4 ms·

Am I the only person who uses the physical home button to feel for which way is up when pulling the phone out their pocket? I'm going to look like an idiot 50%

Am I the only person who uses the physical home button to feel for which way is up when pulling the phone out their pocket? I'm going to look like an idiot 50% of the time i pull my phone out once that button goes virtual.

timjver 9y ago
The screen cut-out at the top might be distinctive enough to serve the same purpose.
pricechild 9y ago
Wouldn't it be better if it worked both ways up? Why shouldn't it?
- et-al 9y ago
  Microphone and camera placement. Though to address randerson's point, the accessories aftermarket would pick up Apple's shortcomings, as usual.
- cm2187 9y ago
  I always leave the screen rotation locked as it otherwise gets confused when my head is not vertical (in bed) and tries to adjust the wrong way.
williamscales 9y ago
I thought the same, but I've been using various phones with virtual home buttons for years and it's never been an issue. I found that in practice I am almost always holding my phone in my hand before putting it in my pocket so it goes in the same way each time. Having the extra screen space available for watching full screen videos and such is nice.
UnoriginalGuy 9y ago
Ironically, there's only a concept of "up" because of the very same home button. If you remove the home button then there is no up and down, since the virtual home button would always rotate to the bottom per gravity.
- thinkmassive 9y ago
  There's also the speaker and mic, the power and volume buttons, and the toggle switch (mute/rotate/etc). If they could use identical transducers that perform well as both speaker and mic, then I'm sure the remaining buttons could be made virtual as well (full touch-sensitive sidebars maybe?), although personally I like having certain buttons implemented as physical devices.
kentosi 9y ago
Looks like you'll now have to rely on the positioning of the volume control buttons :-)
overcast 9y ago
Feel for the side buttons with your index finger. A physical home button really isn't necessary.

timjver 9y ago

The screen cut-out at the top might be distinctive enough to serve the same purpose.

pricechild 9y ago

Wouldn't it be better if it worked both ways up? Why shouldn't it?

et-al 9y ago
Microphone and camera placement. Though to address randerson's point, the accessories aftermarket would pick up Apple's shortcomings, as usual.
cm2187 9y ago
I always leave the screen rotation locked as it otherwise gets confused when my head is not vertical (in bed) and tries to adjust the wrong way.

williamscales 9y ago

I thought the same, but I've been using various phones with virtual home buttons for years and it's never been an issue. I found that in practice I am almost always holding my phone in my hand before putting it in my pocket so it goes in the same way each time. Having the extra screen space available for watching full screen videos and such is nice.

UnoriginalGuy 9y ago

Ironically, there's only a concept of "up" because of the very same home button. If you remove the home button then there is no up and down, since the virtual home button would always rotate to the bottom per gravity.

thinkmassive 9y ago
There's also the speaker and mic, the power and volume buttons, and the toggle switch (mute/rotate/etc). If they could use identical transducers that perform well as both speaker and mic, then I'm sure the remaining buttons could be made virtual as well (full touch-sensitive sidebars maybe?), although personally I like having certain buttons implemented as physical devices.

kentosi 9y ago

Looks like you'll now have to rely on the positioning of the volume control buttons :-)

overcast 9y ago

Feel for the side buttons with your index finger. A physical home button really isn't necessary.