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Apple to Remove Home Button From Future iPads and iPhones?

whooleytoo said:
They can't remove ALL buttons, or how exactly would you wake the device? Would the touch-screen always be active? How then would you prevent the iPad's screen being activated by every single touch, including when it's in its case and touching the case's inside.

Not all changes are evolution, some just don't make sense. Which is why I think this rumour is inaccurate, or completely unfounded.
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I'm not saying that we will lose all buttons tomorrow. I'm saying that the day will come and we WILL lose them. and when that time comes, technology will have evolved into ways of interacting with devices in new forms ;)
and what I was trying to explain earlier is that the iPad is a really good contender to lose the button while the iPhone isn't. that's why Apple is "trying" to implement it on the iPad only. we're still in Beta, we might lose it before it sees the light.
 
Hmm no home button on the iPhone could be interesting

Here is a simple example I made

208jjsx.png
 
ThE.MeSsEnGeR said:
I'm not saying that we will lose all buttons tomorrow. I'm saying that the day will come and we WILL lose them.
and what I was trying to explain earlier is that the iPad is a really good contender to lose the button while the iPhone isn't. that's why Apple is "trying" to implement it on the iPad only. we're still in Beta, we might lose it before it sees the light.
Click to expand...

Sure, but the problem would still remain - if there are no physical controls there needs to be some other way of waking/putting the device to sleep. Either the touch screen would have to be active all the time (a problem for power management or accidental awakening), or they would need some other kind of sensor to wake. Shake to wake maybe/ ;)

That's true tomorrow, or in 10 years time.
 
whooleytoo said:
Sure, but the problem would still remain - if there are no physical controls there needs to be some other way of waking/putting the device to sleep. Either the touch screen would have to be active all the time (a problem for power management or accidental awakening), or they would need some other kind of sensor to wake. Shake to wake maybe/ ;)

That's true tomorrow, or in 10 years time.
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what about a greatly advanced Voice Control System? not cheap ones we see now... but really advanced :eek: I would love that!!
 
ThE.MeSsEnGeR said:
what about a greatly advanced Voice Control System? not cheap ones we see now... but really advanced :eek: I would love that!!
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Maybe!

I've never liked voice control personally, but different strokes for different folks..

I can see it causing problems though. Imagine in a Steve Jobs keynote he mentions the new iOS is available for download immediately - suddenly you have hundreds of voices from the audience - "Wake! Waaaaaake! Wake up iPad! Despierta!" :p
 
ThE.MeSsEnGeR said:
what about a greatly advanced Voice Control System? not cheap ones we see now... but really advanced :eek: I would love that!!
Click to expand...

Given the voice systems we have now haven't advanced much relative to all the other tech in the last 10-20Years. So they are really due for a tipping point leap some time soon.

Although when that happens we might blow right past not just not needing buttons but dropping the screen as well on various devices as well.
 
if they remove the home button from the front, they better put it on the side or something.
 
12 pages already ? :eek:

Ok, so it has probably been said already: for the iPhone, that's a effing stupid idea.

You need to be able to operate the iPhone with ONE hand. If the home button is replaced by some multitouch gesture, you can't do it with one hand anymore.

That would be absolutely retarded, just like making the rotate-switch on the iPad a mute switch.

-t
 
Absolutely stupid.

Countless times has an app, even Apple apps, caused the OS will freeze up and all touch gestures won't do anything. The home button saves me by allowing me to return home, open the multitasking bar, remove the offending app, and then restart the app. How will 4/5 finger gestures save me then if the OS doesn't even want to recognise my touches and I don't have a home button?
 
kaheiyeh said:
Absolutely stupid.

Countless times has an app, even Apple apps, caused the OS will freeze up and all touch gestures won't do anything. The home button saves me by allowing me to return home, open the multitasking bar, remove the offending app, and then restart the app. How will 4/5 finger gestures save me then if the OS doesn't even want to recognise my touches and I don't have a home button?
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Sleep, wake, slide to unlock, four-finger swipe upwards, toggle apps, end process.
 
Well it's a lame idea considering you would have to use another hand. Currently you can nav the phone with ONE hand, i.e. thumb. Removing the home button would add in another hand decreasing usability?

To the girlfriend, "Excuse me but I need to use 2 hands for this call".
 
champ01 said:
Hmm no home button on the iPhone could be interesting

Here is a simple example I made

208jjsx.png
Click to expand...

I see the benefit of the look in this example, but I would think the thin frame would cause issues as fingers wrapped around to hold it.

In regards to the concept of the phone without a home button, I don't like it. It may be that I am used to it being there and its removal bugs me, but I think that is has a true function that I have grown to appreciate. I don't yet have an iPad so a change in design wouldn't really have much of an effect on me.
 
kayloh20 said:
That's how it's currently done.

With that in mind, I wonder how they're gonna go to DFU mode (not for jailbreakers, but for times when the OS really didn't install correctly).
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It's a silly change there are so many other things they can improve.. That single button is an important user anchor reference point
 
Lennholm said:
A menu would not constitute a hard reset because it relies on software and further interaction. A hard reset is a way to physically reset a device regardlesss of its state and it's absolutely necessary to have
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Yes, I know. You could put a timer on the power button, so that if a person continues to hold it down because the menu doesn't appear, it would pull a full Reset or NMI.

There's lots of different ways to handle it without the Home button. It's not like engineers haven't been doing this ever since the first micro came out, right? :)

Regards!
 
Dear Apple, or to whom it may be concerned, has a runner id like to see Bluetooth support for Hearth Rate Monitoring System's, like Polar brand Straps etc.

:(

now can someone mail this to steve jobs ?
 
The removal of the home button in the current form would allow for a 16:9 screen which in turn would be the exact room needed for another row of apps.
 

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Just to review...

Not that buttons can't be remapped, but here is an overview of the functionality of buttons:

iPad

Sleep/Wake:
Sleep, Wake [also available by pressing Home], Power-off [Hold]

Switch:
Mute or Rotation Lock (both also available in multitasking tray)

Volume Rocker:
Volume Up/Down (also available in multitasking tray and other systems)

Home:
Home (also available with 4/5 finger pinch), Spotlight (also available by swiping left from first home screen) [From first home screen only], Multitasking tray (also available by 4/5 finger swipe up) [Double-tap], Accessibility [Triple-tap]

Home+Sleep/Wake
Screenshot, Hard Reset [Hold]

iPhone 4

Sleep/Wake:
Sleep, Wake [also available by pressing Home], Power-off [Hold]

Switch:
Ring/Silent (volume available in multitasking tray)

Volume Up:
Volume Up (also available in multitasking tray and other systems)

Volume Down:
Volume Down (also available in multitasking tray and other systems)

Home:
Home, Spotlight (also available by swiping left from first home screen) [From first home screen only], Multitasking tray [Double-tap], Accessibility [Triple-tap], Voice Control [Hold]

Home+Sleep/Wake
Screenshot, Hard Reset [Hold]
 
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A Tackier Pink said:
Regardless, I like my home button and would rather have to scroll across.
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I agree - I find the home button quite functional, easier to use than gestures, and am also happy with the current screen size and the number of home screens (especially that we now have folders) - that mockup was simply made for discussion purposes as a result of this rumour.
 
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