No, the iPhone home button is not dead (yet)
Gesture controls are the touchscreen equivalent of keyboard shortcuts on a traditional computer -- that is to say they are meant for pro users. For that reason, users shouldn't expect that Apple will kill off the iPhone home button entirely anytime soon, despite radical changes expected on the pro-focused "iPhone 8."
The home button has been a staple of the iPhone since the first model launched in 2007, but all signs point to the physical button being removed with this year's flagship "iPhone 8."
Many assumed that Apple would simply introduce a dynamic, virtual home button on the handset, which some have taken to calling an "iPhone Pro."
The logic: A software home button could function the same as a physical one, but disappear when needed to offer extra screen real estate. And with Apple's Taptic Engine, pressing a virtual home button can feel just as real as clicking a physical one.
A virtual home button would be the simplest transition -- continuing with an established and simple user input method, but doing away with the physical button.
Those assumptions, however, may not be correct. The latest rumors claim that instead of tapping a virtual home button, users will invoke new gesture controls to accomplish tasks like returning to the home screen and switching between apps for multitasking.
According to Bloomberg, a new "thin, software bar" will be shown at the bottom of the screen. Users can drag it up to the middle of the screen to open the phone.
While in an app, users will reportedly drag upward to invoke multitasking, and continue dragging to return to the home screen.
This may be convenient. It may even be faster and more intuitive. But for most users, that won't matter.
The rumors about a radical new design and new gesture controls help make it clear that these two devices will likely be marketed for two very different types of users.
Given that Apple will likely sell upwards of 75 million iPhones this holiday quarter, many of those users are likely to prefer an experience that is comfortable and familiar. For them, the price of an "iPhone 8," combined with a shakeup in how the device will be used on a daily basis, could be enough to make the "iPhone 7s" a preferable purchase.
Apple is expected to offer an "iPhone 7s" series -- with home button -- alongside the "iPhone 8."
And that's key, because if the "iPhone 8" is so mind blowingly spectacular, why on earth would anyone want to buy an "iPhone 7s?" The products will need to stand out on their own, appealing to different markets. And the type of users who will spend over $1,000 on a phone might be more likely to embrace change -- an iPhone pro user, if you will.
For the reset of the world, change can be difficult. Just ask Apple, who was caught off guard by demand for the legacy design of the iPhone SE -- an established, familiar size and form factor that clearly resonated with a significant group of users.
While the average AppleInsider reader may understand the intricacies of iOS, the reality is the majority of iPhone users don't know -- or even care -- how to use those types of advanced functions.
For many of those customers, the appeal of the iPhone is how simple it is. There is no need to worry about viruses, there is no need to dive deep to manage settings and customize, and yes, there is only one button to worry about.
That's not expected to be the case anymore, but it's easy to see where a future iPad Pro might boast an edge-to-edge display without a home button, just like the "iPhone 8" is expected to have.
It's also easy to see a situation where an iPad Pro sans home button exists alongside an entry-level iPad that retains a home button -- not just because of costs, but also because that easy-to-use home button presents a lower barrier to entry for new iPad users.
Even stronger indications of the expected "iPhone Pro" interface were unveiled earlier this year, when iOS 11 was introduced for the iPad. Apple's touchscreen tablet will gain a number of unique features with iOS 11, most notably an app dock that can be invoked by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. Swiping further presents the iPad multitasking view.
As it turns out, this new swipe distance gesture sounds very similar to how the home button replacement is rumored to work on the "iPhone 8."
Heck, even the original iPhone's accelerometer-based auto-screen-rotate feature was viewed as magical back in 2007. Now it's just a basic function on seemingly any device.
For now, the iPhone home button brings comfort to many users. An iPhone without any sort of home button -- physical or virtual -- will be too radical of a change for a certain segment of customers. For them, Apple will happily sell an "iPhone 7s," or an iPhone SE.
Bleeding edge customers who need the latest and greatest and are willing to re-learn how to interact with their iPhone will flock to the latest model. The design shakeup would allow for a clear differentiation, and help justify the continued existence of the "iPhone 7s" lineup beyond pricing disparity.
It's hard to see Apple ditching the home button from all iPhone models at any point in the near future. In addition to the high costs associated with edge-to-edge OLED displays, the home button has become such a crucial part of the iOS user experience -- and, as a result, customer's daily lives -- that pushing to quickly abandon it doesn't make sense.
Such a monumental shift isn't akin to the switch from 30-pin to Lightning, which Apple pushed as quickly as possible. This is a radical rethink on how the iPhone user experience works, and many customers will be resistant to that change.
