iPhone X Notch: Everything You Need to Know

[Chomp81]

This notch is creating more problems and confusions than benefits.

The 5.8" display is INCLUDING the notch; so when you watch a video in 16:9 ratio or surfing Safari in landscape mode, the actual screen size for content is smaller, might even be smaller than the Plus series (5.5")

 

[QquegChristian]

Like others, I believe Apple embraced the notch simply to make the phone identifiable.

What annoys me is that they could have easily done that by having full-ear wallpaper on the lock screen and home screens. Then quickly fade the ears to black with white icons when using ANY app, and pure black when doing anything in landscape mode.

That way they get to embrace the notch for trade dress purposes, while never distracting us from our content.

 

[tech3475]

I'm surprised if apps are affected by this going by other comments, they should have just made it so that the 'notch' area was ununsable (either being blank or just the regular 'top bar') unless specifically invoked.

That way app devs only have the regular rectangle shape to worry about.

 

[frifra]

This phone is literally top notch.

 

[Roller]

Like others, I believe Apple embraced the notch simply to make the phone identifiable.

What annoys me is that they could have easily done that by having full-ear wallpaper on the lock screen and home screens. Then quickly fade the ears to black with white icons when using ANY app, and pure black when doing anything in landscape mode.

That way they get to embrace the notch for trade dress purposes, while never distracting us from our content.

Apple wanted to advertise the X as bezel-less with more screen real estate. They also weren't able to put the sensors and IR sources under the screen. Those constraints meant no bezel at the top. So they figured that they may as well use the display areas to the left and right of the notch for signal strength and other indicators that have to be there in portrait mode anyway, avoiding moving them lower on the screen.

What Apple missed, I believe, is the visual effect of the notch with content appearing on either side of it, especially in landscape mode. I agree with you that making the areas adjacent to the notch black most of the time would have been a good compromise functionally and visually. Apple's developer guidelines with the so-called safe area recognize the functional but not the visual part. But I don't see why they couldn't implement your suggestion with an iOS update, or possibly make it a user preference.

 

[Bruno Jenso]

The notch is there for a very specific design reason beyond it's function: Namely unique recognisability of the phone silhouette.

If you haven't noticed Apple always distill the physical shape of their phones into something that looks subtlety unique to all other phones in some way *particularly when that shape is distilled to a simple one colour vector icon* (such as the attached image Apple is currently using). The iPhones perfectly round home button combined with the top and bottom equally sized bezels achieved this for *every single* iPhone model until now.

Why? Well it's very clever - it means you see those elements and subconsciously think 'iPhone' or 'Apple'. I bet Apple viciously attack any company that tries to use those specific elements together - therefore their products have been able to stand out as visually unique in a very crowded market - despite there being only so many ways you can bezel a rectangle.

No other company has manage to keep that consistency of appearance. And Apple have been pulling this off since the original iPod with it's click wheel. All it's mobile products have had industry enviable unique recognisability. I'm no fanboy but hats off to them for that. NOW - this means removing the home button was terrifying to Apple from a design POV - how the hell to keep their phones looking unique without the most recognisable element - said round home button. That's what the notch is their for above **all other reasons** including all functionality. The otherwise perfectly symmetrical rounded bezel is a hugely important secondary element too. So we are at the beginning of a crossover tactic - it's a bit weird but before you know it we will all have accepted that is what an iPhone looks like - and you'll see it across the whole range including iPads. I guarantee it.

I have such beef with Apple these days particularly with their pricing - but I tell you - they are design genius' above and beyond all their technical achievements. Their hardware/software co-design ethos is their second main reason for such massive success.

In a few years time the whole range will be notched like the X.

 

[stevet]

No one asked for allot of thing from Apple.. We just get.

If Apple really wanted to, they could just do away with these guidelines totally, and force restrictions if your developing for iPhone X only, to allow free space underneath this so you can put anything under to hide... any apps or icons must lay either side.. and if u choose to ignore this, they would be scaled to these positions for iPhone X because of this

Do it right Apple.

I agree, I think they should just black out the sides next to the notch in landscape. It would just make more uniform sense and allow developers to just deal with a square box. Unless I misunderstand the UI spec for this, if you have something on the side (in LS mode) and it is behind the notch you have to do something special for it.
[doublepost=1505474906][/doublepost]

The notch is there for a very specific design reason beyond it's function: Namely unique recognisability of the phone silhouette.

View attachment 717902

Thats a bunch of nonsense being spread around by some in the media, specifically apologists of Apple. I use and like Apples products but I'm not afraid to criticize them when they do something stupid. They make a big deal out of esthetics, the notch itself, to me, isn't the problem. It's how they are chosing to deal with it in landscape mode that is my problem.

 

[dannys1]

What does the notch bring to the table? The time and other symbols could have been moved below and made it straight across with no loss in useable screen. Plenty of space above the mail icon and the camera icon to put the time and stuff.

That would be a loss though - the areas either side of the notch are now swipe zones making full use of the screen size - and the notch helps split that up in the different zones.

