iPhone 7 offers virtual home button in case of physical button's failure
As a backup if its non-mechanical home button fails, the iPhone 7 can offer a software button akin to some versions of Android, owners have discovered.
A person on the MacRumors forums drew attention to the feature after encountering trouble with their phone suddenly shutting down. Powering it back on, they were greeted with an unusual "The Home Button May Need Service" pop-up, plus the software button at the bottom of the screen.
Rebooting initially caused the error message to go away, but soon the phone's Taptic Engine was vibrating three or four times in a row for each button press. Rebooting again left the hardware button non-functional.
Every iPhone and iPad to date has favored a physical home button. With Android devices, by contrast, their makers can decide whether or not they want one, the tradeoff being that while eliminating a hardware button shrinks the bottom bezel and reduces chances of failure, keeping it preserves screen space and offers more tactile feedback.
Apple is rumored to be switching to the first route with next year's iPhone model, which could offer an edge-to-edge OLED display. The challenge may be in figuring out things like embedded cameras and sensors, but Apple has already been working on patenting such technology.
A person on the MacRumors forums drew attention to the feature after encountering trouble with their phone suddenly shutting down. Powering it back on, they were greeted with an unusual "The Home Button May Need Service" pop-up, plus the software button at the bottom of the screen.
Rebooting initially caused the error message to go away, but soon the phone's Taptic Engine was vibrating three or four times in a row for each button press. Rebooting again left the hardware button non-functional.
Every iPhone and iPad to date has favored a physical home button. With Android devices, by contrast, their makers can decide whether or not they want one, the tradeoff being that while eliminating a hardware button shrinks the bottom bezel and reduces chances of failure, keeping it preserves screen space and offers more tactile feedback.
Apple is rumored to be switching to the first route with next year's iPhone model, which could offer an edge-to-edge OLED display. The challenge may be in figuring out things like embedded cameras and sensors, but Apple has already been working on patenting such technology.
Comments
And, why is it exclusive to the 7 series? Wouldn't it be possible for any iPhone prior to the 7 to have a physical home button failure as well?
My home button broke once while I was in an app. How was I supposed to activate assistive touch? A lot of people have trouble finding in the first place and in my case I couldn't get back to the home screen. I had to wait for the iPhone to completely drain its battery and turn it on to get to the settings.
I only read a few sentences of the article because I wanted to save it for today when I have time. But from the little I read it claimed Korean networks were reporting double the sales of iPhone 6s.
Its not. that is exactly what is happening. Since the phone is useless without some kind of home trigger, its just turning on that same feature automatically. not 'akin to Android'SaveSave
It may or would have been too disruptive to get rid of both the audio jack and the physical Home button in the same new version, hence the taptic "button". Even Apple have their limitations, lines they won't cross...
I get that you're not responsible for the seemingly impending decision to remove the home button, but how would you envision the UI to work without a physical home button, with the same amount of steps it takes to use the current physical home button? I feel that if you have to add a step(s) you failed at an important design principle—simplicity.
My my first thought was "wow, they have added a whole subroutine that diagnoses there might be a hardware fault and comes up with a solution that lets you keep using your phone until you can get it serviced. I wonder what other potential faults have this type of diagnostics with workaround. Also, would any other company than Apple bother coming up with a whole process to address something that would happen so rarely?"
This can only happen the way it does because of the hardware/software ecosystem and the extensive customer service, including stores that are supported by Apple. Any other company could not do this the way it is done, or would want to because it does not have the depth of customer support. Imagine: an [insert android phone brand here] device if it bothered to tell you what was wrong that required service would have to tell you to send your phone away for service, possibly for a month. More likely it would have nothing to say on the matter.
i wonder if it is iPhone 7 only or works on other devices with mechanical home buttons?