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Who else loves the gestures? on the X

x-evil-x

x-evil-x

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jul 13, 2008
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Coming from a 6+ I had jailbroken and having very similar swipe gestures this was one main feature I was looking forward to on the X.
Going home is super fast as well as multitasking either up to the right for fast normal multitasking or swiping left or right on the bottom(sometimes in a n pattern cause its fun.
I really think the gestures improved speed In everything I do with this phone. Its blazing fast compared to a home Button. Also its pretty easy to use reachability even with one hand after some time with it.
 
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I was already loving them but didn’t appreciate them fully until I had to set up my old 6S Plus for my girlfriend yesterday. That home button, damn.
 
Loved swipe gestures years ago on webOS which had QNX and Meego follow it. Probably my favorite feature on The X.

What I hope in two years is a change up in iOS' static homescreen that has looked like that for 10+ years. I can see it happen by 2019 with iOS13. Give us options like Nova Launcher at least like changing the icons or hiding them.

That's why I find it pointless to get a beautiful wallpaper from ZEDGE when I know it will be obscured anyway by the rows of icons. I settle for plain black. It sounds superficial and petty but Michael Fisher makes a point. The only way to differentiate your homescreen is changing the wallpaper.

I'm not only a fan of external design but also homescreen / software design. Anytime I see an iOS layout, it's like looking at a MySpace page 12 years ago. The iOS layout is very, very archaic. Love the gestures but the current UX doesn't really match it.

 
Like I've said in some other threads: this device is closer than ever to the promise of "display only", just touching a screen, no physical buttons, everything a gesture ... and I love it :)

My 9 year old took 60 seconds to adjust to it**, I think there's a natural intuitiveness to it, especially the "home" gesture (i.e., iOS uses a sliding panel metaphor, so of course you _slide_ it up and out of the way).




** Full disclosure: she's been on devices computers for years, and probably touch types faster than 99% of you :D ...
 
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1422517564_all-in-one-gesturesss.png


^ Used All-In-One-Gestures since 2013. Used it on Samsungs since they were the last to remove physical home button and I hated pressing it to go home. I preferred swiping up from bottom screen to go home.

What I liked with the iPhone X is the gesture swipes are already baked into the UI. Like you can just swipe left or right on the bottom line to move between apps or it creates a carousel like webOS' cards UI.

Apple blatantly ripped off Palm just like raise to wake from Motorola but it's fine. As long as it becomes mainstream accepted. Everybody copies everybody. As long as it's trying to improve tech for the greater good.

Before Assistive Touch appeared on iOS6, my iPhone 4's home button wouldn't work. I needed to clean it with 70% alcohol. That's when I started to hate physical buttons.

Nexus One had an issue too where the power button would wear out since double tap to wake or waking from proximity sensor apps didn't exist yet. Then LG offered 2x tap to wake and Moto X's Active Display brought raise to wake.

Gesture swipes was something I wanted from iPhone back in 2013 or four years after webOS and they finally delivered. Favorite part of the X because the animations feels so fluid and makes the X feel so polished.
 
I turned on my 7+ yesterday I don't know if I could go back to that phone. I love the swipe gestures and the FaceID. Also the size of the phone was SO noticeable when I picked up that big clunky phone. Very happy with my X
 
I love the gestures! As far as 3D Touch, having a 6 plus for so long this is my first iPhone capable. I don’t even know if I used any yet lol
 
The only thing that bothers me is the control center. When you swipe down, the old time/Cellular/icon interface is present. Even some items switch sides. That inconsistency bothers me. Also not seeing my alarms, dnd, bt status is one more issue.
 
AndroidPIT-nova-launcher-tips-and-tricks-double-tap-to-lock-w782.jpg


I don't use All in one Gestures like before because it sips RAM but I still use Nova Launcher Prime for gesture swipes.

When reviewers say the learning curve is so high with the X, I snicker. The iOS gesture swipes is very easy to memorize. Like how many? 5? I can memorize 30+ app shortcuts if I wanted to but keep it to around 10 or below.

