Embracing the Notch: How Are You Adapting to the Most Controversial iPhone X Design Decision?

[softpanther]

I think they could eliminate the notch and protruding back cameras if they'd turn the cameras and projector elements sideways towards up, then use mirrors and lenses to focus the light through the thin bezel.

This way you could embed longer lens and not take a chunk of space from the upper part of the screen. Just thin upper line.

 

[jase1125]

iPhone 7 in signature

Did you actually buy the iPhone X?

You use the signature as some sort of validation

 

[mrklaw]

Apple remind me of diesel cars lately - Diesels were always strong and economical but dirty, they tried to fix this with the EGR valve, which became problematic and so a DPF filter was added to help, which became problematic, so an AdBlue system was added...

Apple wanted to get rid of the home button but wanted tactile feedback, so they put in a taptic engine, which is massive and is most likely the reason for removal of headphone jack (far more than any "Bluetooth is better" argument), so one problem solved, now they can go full screen... But the touch sensor doesn't yet work through the screen so complete home button removal problematic, FaceID added to solve that! So now we have full screen... except for a massive array of sensors/cameras forming a "notch".

It always seems to be solutions for things that weren't particularly problems in the first place and an endless cycle of patching them (then figuring out the marketing spin to make it for our benefit and how amazing Apple are).

Alternatively, instead of FaceID being a hack job to let them get rid of the button - perhaps they wanted to get rid of the button to remove the need to manually interact with the phone as much?

FaceID isn't just about unlocking the phone. It allows more passive interactions that can just naturally happen - like the private notifications, or safari password autofill. As ios evolves I'm sure those kinds of use cases will increase.

Jonny Ive wants the design, the hardware to move to the background and get out of the way of the user interaction. FaceID is a good step towards enabling that.

 

[Kid Red]

The notch is one the main reason's I'll hold onto my 7+. It's not so much the notch, which I don't like, it's the poorly thought out placement and spacing of the UI elements that appear on both sides of the notch. The sides are unbalanced and squished on one side, and does not represent typical Apple design in terms of simple and clean. It looks like a rush job, like what Android or Windows would do.

I feel strongly Steve would've never allowed that notch+UI to ever see the light of day. I hope next year's model addresses that and their Face ID which is getting some bad press.

 

[flat five]

Full screen you also lose part of the picture. Personally to me that is more annoying but no one seems to be mentioning that

it depends on the video as to what will be lost.
this isn’t specific to iPhone X nor phones in general.

but the example you quoted, it’s barely cropping anything whereas if you did that on a different iPhone, it would a lot more considerable of a crop/loss.

generally speaking, the iphone X is better for watching movies whereas the past few iphones would be better with youtube.

 

[Medic]

Personally, Touch ID didn’t work well for me as it failed too often. Whether it was because My fingers were cold, wet or dirty, Touch ID wasn’t reliable to me.

FaceID is much more reliable and I love the fact that the X opens summary view when of notifications once it “sees” you. Also the notch is context sensitive when you have a call and go to another app, so I think the implementation is actually pretty solid.now we need MS to update OWA and i’m Happy!

 

[alexgowers]

For me the notch is a solution to the problem of increasing screen size. There are two main solutions, one to place the sensors at the bottom in a chin or to cut a notch. Over the next few years cutouts will be more and more prevalent, if you don't like the x notch, you're gonna hate what happens next.

Apple's notch is big for sure but it'll only get smaller. I also suspect faceID will become an android feature too as it becomes so convenient for users. If android makers don't offer an alternative, apple will keep those users for many years.

For me, the most controversial design decision is the removal of Touch ID.

We see how Face ID is problematic in many cases. Touch ID has none of those issues. I want an iPhone X with both Face ID and Touch ID.

You're kidding right!!!!

Touch ID doesn't work in many cases! Such as wet hands, when wearing gloves, when using a finger not registered, when hands are greasy, when not placed over the right area of the finger! and much more.

Face ID has very very few limitations, It struggles when strong IR is present and with some sunglasses. That's IT!!

People are so quick to forget the bad things they're used to and criticise the new as if what they have is perfect.