Years from now, the mentality could be very different, and home buttons could disappear entirely, just like mice -- and, later, trackpads -- replaced trackballs.
But at least for the foreseeable future, the iPhone home button is here to stay, and a user experience without it will be intended for pros only.
The home button has been a staple of the iPhone since the first model launched in 2007, but all signs point to the physical button being removed with this year's flagship "iPhone 8."
Many assumed that Apple would simply introduce a dynamic, virtual home button on the handset, which some have taken to calling an "iPhone Pro."
The logic: A software home button could function the same as a physical one, but disappear when needed to offer extra screen real estate. And with Apple's Taptic Engine, pressing a virtual home button can feel just as real as clicking a physical one.
A virtual home button would be the simplest transition -- continuing with an established and simple user input method, but doing away with the physical button.
Those assumptions, however, may not be correct. The latest rumors claim that instead of tapping a virtual home button, users will invoke new gesture controls to accomplish tasks like returning to the home screen and switching between apps for multitasking.
According to Bloomberg, a new "thin, software bar" will be shown at the bottom of the screen. Users can drag it up to the middle of the screen to open the phone.
While in an app, users will reportedly drag upward to invoke multitasking, and continue dragging to return to the home screen.
This may be convenient. It may even be faster and more intuitive. But for most users, that won't matter.
Premium (and pro) for a reason
This year's "iPhone Pro" is expected to have a $999 starting price and to be available in limited quantities. To offset that, Apple is also expected to introduce a new "iPhone 7s" lineup, likely priced at the traditional $649 entry.The rumors about a radical new design and new gesture controls help make it clear that these two devices will likely be marketed for two very different types of users.
Given that Apple will likely sell upwards of 75 million iPhones this holiday quarter, many of those users are likely to prefer an experience that is comfortable and familiar. For them, the price of an "iPhone 8," combined with a shakeup in how the device will be used on a daily basis, could be enough to make the "iPhone 7s" a preferable purchase.
Apple is expected to offer an "iPhone 7s" series -- with home button -- alongside the "iPhone 8."
And that's key, because if the "iPhone 8" is so mind blowingly spectacular, why on earth would anyone want to buy an "iPhone 7s?" The products will need to stand out on their own, appealing to different markets. And the type of users who will spend over $1,000 on a phone might be more likely to embrace change -- an iPhone pro user, if you will.
For the reset of the world, change can be difficult. Just ask Apple, who was caught off guard by demand for the legacy design of the iPhone SE -- an established, familiar size and form factor that clearly resonated with a significant group of users.
Don't count out the value of simplicity
One of the reasons the first iPhone (and iPad) proved so successful came from simplicity. The touchscreen allows you to interact with content, but if you ever find yourself lost or in a bind, there is literally one button in front of you to press, and it returns you to the familiar home screen.While the average AppleInsider reader may understand the intricacies of iOS, the reality is the majority of iPhone users don't know -- or even care -- how to use those types of advanced functions.
For many of those customers, the appeal of the iPhone is how simple it is. There is no need to worry about viruses, there is no need to dive deep to manage settings and customize, and yes, there is only one button to worry about.
The groundwork has already been laid on iPad
For years now, the iPad has boasted four- and five-finger multi-touch gestures for actions like returning to the home screen or switching between apps. That has led to speculation that the iPad, and not the iPhone, might be the first to ditch the home button.That's not expected to be the case anymore, but it's easy to see where a future iPad Pro might boast an edge-to-edge display without a home button, just like the "iPhone 8" is expected to have.
It's also easy to see a situation where an iPad Pro sans home button exists alongside an entry-level iPad that retains a home button -- not just because of costs, but also because that easy-to-use home button presents a lower barrier to entry for new iPad users.
Even stronger indications of the expected "iPhone Pro" interface were unveiled earlier this year, when iOS 11 was introduced for the iPad. Apple's touchscreen tablet will gain a number of unique features with iOS 11, most notably an app dock that can be invoked by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. Swiping further presents the iPad multitasking view.
As it turns out, this new swipe distance gesture sounds very similar to how the home button replacement is rumored to work on the "iPhone 8."
Having said that, who knows what the future brings?
All new skills are learned and adoption takes time. While simple, pinch-to-zoom was, at some point, a new concept for virtually all first-time iPhone users.Heck, even the original iPhone's accelerometer-based auto-screen-rotate feature was viewed as magical back in 2007. Now it's just a basic function on seemingly any device.
For now, the iPhone home button brings comfort to many users. An iPhone without any sort of home button -- physical or virtual -- will be too radical of a change for a certain segment of customers. For them, Apple will happily sell an "iPhone 7s," or an iPhone SE.
