthest to the right in app switcher so there is only one way to go (back). There seems to be some buggy implementation that works on occasion maybe if you swipe back and forth fast enough, but what's really the point of that?

 

[cliffster82]

I don't have an X but I think being able to configure the home stripe to do different things with control center and reachability is a no-brainer idea.

I don't like the idea of messing with the 3D touch on the edge. If you use a case that can be a tricky gesture. Leave that as is.... I think my $0.02 is used up.