Would the removal of home button bother you?

[Black Magic]

So after hearing all these rumors about the 2017 iPhone, I feel a little concerned about the possibility that the home button could be removed. I know a lot of folks have been wanting to reduce and/or remove the bezels for quite some time now and it looks like Apple will be doing a reset on the iPhone next year which may do just that. I think 3D Touch would be basically the replacement in some fashion more likely than not.

Obviously this is all speculation and rumor, but how do you all feel about this possibility?

 

[Skylitfly]

Depends on implementation of alternative. Personally I like physical home button, but who knows what Apple has in mind.

 

[maxsix]

I'd be elated if Apple finally released its death grip on the old analog home button.

Once you've experienced how fast and enjoyable it is to use a capacitive one touch home button to multitask, it changes everything.

Having to double click Apple's big clunky button is a dreadful example of Apple’s hypocrisy. Bragging about world changing products, yet coveting a button from the 1950's Apple sends a very conflicted message.

 

[bufffilm]

Removal wouldn't mean the slightest to me, if it meant reduced bezels and more one-handed useability while still having a 4.7" display.

 

[Superspeed500]

It's in my opinion important to have a physical button for the purpose of activating the screen and quit apps. Especially since the touch screen gets worse to use over time.

 

[bodonnell202]

I think if done properly a capacitive touch button with 3D Touch and Touch ID functionality could replace it nicely and allow them to reduce the footprint of the iPhone.

 

[bufffilm]

Wrong thread...deleted

 

[maxsix]

It's in my opinion important to have a physical button for the purpose of activating the screen and quit apps. Especially since the touch screen gets worse to use over time.

Seven years later, over 50 Android smartphones and every iPhone made, I've never experienced a single problem with a smartphone display, or any on screen capacitive button.

There's not one reason to justify a mechanical button. Not one.

 

[dcpmark]

Seven years later, over 50 Android smartphones and every iPhone made, I've never experienced a single problem with a smartphone display, or any on screen capacitive button.

There's not one reason to justify a mechanical button. Not one.

For you, perhaps. But we are all not you, nor are your experiences the standard by which the world revolves. The fact that you personally have never had a problem touching a display or capacitive button doesn't mean that others have not, and still prefer a physical button.

 

[maxsix]

For you, perhaps. But we are all not you, nor are your experiences the standard by which the world revolves. The fact that you personally have never had a problem touching a display or capacitive button doesn't mean that others have not, and still prefer a physical button.

A huge number of Android Smartphones from a variety of manufacturers come with capacitive buttons, the premier controls of choice. It's simply a fact.

Yet I do understand that Apple Devotees and others that don't care about efficiency and speed, get a certain peace of mind from a old technology they understand.

Finally, while its a benefit, iPhones are inherently slow and lack true multitasking. Therefore it's not important to have modern buttons.

 

[BeeGood]

So after hearing all these rumors about the 2017 iPhone, I feel a little concerned about the possibility that the home button could be removed. I know a lot of folks have been wanting to reduce and/or remove the bezels for quite some time now and it looks like Apple will be doing a reset on the iPhone next year which may do just that. I think 3D Touch would be basically the replacement in some fashion more likely than not.

Obviously this is all speculation and rumor, but how do you all feel about this possibility?

Give me all the functionality that goes with the home button, put it in the screen and I'm probably good with it.

 

[Flow39]

If they could introduce a Force Touch home button, kind of like the new trackpads on the MacBooks that imitate a physical click with the Taptic engine, that'd be great! I'd be all for that, as long as they slim the bezels down with it.

 

[lordofthereef]

Only thing I use it for is waking and unlocking (Touch ID) the phone. If Touch ID is implemented a different way in happy to see the home button gone along with 90% of the top and bottom bezel. Good riddance.

 

[dcpmark]

A huge number of Android Smartphones from a variety of manufacturers come with capacitive buttons, the premier controls of choice. It's simply a fact.

Yet I do understand that Apple Devotees and others that don't care about efficiency and speed, get a certain peace of mind from a old technology they understand.

