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iPhone 7/Plus New home button = painful?
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JM
macrumors 601
After using a 7 for four months, my thumb hurts too. I thought I was alone.
The energy has to go somewhere since it's not moving anything, so it goes into the tendons/muscles of the thumb. That's why I think it hurts 🙁
I'll get an X in a year or two and be done with this non-button.
The energy has to go somewhere since it's not moving anything, so it goes into the tendons/muscles of the thumb. That's why I think it hurts 🙁
I'll get an X in a year or two and be done with this non-button.
newellj
macrumors G3
You need to take the post above yours to heart. If your thumb hurts, you're pressing way too hard.
JM
macrumors 601
My home button press didn't get more powerful moving from 5s to 7.
I'm not pressing hard, and it still hurts. It goes away if I don't use my phone. It only hurts if I use it a lot in one day.
Have you considered the possibility that not actually moving anything is messing with the tendons/muscles/etc. of some people who are sensitive to pain (or have mild arthritis?)
I put in a feature request (as accessibility) to adjust the sensitivity of the home button (the click doesn't adjust the sensitivity, just the haptic), but I don't have hope it would be implemented because they have the X now that doesn't need a home button.
newellj
macrumors G3
As it happens, I do have arthritis. I have the same non-physical hardware on my MacBook, which presents even more opportunities for grief. I think you (pardon the pun) put your finger on a possible solution when you said that you aren't pressing any harder on the 7 than on the 5S. You probably need to press lighter, not the same. There's a setting that might help under Settings-General-Home Button. You can adjust the home button action to some extent - might help.
One situation where the non-physical home button gets weird (for me) is when I use the phone on a desk or counter. That's the only case where the fact that it doesn't actually move becomes (for me) really obvious and using it can become a little challenging.
Two other things about the physical home button. First, they break, and I've had it happen (5). There was also a recall on at least one phone's home button several years ago.
Second, they vary. I still have several iDevices with physical buttons (two iPod Touches and two iPads) and they're different from each other, so they need different kinds of touches. I really don't see the old physical buttons as an advantage at all.
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abercrombie
macrumors 6502
You guys are describing something similar to carpal tunnel syndrome except isolated to the thumb.
I had a huge bout of carpal from October 2017. I just have a desk job typing & moving a mouse around for 10 hours a day, got an ergonomic keyboard and vertical mouse and now it’s almost gone.
Not sure how to fix a thumb problem but yea wearing a thumb brace to isolate movement should help.
I had a huge bout of carpal from October 2017. I just have a desk job typing & moving a mouse around for 10 hours a day, got an ergonomic keyboard and vertical mouse and now it’s almost gone.
Not sure how to fix a thumb problem but yea wearing a thumb brace to isolate movement should help.
newellj
macrumors G3
I actually use both index fingers and both thumbs on the button (so it's nice that you can register more than one digit). I have a pile of issues with my fingers. I have had a lot of sports and tool accidents over the years. One thumb was so badly shattered in a skiing accident that the doctors shrugged and let it set as it is (medicine in the 1960s was different than today). I've had a couple of broken metacarpals, one of which was never set so that finger is short. I have one finger that had the tip amputated. One thumb was opened to the bone in a power saw accident. That's only a partial list. I don't need any sympathy but I do want to say that this is not some 21 year old with a short and perfect life history saying that I think the haptic feedback input devices work perfectly well or better.
On the other hand, having said all that, people can very definitely have different opinions and experiences with hardware and I should have said that clearly up front. This may be a case where either the iPhone X, which has no home button, or maybe one of the 2018 successors (one of which is rumored to have an LED display rather than the OLED display that is giving some people problems), might be a useful change. And, gasp, there are plenty of nice phones on the Android side if that works better.
At the end of the day, it's just a phone...find what works and ignore people like me who tell you that you're doing it wrong because they don't have any problems! 🙂
JM
macrumors 601
I'm sensitive to pain, or have mild arthritis. I didn't really say anything until I saw this post from a while back, but I did go online and did a search to see if any other pain related things came up. Perhaps how I found this thread.
It's not prevalent, so it could be just that I'm sensitive to pain or have arthritis (because never had a problem with physical home buttons in the past four years).
[doublepost=1516476483][/doublepost]
That home button setting doesn't adjust sensitivity, only haptic feedback. I WISH it adjusted sensitivity so I could have the option to lightly touch it like a keystroke and have it respond.
I do prefer the solid state home button (for the reasons you mentioned, and others), but it was unexpected to have pain from using it for extended periods of time.
Guess I'll just have to use the phone less. Ha.
newellj
macrumors G3
I'm sensitive to pain, or have mild arthritis. I didn't really say anything until I saw this post from a while back, but I did go online and did a search to see if any other pain related things came up. Perhaps how I found this thread.
It's not prevalent, so it could be just that I'm sensitive to pain or have arthritis (because never had a problem with physical home buttons in the past four years).
[doublepost=1516476483][/doublepost]
That home button setting doesn't adjust sensitivity, only haptic feedback. I WISH it adjusted sensitivity so I could have the option to lightly touch it like a keystroke and have it respond.
I do prefer the solid state home button (for the reasons you mentioned, and others), but it was unexpected to have pain from using it for extended periods of time.
Guess I'll just have to use the phone less. Ha.
First, I apologize for sounding like I'm dumping on you. 🙂 And sorry about the bum steer on the settings.