Bleeding edge customers who need the latest and greatest and are willing to re-learn how to interact with their iPhone will flock to the latest model. The design shakeup would allow for a clear differentiation, and help justify the continued existence of the "iPhone 7s" lineup beyond pricing disparity.
It's hard to see Apple ditching the home button from all iPhone models at any point in the near future. In addition to the high costs associated with edge-to-edge OLED displays, the home button has become such a crucial part of the iOS user experience -- and, as a result, customer's daily lives -- that pushing to quickly abandon it doesn't make sense.
Such a monumental shift isn't akin to the switch from 30-pin to Lightning, which Apple pushed as quickly as possible. This is a radical rethink on how the iPhone user experience works, and many customers will be resistant to that change.
Years from now, the mentality could be very different, and home buttons could disappear entirely, just like mice -- and, later, trackpads -- replaced trackballs.
But at least for the foreseeable future, the iPhone home button is here to stay, and a user experience without it will be intended for pros only.
Comments
No mention of the value of TouchID to applePay though.
And my dad refused trackpads and even mice in favor of the trackball. His hand shook as he got older. Yes, a disability, but far from an uncommon one.
UI changes also present accessibility challenges, as you aptly noted. An iPhone sans home button would likely need some form of a virtual home button for disabled users, which already sort of exists in the form of AssistiveTouch. Which presents an interesting idea:
Consider the number of people who are not disabled who use AssistiveTouch (again, informally — as with Touch ID opt-outs — I see this quite frequently in the wild). Apparently the use of AssistiveTouch is especially common in eastern markets, where there are concerns about the home button breaking. It makes me wonder, would an iPhone that requires a new gesture to return to the home screen actually drive up use of AssistiveTouch among users who are not disabled? And what would that indicate to Apple about user habits and preferences?
I'm not saying that's necessarily the case, of course. But old habits die hard.
There will be (other) iPhones with Home Buttons for a long, long time.
To be clear, I don't think that *will* happen. But I do have questions about security when it comes to facial recognition technology that can supposedly identify a user from extreme angles. To me that seems like a potential security exploit, beyond the aforementioned creepiness factor.
I hope and assume Apple has addressed these issues in new and exciting ways. But until the product is announced, spitballing is the best we can do.
No. They are essential for anyone to navigate iOS.
The home button is gone! I can't think of a accessibility case but there might be one - in which case a virtual button might stick around as an accessibility option.
It would surprise just about everyone, including everyone at Apple.
2) As for being incontrovertible, while the odds may be stakes in its favour we should assume nothing is absolute until Apple mentions it. Hell, even Apple makes statements that don't come to fruition. Often with self-imposed deadlines, but other time with things like resolution independence in macOS or open sourcing FaceTime. Even the notion that the sun will rise tomorrow morning is just a hypothesis—and we should never forget that.
So Apple gives the world a bezel-less display and now what? No one wants a TouchID sensor on the back of the iPhone. No, never! If Apple didn't have an embedded touch sensor ready, then what could Apple do? Caught between a rock and a hard place maybe FacialID was Apple's only option. Voiced complaints, no matter what.
Here is my rationale:
1. I would suppose that the vast majority of readers/contributors in this forum are way above average regarding skills and knowledge with respect to the iPhone. Thus, this here is the power user group that basically would have quite little trouble moving from a home button to whatever it's replacement might be.
It is enough just to google about Tipps and tricks in connection with using the iPhone and you'd be surprised how seemingly basic those "tricks" are. This is because a big group of the users of iPhone don't use the majority of its features. Heck, even I just recently found how to use the accessibility feature to have the led flash upon receiving a notification. And I'm very sure even though I have no hard data to support this, that a great number of people love the iPhone because of its hassle free usage. Including no viruses, no fragmentation hell, and "it just works". This definitely includes a home button.
2. As was pointed out correctly IMO there is a difference between changing the connector type and changing a fundamental paradigm in the UI. MAYBE Aplle can dip its toe in the water with the pro model and if it just doesn't work out they can much easier ditch it as opposed to changing the whole lineup to buttonless and then back.
3. Regarding the "designed from the ground up" topic. Roadmaps don't work with many parallels and are not fundamentally changed unless something very critical and ubresolvable has been detected in the course. Now, a sensible approach to reduce risk is to crack the toughest nuts FIRST. that is, if "faceID" and its alternatives are on the critical path you evaluate and decide upon them first. Then you have the fundamental design and work out the kinks. this is how it usually works, independent of what industry you talk. Therefore, I do not think there was some last minute change on a very fundamental design decision. Whatever we're gonna see soon was finalized long time ago.