Finally, while its a benefit, iPhones are inherently slow and lack true multitasking. Therefore it's not important to have modern buttons.

You mention efficiency and speed.....thank you for making my argument for me. With the many Android phones I've owned before switching to iPhones, on many occasions the capacitive buttons have failed to register on first touch, causing me to lift and press again, or try to roll my finger, or try a different finger. Sometimes the screen just gets dirty. On many occasions I have accidentally touched a capacitive button on my Android phones, slowing me down and delaying me further. Neither of these things have ever happened with a physical button. Not even once.

PS: the "slowness" of a phone or the ability to multitask has nothing to do with the type of buttons it has.

 

[Toltepeceno]

I wish they would do away with the mechanical button, I have never had a problem with capacitive buttons on android and prefer them.

 

[maxsix]

You mention efficiency and speed.....thank you for making my argument for me. With the many Android phones I've owned before switching to iPhones, on many occasions the capacitive buttons have failed to register on first touch, causing me to lift and press again, or try to roll my finger, or try a different finger. Sometimes the screen just gets dirty. On many occasions I have accidentally touched a capacitive button on my Android phones, slowing me down and delaying me further. Neither of these things have ever happened with a physical button. Not even once.

PS: the "slowness" of a phone or the ability to multitask has nothing to do with the type of buttons it has.

Apparently your manual dexterity problem prevented you from using a simple capacitive button.

You've failed basic math. Physics too.

A mechanical button employs reciprocal movement. Push the button down till it stops, wait till it travels back to the top and repeat again to achieve the double click slow iPhones require. The time required to execute this action is a serious limitation.

 

[dcpmark]

A mechanical button employs reciprocal movement. Push the button down till it stops, wait till it travels back to the top and repeat again to achieve the double click slow iPhones require. The time required to execute this action is a serious limitation.

Yes....the extra time it takes to press down a mechanical button is QUITE serious. And, in some unfortunate cases, devastating as well.

 

[M. Gustave]

Yet I do understand that Apple Devotees and others that don't care about efficiency and speed, get a certain peace of mind from a old technology they understand.

Finally, while its a benefit, iPhones are inherently slow and lack true multitasking. Therefore it's not important to have modern buttons.

Rude and wrong, as usual.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

It would bother me.

If Apple removed my home buttons, I would not be able to return to the home page on my iPhone 5. Less of an issue on my iPad, as I have multi-touch, but I still use the home button a lot. Also, I wouldn't be able to do a hard reset.

Is there a recall for iOS devices? I really don't want my home buttons removed.

 

[itsray]

i have an android phone as a spare phone. the capacitive buttons are sometimes no way as responsive as the physical one on an iPhone

 

[HellasLEAF]

The only thing I am not liking about my 6s is the home button. It is a clicky mess.

The sooner they go to no home button the better this thing is archaic tech now imo.

 

[lordofthereef]

A mechanical button employs reciprocal movement. Push the button down till it stops, wait till it travels back to the top and repeat again to achieve the double click slow iPhones require. The time required to execute this action is a serious limitation.

This is why I make it a point to say how much I love 3D Touch whenever I get the chance. I find that, with this edition, I can multitask just as well as I would with an android device. I certainly don't miss double clicking for that feature.

 

[Channan]

Not sure how it would really work on the iPhone, but I'd be all for it on the iPad. The only thing I use it for really is waking my device, scanning my fingerprint to unlock it, taking screenshots, and Siri. I just use the multitasking gestures for exiting and switching between apps.

I could easily just wake my iPad with the power button. Apple could change the screenshot buttons to power and volume, and "hey Siri" could replace ever needing to hold the home button to activate Siri. The only issue then is TouchID. Apple could put it on the back, but maybe we'll finally see the home button go away when Apple turns the screen into a fingerprint scanner.

 

[Tom G.]

As others have said, it would depend on what they replaced it with. I use it quite a bit. the button they could remove is the power on button. I use it very rarely, especially since they moved it opposite the volume buttons. About the only time I use is to take a screen shot.

 

[Reno Raines]

On the fence myself. I would like to actually try it out first but a lack of bezels would be neat.