 

[Bacillus]

Ohh man, the notch is soo great.
I have installed a (static) software notch template on all of my jailbroken devices.
Feeling soo much better now. And I will cut out their home buttons later this week.
I just can't afford to be seen in public with that clumsy symbol of archaism.
Filling up its hole with shoe glue will make me slow down the "wipe up" - multitasking gesture.
It feels so natural, so cute, so up-to-date.
Tim and Phil will be proud of me.

 

[dannys1]

I agree, I think they should just black out the sides next to the notch in landscape. It would just make more uniform sense and allow developers to just deal with a square box. Unless I misunderstand the UI spec for this, if you have something on the side (in LS mode) and it is behind the notch you have to do something special for it.
[doublepost=1505474906][/doublepost]


Thats a bunch of nonsense being spread around by some in the media, specifically apologists of Apple. I use and like Apples products but I'm not afraid to criticize them when they do something stupid. They make a big deal out of esthetics, the notch itself, to me, isn't the problem. It's how they are chasing to deal with it in landscape mode that is my problem.

Does anyone actually look at websites in landscape mode on a iPhone now? If so, why? It's a horrible experience even on the plus sized phones.

The only time I ever look at anything landscape on my phone is a video. Everything else is better in portrait.

 

[deckard666]

Ohh man, the notch is soo great.
I have installed a (static) software notch template on all of my jailbroken devices.
Feeling soo much better now. And I will cut out their home buttons later this week.
I just can't afford to be seen in public with that clumsy symbol of archaism.
Filling up its hole with shoe glue will make me slow down the "wipe up" - multitasking gesture.
It feels so natural, so cute, so up-to-date.
Tim and Phil will be proud of me.

Jailbreak ? What current iOS hardware has one of those ?

 

[belvdr]

This phone literally top notch.

That's funny.

Every time I look at this phone, I just chuckle because it looks goofy to me. That, along with the red dot on the LTE watch, draws my attention to it every time.

 

[Taipan]

What does the notch bring to the table? The time and other symbols could have been moved below and made it straight across with no loss in useable screen. Plenty of space above the mail icon and the camera icon to put the time and stuff.

If they did that, an even more valid point would arise:
Why waste a complete row of space for this? Plenty of unused space to the left and right of the sensors. Why not put that static info up there and use the free space below for something else?

 

[sigma7]

Notch gate!

 

[Loge]

The only time I ever look at anything landscape on my phone is a video. Everything else is better in portrait.

Reading, PDFs for example, where the text may be too small to read in portrait, but can be read in landscape and vertically scrolled. This is an area where the Plus is superior.

 

[DNichter]

I have never seen a post were you didn't like something Apple did so your opinions are null and void. SMH

I have never seen a post from you where you weren't biased towards the Android platform. I am not even sure why you come to these forums. I never understood why Android people do it, but I guess they have nothing better to do. Anyway, I have been pretty fair when it comes to both sides of the equation. I like the notch and think its a unique design. I think there will be software issues when using the phone in landscape, but I never use it that way so I don't see it as much of an issue (for me). If you don't like the notch, that's cool too. I was giving my opinion, but I don't think people will mind as much once you start using it.

 

[iLLUMI]

So we all agree then that the iPhone X is top notch!!

 

[imronburgundy]

A lot of Stockholm Syndrome going on in this thread...

 

[sMiK]

am I the only one that is disappointed with the bezel that is still around the display on the sides and bottom areas? As an Apple fanboy who had every single iPhone, this is just disappointing after seeing the Samsung S8 phone, which looks so much better at the front...

 

[stevet]

Does anyone actually look at websites in landscape mode on a iPhone now? If so, why? It's a horrible experience even on the plus sized phones.

The only time I ever look at anything landscape on my phone is a video. Everything else is better in portrait.

Who said anything about websites?

 

[convergent]

Personally, I think the notch looks silly. I doubt SJ would have approved, and I'm shocked that Jony (art over function) Ives signed off on it. I would have much preferred a slightly larger bezel; or for the whole top including notification area to be black. Its kind of dumb to make the screen bigger and talk about the larger screen dimensions, and then remove a big chunk of it. I can imagine that watching a movie with a big notch out of side of it will be pretty annoying. But then I don't like much about the X and doubt I'll ever buy one. Apple continues to move in a direction that is not aligned with what I like and dislike, so this isn't surprising to me.

 

[Pilgrim1099]

There's something that many of you are NOT realizing nor seeing down the road. I just came to a realization that if the iPhone X is $999 and above, how much would the future iPad with this Face ID and notch going to cost? This could end badly if they go too far with this.

So, iPhone X is $999. iPad with new Face ID and notch could be about $999 starting and up? If they're planning on phasing out Thumb ID for iOS, iPad is going to be affected as well and could be seeing this change by 2018 which is likely.

 

[Electrolytic]

I don't think I can be without touch ID... Kinda a deal breaker for me however I'll look at the phone when it arrives and make up my mind then...

 

[bbplayer5]

I don't mind it. Actually looks like you arent using a phone, but rather, cards of some sort.

 

[sos47]

take a photo with iPhone X and look at it. 4:3 on 18.5:9. no bezels? they are bigger than on iPhone 7. haha