Second, seriously, give the X a try? I had one for five weeks and ultimately returned it for a couple of reasons, one of which is that right now, for me, TouchID just works more easily. But if someone had said that I had to keep it and couldn't go back to a TouchID iPhone, I would have adapted. There were things that griped me but there were also many things that were brilliant. I think by September there will be another generation that will benefit from lessons learned with the X, and the XI will be even more polished. Anyway...might be worth experimenting with at an Apple store some time. No rent charges for standing at the table in the store. And if you are intrigued enough to buy it, it is returnable. And I would add finally that most of the posts here on the X are overstated, either about its virtues or about its drawbacks. It's neither the cure for cancer nor a dangerous carcinogen. 🙂
UnifiedMelody
macrumors 6502
Feels normal to me lol when i had my 7 plus before. In fact im happy its solid state as it increases the durability of the phone . I take that anytime over a part that could possibly fail due to massive usage
Just enjoy using your phone and stop pressing the home button too often 🙂 i guess(?)
Another option is use assistive touch. You can program a single tap to be home button if you wanted it to really do so
took me a long time to get used to this home button on my 8, but now i prefer it, in all cases except one - when its been sitting on the table for a while and i press the button, i swear it does not vibrate at all sometimes. Even with the button setting on maximum vibration feel, and being consciously aware that i'm going to feel for it when i press the button, sometimes theres just no feel whatsoever when its laying on the table.
newellj
macrumors G3
Agree on that point. It's like the taptic engine doesn't have anything to make vibrate when it's on a hard surface.
I'm sensitive to pain, or have mild arthritis. I didn't really say anything until I saw this post from a while back, but I did go online and did a search to see if any other pain related things came up. Perhaps how I found this thread.
It's not prevalent, so it could be just that I'm sensitive to pain or have arthritis (because never had a problem with physical home buttons in the past four years).
[doublepost=1516476483][/doublepost]
That home button setting doesn't adjust sensitivity, only haptic feedback. I WISH it adjusted sensitivity so I could have the option to lightly touch it like a keystroke and have it respond.
I do prefer the solid state home button (for the reasons you mentioned, and others), but it was unexpected to have pain from using it for extended periods of time.
Guess I'll just have to use the phone less. Ha.
I also found this thread because I've been having a lot of pain from pressing the home button on my (new to me) iPhone 5. I'm coming from Android where soft home buttons are common and used far less often than in iOS. I went to the store last night to check out the iPhone 7 and 8 solid state buttons and also found it much more painful than the iPhone 5. I tried pressing with as little force as possible to register a click.
To those who make flippant comments and are incredulous that a repeated light clicking could cause pain, congratulations, you are healthy. Just because you can't imagine that something as trivial as pressing a button could be a problem doesn't mean that the problem actually exists for some people. Have any of you ever heard of rheumatoid arthritis or tendinopathy? I have both, and the chronic tendinopathy in all of my fingers and my thumbs are the worst. My right thumb even swells from tendon inflammation with repeated movements. This is the result of an inherited autoimmune condition that is being treated with drugs, yet the problem persists.
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Perhaps the newer phones without the home button would be better in that respect then?
eoblaed
macrumors 68040
When I had my 7 Plus, I never even noticed a difference.
Maybe you should stop pressing so hard.
Thanks for the suggestion. I also checked out the iPhone X and XS. They are beautiful phones, but unfortunately far out of my price range.
I discovered that iOS has an Accessibility setting that puts a soft button on the screen. The only downside is that it often gets in the way of things and has to be moved around when it does. But, it's better than constantly pressing the home button! I had hoped that the iPhone 7 or 8 required only to register a touch, rather than having to actually press down on the phone. If someone could reprogram that with a touch-only setting, that would be wonderful!
aednichols
macrumors 6502
I just got an iPhone 7 in December 2018, trying to save $$ versus the newest models.
I am a 27-year old software engineer and while I am lucky to have no carpal tunnel or other RSI issues, l watch for the slightest sign of trouble like a hawk! My career depends on it.
Within hours of getting the phone I arrived on this thread with similar complaints - with a solid state home button, the force that would normally go into the button mechanism seems to be absorbed by my fingers instead.
Compared to my iPhone SE, the force required feels noticeably greater and I found both thumbs slightly uncomfortable. Months or years of “slightly uncomfortable” can add up to major problems, so there is a good chance I will look for another option than the 7.
I am a 27-year old software engineer and while I am lucky to have no carpal tunnel or other RSI issues, l watch for the slightest sign of trouble like a hawk! My career depends on it.
Within hours of getting the phone I arrived on this thread with similar complaints - with a solid state home button, the force that would normally go into the button mechanism seems to be absorbed by my fingers instead.
Compared to my iPhone SE, the force required feels noticeably greater and I found both thumbs slightly uncomfortable. Months or years of “slightly uncomfortable” can add up to major problems, so there is a good chance I will look for another option than the 7.
I hear ya' - once you notice the pain the damage to your tendons has already been done. The tendon damage, which consists of micro-tears (from repeated micro-trauma), often fails to heal to the same strength and elasticity as the original tissue. It's generally understood that repetitive motion injuries (RMIs) are not so much related to nerve entrapment but chronic tendon damage. Pushing a button in the same way over and over again can cause just such an RMI.
Like you, I'd take it back. I now press my iPhone 5 with both thumbs and index fingers to avoid too much of one digit. I also sometimes use the side of my thumbnail to slowly depress the button. I don't think that this can be done with an iPhone 7 or 8 - the force goes right back into your thumb. I don't think our thumbs were designed for pressing with the tips or striking a space bar at an odd angle. They are very good for grasping, though!
aednichols
macrumors 6502
The mechanics of the hand are crazy complicated. I have no trouble using tools or working on things that require a lot of force, never have any pain doing that. Just the single motion that's problematic.