 

[Bacillus]

What's the best size for a knife or screwdriver to cut out the notch ?
Cam/face stuff is spurious for me - need the maxed out screen.

 

[driven01]

I had one. Returned it. Two reasons: 1) Couldn't get used to the notch, literally drove me crazy. (especially on zoomed videos or in landscape mode, which I use frequently) I'd MUCH rather have a full bezel. 2) Far prefer touch ID to FaceID. It's just faster (for me) Back to the 7 Plus.
[doublepost=1510850213][/doublepost]

For me the notch is a solution to the problem of increasing screen size. There are two main solutions, one to place the sensors at the bottom in a chin or to cut a notch. Over the next few years cutouts will be more and more prevalent, if you don't like the x notch, you're gonna hate what happens next.

Apple's notch is big for sure but it'll only get smaller. I also suspect faceID will become an android feature too as it becomes so convenient for users. If android makers don't offer an alternative, apple will keep those users for many years.



You're kidding right!!!!

Touch ID doesn't work in many cases! Such as wet hands, when wearing gloves, when using a finger not registered, when hands are greasy, when not placed over the right area of the finger! and much more.

Face ID has very very few limitations, It struggles when strong IR is present and with some sunglasses. That's IT!!

People are so quick to forget the bad things they're used to and criticise the new as if what they have is perfect.

... or in cold climates with a scarf over your face.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

not following you...
[doublepost=1510821995][/doublepost]
what I was meaning was, does the gloves give you fine motor control that you can type in an sms message for instance on the iPhone keyboard, if not what do the gloves allow you to do?

Yes. The model I have allows for capacitive touch with thumbs and index fingers. They are not bulky so you could type out an SMS. There are newer models that allow for touch with any finger. The point of the gloves is to be able to fully use your phone without have to take your gloves off.

 

[Chopper9]

I could put up with the notch much better if wasn’t combined with the stupid touch area (the line) that is on every screen. With all the wasted screen space, really is a glorified stretched out iPhone 8.

The solution was simple... take the iPhone 7 Plus and make it bezel-less. You got the best of all worlds. Instead, they add a little unusable length to the small screen and call it a day. It’s pointless reallly. The interface is more time consuming and the footprint is actually larger for what you get.

Opportunity missed.

Now I must await the iPhone X plus.

 

[KingslayerG5]

I don't think the notch will be around forever. It's similar to when LG put the second display on the first two V-phones but got rid of it by the V30 or when they put the volume buttons on the rears with the G2, G3, and G4.

Some of us are already in the acceptance stage similar to iPhone users back in 2013-2014 not happy with phablet-size before accepting Plus models ever since.

I do believe if Apple does get rid of the notch because content is not displayed that way, we might look back at the X design as a novelty and mistake. Right now, since it is here now, you just have to accept it. Just remember it may not be there forever.

Apple has the right to change it up. Maybe by 2019, it will be smaller. By 2021, it will be completely gone once the next real design refresh happens.

 

[CLS1]

Sorry you took this so personally, I responded to your post initially to point out the faulty logic in thinking flat tire complainers and notch haters were necessarily being hypocritical. I then pivoted to my own thoughts about the notch, including those who love it, don’t care, dislike and hate.

I did voice opinions about notch haters, and I can see how you’d think I was aiming my comments at you. I apologize for creating that confusion. I suppose I should have started a new response separate from my reply to you.

No harm , no foul.

 

[Russell67]

Nope, Doesn’t bother me at all. Love iPhone X.

 

[Dinozero]

Alright after using the X for awhile and reading these comments I think have some input that will help future purchasers make up their mind.


This is the most important part, and any reviewer or person that says otherwise here is simply being anecdotal and not analytical.

The iPhone X is not a replacement for iPhone Plus users that are happy and satisfied with the phone.

iPhone Plus users “give up” features and screen real estate moving to the iPhone X.

However for regular iPhone users, the X really is an improvement in every possible way.

Even.. even.. in 16:9 content. Albeit very small. A lot of digital ink has been spilt talking about how the “notch” cuts into your content but that’s not completely true.

You can watch YouTube content in 16:9, it will have pillerbox on the left and right but the viewable space is still 5” which is larger than the 4.7” of the regular iPhone.

