Ondrej Holzman One of the most important innovations of the new iOS 4.3 are four-finger and five-finger gestures for iPad users. Thanks to them, we will practically get rid of the need to press the Home button, because with the help of smart gestures we will be able to switch applications, return to the desktop or use multitasking. That is why there are speculations that the new iPad may lack the Home button. But you can disagree with that, and there are several reasons for that.
Let's start with the iPhone. We won't see the aforementioned gestures on it, which is understandable, because it's hard for me to imagine how I would work with five fingers at once on such a small display. And since gestures for easy multitasking control will probably never be on the iPhone, or at least not anytime soon, it is clear that the Home button will not disappear from the Apple phone. So the question arises whether Apple could cancel it on just one device. I say no.
So far, Apple has tried to unify all its devices - iPhones, iPads and iPod touches. They had a similar construction, more or less the same design and mainly the same controls. This was also their great success. Whether you picked up an iPad or an iPhone, you immediately knew how to operate it if you had previous experience with one or the other device.
This is precisely what Apple was betting on, the so-called "user experience", when the owner of an iPhone bought an iPad knowing in advance what he was getting into, how the device would react and how it would be controlled. But if the tablet lost the Home button, everything would suddenly change. First of all, controlling the iPad would not be so easy. Now every iPad practically has a single button (not counting the sound control/display rotation and the power off button), which more or less solves everything that can't be done with a finger, and the user quickly learns this principle. However, if everything was replaced by gestures, not everyone would be able to get along with it so easily. Certainly, many users will argue that gestures are the order of the day, but to what extent? On the one hand, users who are completely unfamiliar with Apple products are still switching to the iPad, and moreover, pressing a button can be more convenient for some people than the strange magic of five fingers on the touch screen.
Another thing is the combination of the Home button with the button to turn off the phone, which is used to capture the screen or restart the device. This would perhaps be an even more fundamental change, because the entire control would have to be modified and would no longer be uniform. And I don't think Apple wants that. So that the iPhone restarts differently than the iPad and vice versa. In short, the apple ecosystem does not work.
Apparently, Steve Jobs already wanted the original iPhone without hardware buttons, but in the end he sensitively concluded that it was not quite possible yet. I believe that one day we will see a full-touch iPhone or iPad, but I do not believe that it will come with the next generation.
I agree... those gestures on the iPad are great, but why not give users the opportunity to use the good old ways via the home button :-) But I don't think that such gestures could also be used on the iPhone... it would just be limited to 3 fingers, for example... to the left, to the right, switching applications, up and down multitask and returning to the main screen would be classically via the home button... that's how it would suit me.-)
Me too, I would definitely take gestures on the iPhone, but it's true that there really isn't that much space :). On the other hand, I welcome those gestures as making life easier for the home button. For example, when I pick up my iPhone 3G, which I've been using intensively for about a year and a half, and the home button almost doesn't work anymore or I have to press it very hard.
It costs about 400 CZK new, and any person who has ever repaired a TV remote control and doesn't have both left hands can replace it.
Every pipe? Ah, I wonder how you came up with that. I have disassembled the iPhone several times. I changed the back cover to white, etc. But the Home button is a bit different when you have to practically disassemble the entire upper layer with the display and at the same time be careful not to damage the digitizer. Maybe you can make a video for us lefties, I'll be happy to watch it ;).
On the iPhone, using the Activator, it is enough to set gestures and there is no need to use the Home button. I rarely use the home button only in applications that are "specific" and do not allow the use of a gesture defined by me.
I think it's mainly from the point of view of restart and certainly security. When the iPad gets stuck (this also happens sometimes) the user at least has the O button, which he can click when the display is not working :-D and past DFU. ;-)
true…I also think we will see a “buttonless” iPhone/iPad/iPod one day and like you I don’t think it will be next generation…
I also think that he won't release the button... the absurd thing occurred to me, that someone could close it due to the control of 5 fingers, when he only needed 4...
I have the gestures on my iPhone mastered using the Activator application. A jailbreak is required to install it. But it will reward you with an amazing acceleration of work and an indescribable increase in comfort. E.g. instead of double-pressing the home-button, you swipe from the bottom edge of the screen to bring up a menu of "running" apps.
Here's an example of shaking lock/unlock with an iPhone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcxS53ikeyQ&feature=related