I can do raise to wake on my $30 Moto E 4G and it only has Snapdragon 410 and doesn't have a compass or gyroscope. So Apple saying M9 chip is needed for raise to wake is bs. They just want you to get the latest ones.

The iPhone 5s and 6 are way more capable than the og Moto X or my 2015 Moto E, but they got shafted from raise to wake. Google just barely added raise to wake and double tap to wake with Nougat 7.1 for their Pixels.

Swipe gestures is the future. Felt that way back in 2013. Enough presses on a mechanical button will fail eventually. It's like getting a new keyboard or gaming controller. Only has a finite amount of presses until it dies.
 
I find the gestures to be a mixed bag.

App Switching - Good.
Swiping L/R is nice. But the bar could’ve been implemented on any iPhone

Multitasking - Awful.
I’m getting better at finding that gesture but that doesn’t mean it’s simple or superior to a more intuitive touchpad double click

Reachability - Awful
The strike zone is small so a light double tap on the 7 was faster. This is Apples most two handed iOS device ever (and that includes iPads)

Close App - Awful
The act of tapping the red minus is much faster than swiping apps away. But the problem is how long it takes to actually get to the multitask view and then longpress until the dot appears. Apps crash so quick closing is important.

Control Panel - Neutral
I’ve wanted control panel on top for a while. In real world use then I was wrong. It’s not a natural or intuitive place to be but I can live with it.

Phone Unlock - Slow
FaceID has been reliable when it could see me. But the process of getting to a home screen is slower because of the swipe to open gesture. TouchID allowed me to just grab my phone at the bottom and by the time I even lift it then I’m on the home screen and off to work.




Overall I don’t hate the new gestures. I like some and feel they should be implemented into iPad and the TouchPad iPhones in future iOS versions But they aren’t nearly as intuitive or reliable as what Apple has established in the past so I hope Apple puts more thought into real world usage rather than “fitting in” gestures into their new design elements.
 
I love the gestures. Probably my favorite part of the X. I am actually using the multitasking now because it's so fluid and easy. Swiping from the bottom bar is my favorite and super quick. I went back to my 7 Plus and iPad Pro and tried to swipe from the bottom to close. Can't wait for an X designed iPad next year. iOS has never felt this fluid or fast to me before, 120hz touch input is a big improvement over previous iPhone's.
 
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Before the X I was very reluctant of not having the home button. Now I don’t miss it at all. When I use my iPads now, I forget I have to use the home button and it seems so slow and inefficient.
 
After 4 days it felt weird using my friends iPhone 7. I still find myself hard pressing for a home button on the X as well. It's odd to me how fast you can adapt to a massive change, I think once there are more X's in the wild I'll forget about the old way of using an iPhone. The Home Button, touchID will just be one of those things you remember about the iPhone. Very similar to the 3.5 inch screen, the headphone jack. Apple really decides for us on what they think we need and I'm not 100% sure giving up Touch ID so fast is the right way yet, even with how accurate my Face ID is.

The "side" button is so large now and I really like they could have fit Touch ID into it in some capacity, now if that means giving up how accurate it was on the home button I wouldn't be for it.
 
Again, we're talking about the iPhone X (not directed at the quote below :))


urkel said:
I find the gestures to be a mixed bag.
Click to expand...

I'd rate these on a 1-10 scale like so - and note I added return home:

Home - 10
Simple, intuitive, goodbye home button


App Switching - 9
Nice, easily done, however I rarely use it for whatever reason


Multitasking - 8 vs. button, 11 vs. 3D edge press
I never liked the edge/3D invocation, but I used the double click button pretty regularly.

Something I started doing recently (that will likely bump my 8 to a 9), is not up and wait, not up-and-over, but a completely straight, diagonal from either (depending on which hand you're using): the lower left to the mid right edge or lower right to mid left edge. The ending point of the motion can be anywhere from under the power/volume buttons down to the 6th row of icons (or that space if it's empty). That's a really wide target zone, it's fast, you don't have to hesitate, curve the gesture, etc.