When you record a video of your kid and then watch it back, it’s not as if the “notch” is in the way of that content, it just displays at 5”.

Look people, I’ve also heard a lot about Apple doing this for “branding” and some Apple fanboys are like “that’s a feature!” That’s silliness.

It’s not just for branding but Apple did have a serious problem on their hands and if anyone uses their head they can figure out why they did what they did.

They waited too long to enter the “bezel-less” phone wars. Hell they waited too long to update the iPhone design period. They cheated us all with the iPhone 7 it should have been a new phone. But (Tim Cook = profits )

When you look at the silhouettes of all the flagship phones out right now Apple had very little room to make a splash and name for their new phone. All the press coverage couldn’t sag “Apple makes phone that looks identical to LG!”

Not just looks but technical accomplishment was on the line.

Samsung flexed some serious engineering muscle when they made the “edge” phone. You remember what I red a lot of when that came out? “This edge serves no functional purpose, it simply looks “cool” and from the future.”

Ya know what? I agree. As much as I hate myself for liking superficial design without function I can’t help it. The Galaxy edge looks cool the same way a sports car does.


Now, enter the iPhone X. I was a huge hater at first. I felt the notch was dumb and losing Touch ID just had to be a mistake.

After having one now, I still feel it’s slightly unfinished and iOS 11 disappoints me as the most undone Apple update ever. Maybe they were too focused on iPad? Idk but I hope it improves.

But back to the physical aspects of the X. It does accomplish the “wow” factor that Apple neeeded to challenge their rivals. It is the most “edge to edge” display available (except for essential phone really). Apple has showed up late to the bezel game but now they’ve thrown their darts and made Samsung look like the company of “big bezels” in comparison.


The reason Apple wants developers to “embrace” the notch is they want to show off the edge to edge screen and in portrait mode does look sharp.

Landscape isn’t horrible it just means you need to reduce the phone to 5” to view things properly.


That said, my defense of the notch only applies to the phone. Because I understand how size is such a constraint to work around. But if the iPad or Macs such getting a “notch” there is no excuse for that. Those devices do not need to be as “edgeless” as this phone does to fit in your pocket.


The iPhone X Plus will be the phone for Plus users and when you are watching 16:9 content you will probably be around the 5.5 screen size you have now so you won’t feel as you’ve regressed any. In portrait mode you’ll have an extra inch to play with.

 

[jouster74]

That's the same with all smartphones since cinema aspect ratio is narrower than that of any smarthphone.

Precisely my point. So what difference does the notch really make for enjoying movies properly. None.

 

[jouster74]

Fact is that Apple would have sold more iPhone X’s if it had been without notch. Noone bought it because it has a notch, but a lot did NOT buy it because it has a notch.

I think their sales would counteract your argument. There is a larger percentage not buying the X because of the cost.

At the end of the day if you don’t like the notch, don’t buy the phone. No point in bitching about it.

 

[jouster74]

I think the Show is a perfect example of where the Gen 1 is a good one to miss. It could have been so much more and that’s before it lost YouTube

 

[jouster74]

The notch is one the main reason's I'll hold onto my 7+. It's not so much the notch, which I don't like, it's the poorly thought out placement and spacing of the UI elements that appear on both sides of the notch. The sides are unbalanced and squished on one side, and does not represent typical Apple design in terms of simple and clean. It looks like a rush job, like what Android or Windows would do.

I feel strongly Steve would've never allowed that notch+UI to ever see the light of day. I hope next year's model addresses that and their Face ID which is getting some bad press.

I love how people say they know what Steve will have done.

He went against many of his beliefs and decisions whilst at the helm of Apple and he did have to move with the times like all businesses. If Apple still only made 4.7inch screened phones they wouldn’t be half as successful as they are now.

At the end of the day a huge majority of the reviews for the phone are positive and strongly so. No one will ever be totally happy with a design of a phone handset and bitching and moaning about it on a forum that no one truly cares about will have zero impact.

 

[jouster74]

it depends on the video as to what will be lost.
this isn’t specific to iPhone X nor phones in general.

but the example you quoted, it’s barely cropping anything whereas if you did that on a different iPhone, it would a lot more considerable of a crop/loss.

generally speaking, the iphone X is better for watching movies whereas the past few iphones would be better with youtube.

