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Apple to Remove Home Button From Future iPads and iPhones?

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Apr 12, 2001
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With Apple using the new developer build of iOS 4.3 to test new multi-touch gestures for accessing the home screen and switching between applications, speculation immediately arose that Apple might be considering doing away with the home button on the iPad as a means for shrinking the device.


095125-ipad_iphone_sans_home_button.jpg


Mockups of iPad and iPhone lacking home buttons
According to BGR, Apple is in fact contemplating doing just that, with both the iPad and iPhone being considered for home button removal.
We have exclusively been told that the reason Apple just added multitouch gestures for the iPad in the latest iOS 4.3 beta is because the iPad will be losing the home button. Yes, we are told that Apple, at some point in time, will remove the home button from the iPad's design. Instead of button taps, you will use new multitouch gestures to navigate to the home screen and also to launch the app switcher.

That's not all, however. In addition to the home button disappearing from the iPad, we're told that this change will make its way over to the iPhone as well. Our source said Apple employees are already testing iPads and iPhones with no home buttons on the Apple campus, and it's possible we will see this new change materialize with the next-generation iPad and iPhone devices set to launch this year.
Click to expand...
BGR's source also indicates that the next-generation iPad may gain Photo Booth functionality and more iPad-specific versions of iLife applications.

The potential removal of the home button is certain to be controversial, as Daring Fireball's John Gruber argues that the single physical feature on the front of the device serves as a reference for new users, allowing them to intuitively know how to use the device the first time they pick it up.
These gestures do mean that you don't have to use the Home button. But there's a serious discoverability problem with them. The physical Home button is impossible to miss. That it is the one and only button on the faces of these devices is a big part of why normal people are able to pick them up, start playing with them, and figure out how to get around with no help. How in the world would a normal person figure out or guess that they need to do a "five-finger pinch" to get back to the home screen?
Click to expand...
Usability issues are an even bigger hurdle on the iPhone, with its limited screen size for many-finger gestures and the ease of use it currently enjoys with one-hand operation using solely the thumb to navigate around the device.

Article Link: Apple to Remove Home Button From Future iPads and iPhones?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/01/13/apple-to-remove-home-button-from-future-ipads-and-iphones/
Makes sense for the iPad i think, but i use one hand with my iPhone a lot so the home button is quite.... handy.
 
can def see it going on ipad, but iphone is too small for the 5 finger gesture for home screen. i'd imagine that staying.

they'd also have to figure out a new "hard restart" option for when the devices crash.

and how would we take "desktop pictures"

so many things to figure out. good thing apple has some pretty decent engineers over there . . .
 
I can totally see this happening on the iPad but no thanks on the iPhone.

For once fragmentation would be a good thing.

How can you do multitouch gestures on the iPhone unless you use two hands!
 
Enough with this constant fiddling and minimization to the point of being less functional. Like the Home Button on my iPhone and the iPad. Leave it as is, please!
 
Don't get ahead of yourself :apple:. I know button removal will save a few million nickels but having a hardware button is good for the occasional screen lockup.
 
Princes bride

What if you have a finger blown off from holding a firecracker to long. Or have a sixth finger and you demand some kind of six finger gesture.
 
Should also point that Apple screwed the pooch with the latest Nano by miniaturizing it the point of being worse than the previous gen.

Leave the Home button, Apple. Work on making the iPhone/iPad/iTouch more useful in other ways.
 
I'm more inclined toward "about time!"
The clicky big round button seems a non-sequitur in the rest of the design. Indeed, I find the sharp distinct "click" a distraction, esp. when working in a very quiet environment and trying to avoid drawing attention. Now that we have double-clicking it's twice as annoying. Not a big deal, but not nothing either. Yes there are other buttons, but they are small, discrete, quiet, and optional.

Dunno what gesture would be a suitable replacement.
 
I hope they keep the Home key but I understand why Apple is doing it. Too many people expect them to come out with better wares year after year and there is a lot of pressure to be innovative. When they run out of ideas or reach physical limits then they will resort to creating different colors for their products.
 
dropbars said:
What if you have a finger blown off from holding a firecracker to long. Or have a sixth finger and you demand some kind of six finger gesture.
Click to expand...

Or what if you have really small hands? My 3 yr old loves our iOS devices. I wonder if she has a big enough hand for the pinch gesture to even register. ^_^;
 
How will you use your phone with one hand if 4 or 5 finger gestures are needed. Home button is here to stay.
 
sounds cool, but a little far fetched. how would you wake the screen? tap the volume buttons?
 
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I don't think this will come to the iphone. Screen is to small plus it takes away the ability to use the phone with one hand only. (which I like)
 
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