Reachability - 5
Agreed, the touch target + motion it's easy to miss, I don't use it that much (so my score reflect a point or so in terms of how it impacts me)


Close App - 8 / NA

I do this very rarely, it's not needed often, I don't "close" open apps (I'm a dev and can yack about this), but if you use the better multitasking invocation, it'll be better, though clearly if the goal is the speed to close/shutdown an app, it's a bit slower vs. the slide into the abyss on non-X phones :D


Control Panel - 9 (5)
Love it, I'm like you I wanted it moved to the top, I gave it a parenthetical 5 because I keep doing the wrong gesture :D It's pretty terrific as implemented, just some gesture memory habits.


Phone Unlock - 9
I won't go into detail here as I've commented plenty in other topics, but I totally dig on it, and it's better for me for sure (the question of the performance in a vacuum doesn't affect my score)

Good breakdown!
 
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x-evil-x said:
Coming from a 6+ I had jailbroken and having very similar swipe gestures this was one main feature I was looking forward to on the X.
Going home is super fast as well as multitasking either up to the right for fast normal multitasking or swiping left or right on the bottom(sometimes in a n pattern cause its fun.
I really think the gestures improved speed In everything I do with this phone. Its blazing fast compared to a home Button. Also its pretty easy to use reachability even with one hand after some time with it.
Click to expand...
Oh don't say that to the plus lovers or general X haters, they think that going home and switching/closing apps is a total headache now and must be something designed by somebody who knows nothing about UX.

I agree with everything you said. In my experience in the store at weekend it felt so natural just swiping around. I'm already finding TouchID inconvenient on my SE (X arrives tomorrow at time of writing), and even on the iPad, swiping up is used to get to the app switcher so as far as I'm concerned its unifying the experience somewhat.
 
x-evil-x said:
Coming from a 6+ I had jailbroken and having very similar swipe gestures this was one main feature I was looking forward to on the X.
Going home is super fast as well as multitasking either up to the right for fast normal multitasking or swiping left or right on the bottom(sometimes in a n pattern cause its fun.
I really think the gestures improved speed In everything I do with this phone. Its blazing fast compared to a home Button. Also its pretty easy to use reachability even with one hand after some time with it.
Click to expand...

The X is the best iPhone since the 5. The only thing I wish they would update is closing out apps. The swipe up and long touch and swipe up again is not very convenient. It's my only gripe about the phone, and it's a software issue.
 
If apps can add swipe gestures on Android, then I'm just waiting for Apple to add them for older iPhones in a future software update. That's my only reason to update to iOS11 or iOS12 which I hate to do on any phone because it kills fluidity or battery life. Would sacrifice battery life for a feature like that.

If no gesture swipes, then keeping my SE on 10.2.1 which is fluid and still has great battery life which I read took a hit updating to 11. Gesture swipes is software-based. That's my favorite feature on the X but I'm not spending $1000 for it when I can get it for free from a possible future software update.
 
D.T. said:
Again, we're talking about the iPhone X (not directed at the quote below :))




I'd rate these on a 1-10 scale like so - and note I added return home:

Home - 10
Simple, intuitive, goodbye home button


App Switching - 9
Nice, easily done, however I rarely use it for whatever reason


Multitasking - 8 vs. button, 11 vs. 3D edge press
I never liked the edge/3D invocation, but I used the double click button pretty regularly.

Something I started doing recently (that will likely bump my 8 to a 9), is not up and wait, not up-and-over, but a completely straight, diagonal from either (depending on which hand you're using): the lower left to the mid right edge or lower right to mid left edge. The ending point of the motion can be anywhere from under the power/volume buttons down to the 6th row of icons (or that space if it's empty). That's a really wide target zone, it's fast, you don't have to hesitate, curve the gesture, etc.