It’s taking enough of the picture for anyone who knows what to look for. Just because you don’t notice it doesn’t mean it’s not missing.

Same with the notch. You see it more so it gives many the reason to moan more.

In truth I’d rather watch it in its proper aspect at which point the notch is not an issue at all.

 

[flat five]

It’s taking enough of the picture for anyone who knows what to look for. Just because you don’t notice it doesn’t mean it’s not missing.

Same with the notch. You see it more so it gives many the reason to moan more.

In truth I’d rather watch it in its proper aspect at which point the notch is not an issue at all.

again, talking about the movie where this exchange stemmed from..
it’s not removing anything other than the notch and corners. there’s no additional cropping. the top&bottom&sides are still the native frame borders.

(there’s still a little bit of black border at the top&bottom.. it’s not being cropped there.. it’s a tad letterboxed even when scaled to full width)

 

[jouster74]

again, talking about the movie where this exchange stemmed from..
it’s not removing anything other than the notch and corners. there’s no additional cropping. the top&bottom&sides are still the native frame borders.

(there’s still a little bit of black border at the top&bottom.. it’s not being cropped there.. it’s a tad letterboxed even when scaled to full width)

Its not the top and bottom that’s the problem. It’s the right and left areas that are being lost. Check the original post and you’ll see how much is being lost. Yes the notch takes some detail out but there’s actually
More being lost due to the full screen function in general.

Not saying either bothers me but for those complaining about the both being an issue, it’s bigger than that

 

[flat five]

Its not the top and bottom that’s the problem. It’s the right and left areas that are being lost. Check the original post and you’ll see how much is being lost. Yes the notch takes some detail out but there’s actually
More being lost due to the full screen function in general.

Not saying either bothers me but for those complaining about the both being an issue, it’s bigger than that

yeah, that comparison is misleading.. it’s not the same frame and it looks like more is being lost than what’s really happening. the camera is zooming in that scene and it’s making it look like the phone is cropping.

a better comparison in .gif format would be via pausing the movie then doing the full screen zoom while maintaining the same exact frame of the video.

 

[vpro]

Obviously it's still an issue for everyone because ya'll still discussing it after all this time and ya'll still justifying it, which keeps it an "issue" in the back of everyone's mind

Visualize this for a moment, life before the "notch", especially with the dark front phones, in the dark or in the light, your content is credibly immersive, truly immersive because their laminated screens continue to improve and are superior to non in the market, content gives the beautiful illusion of "spilling" off and over the entire phone's surface as you scroll, zoom and such -- am i right? You see that, isn't it beautiful how the entire phone disappears and it's just you and your content?

But life with the "notch" in the dark as you enjoy your media content, it's really, really, really "in your face" present, while in the day time, it always looks as though your content is embedded under that notch, always moving content under that "notch" getting in the way, in the way; you no longer have the beautiful illusion of your content "painted on to the screen" as soon as you scroll and zoom, the notch dominates, sits SOLID, immovable, undeniably right there on top of everything you should be interacting with uninterrupted, but there it is "Notch Interupted" people... Fail...

I went with the Note 8, it's a super computer beast in my palm. The X is so chunky and the thick black frame around the entire screen really emphasizes the impact of that "notch" even more.

There is no amount of ignoring it or getting used to it, there is just no getting around it, you all paid premium for a glaring design flaw don't justify it, live with the flaw is what you're all basically promoting. Mob justification doesn't make anything "okay".

It's your money and your taste, you all voted. Nice.

Love you all so much ^_^

 

[mrklaw]

I love how people say they know what Steve will have done.

He went against many of his beliefs and decisions whilst at the helm of Apple and he did have to move with the times like all businesses. If Apple still only made 4.7inch screened phones they wouldn’t be half as successful as they are now.

At the end of the day a huge majority of the reviews for the phone are positive and strongly so. No one will ever be totally happy with a design of a phone handset and bitching and moaning about it on a forum that no one truly cares about will have zero impact.

An infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters would come up with an infinite number of things Steve Jobs would never have allowed if he was still alive