Reachability - 5
Agreed, the touch target + motion it's easy to miss, I don't use it that much (so my score reflect a point or so in terms of how it impacts me)


Close App - 8 / NA

I do this very rarely, it's not needed often, I don't "close" open apps (I'm a dev and can yack about this), but if you use the better multitasking invocation, it'll be better, though clearly if the goal is the speed to close/shutdown an app, it's a bit slower vs. the slide into the abyss on non-X phones :D


Control Panel - 9 (5)
Love it, I'm like you I wanted it moved to the top, I gave it a parenthetical 5 because I keep doing the wrong gesture :D It's pretty terrific as implemented, just some gesture memory habits.


Phone Unlock - 9
I won't go into detail here as I've commented plenty in other topics, but I totally dig on it, and it's better for me for sure (the question of the performance in a vacuum doesn't affect my score)

Good breakdown!
Click to expand...
Nice overall review. I think you hit on the primary targets and values.
Couple things I'll add.
I like to use a combination of reachability AND control panel. Historically, I wasn't a big reachability user (not having used Plus phones as daily drivers) but the gesture for RAB is very easy and then it makes it very easy to just hit the upper right (I'm left handed but use my right hand for the phone) for control panel.

I basically NEVER use the slide the bottom switch apps on the bottom. I don't find that gesture too intuitive or predictable. And the action of it often fails (sometimes it is swipe LEFT to get to LAST, sometimes it doesn't switch, etc)

but what I REALLY hate is the DAMBE BAR ON THE BOTTOM. this is just HORRIBLE UI/UX for the user. It has no place being on the screen and does so much to TAKE AWAY from the experience in apps and across the UI. Just get rid of it, or make it DE-SELECTABLE. Try opening an app, maybe with a darker border and then just put your thumb on the WHITE bar on the bottom. It would add so much to the experience to JUST GET RID OF IT.

The other thing that has to evolve is the top menu bar and what is displayed. At the moment, it's not really dynamic and it needs to be. Heres just one example of a bad implementation - USING A VPN.

If one is using a VPN one wants to KNOW that it is connected and enabled. Even when it is, one had to pull down on control panel or notifications just to see the VPN logo. Something somewhere needs to be added for that type of easy to view notification.
 
tivoboy said:
Nice overall review. I think you hit on the primary targets and values.
Couple things I'll add.
I like to use a combination of reachability AND control panel. Historically, I wasn't a big reachability user (not having used Plus phones as daily drivers) but the gesture for RAB is very easy and then it makes it very easy to just hit the upper right (I'm left handed but use my right hand for the phone) for control panel.

I basically NEVER use the slide the bottom switch apps on the bottom. I don't find that gesture too intuitive or predictable. And the action of it often fails (sometimes it is swipe LEFT to get to LAST, sometimes it doesn't switch, etc)

but what I REALLY hate is the DAMBE BAR ON THE BOTTOM. this is just HORRIBLE UI/UX for the user. It has no place being on the screen and does so much to TAKE AWAY from the experience in apps and across the UI. Just get rid of it, or make it DE-SELECTABLE. Try opening an app, maybe with a darker border and then just put your thumb on the WHITE bar on the bottom. It would add so much to the experience to JUST GET RID OF IT.

The other thing that has to evolve is the top menu bar and what is displayed. At the moment, it's not really dynamic and it needs to be. Heres just one example of a bad implementation - USING A VPN.

If one is using a VPN one wants to KNOW that it is connected and enabled. Even when it is, one had to pull down on control panel or notifications just to see the VPN logo. Something somewhere needs to be added for that type of easy to view notification.
Click to expand...

Good stuff, yeah, the slide to switch I use rarely, it's usually the wrong app I slide to :D

I actually agree on the UI/UX choice to show the button "home bar", the upper elements: notifications / CC don't have this (though I did see that CC reminder icon for a few hours). I would _not_ be surprised if a very near future version of iOS (talking in the 11.x version cycle) doesn't add the ability to switch that off.

So true, I like the horns, in fact, I think they're grossly underutilized at this point, give me some dynamic/cycling info - and yeah, I had no idea about the VPN indicator not being present (I haven't been in a VPN usage scenario yet). FWIW, the entire horn(s) functions as a scroll-to-top touch point.
 
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