4 ms·

> Android and iOS both make substantial use of "long press" to access context menus, which require that the user wait hundreds of milliseconds in the middle of

> Android and iOS both make substantial use of "long press" to access context menus, which require that the user wait hundreds of milliseconds in the middle of their command gestures. > A related source is delays for disambiguation. For example, on mobile Safari there's a default 350ms delay between when the user taps a link and when the browser begins fetching the new page, in order to tell the difference between a link click and a double-tap zoom. I really wish mobile devices had one or two modifier buttons on the side. That way you could have "right click", maybe even positioning a cursor without clicking, all sorts of crazy stuff, like being able to "mouse over" a link in a mobile browser.

cronix 8y ago
We can't do that. Buttons, and headphone jacks, are so yesterday. /s
ggreer 8y ago
Apple has 3D touch, where if you press firmly on the screen, the phone makes a tactile "click" and triggers a different action than normal tap. Annoyingly, Apple mapped 3D touch to a totally new set of actions instead of replacing long press.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  Apple has slowly started merging the two, because it makes it easier for them to support devices with and without the feature.
Shank 8y ago
> I really wish mobile devices had one or two modifier buttons on the side. Look, I feel you in terms of lost functionality, but I don't when it comes to trying to explain how these systems work to my family. Android was notoriously bad because the back stack behaved totally sane to programmers, and insane to everyone else. When Android had a "menu" button on the bottom too, it was another source of confusion. "What does the menu button do?" Thinking back further, I know for a fact my mom didn't even know her phone had a trackball on it (hiya Android 2.x era), but she was mystified when I told her what it was and what it did. I'd rather someone fix the design problem of mapping taps to different things than add more buttons that are impossible to explain.
- PavlovsCat 8y ago
  > it was another source of confusion. "What does the menu button do? How is that impossible to explain? > I know for a fact my mom didn't even know her phone had a trackball on it (hiya Android 2.x era), but she was mystified when I told her what it was and what it did. And? You're just saying such things are impossible to explain for you, or impossible to explain to people you know. But consider how complex the world is. The alphabet has 26 letters, all of which are impossible to explain. We have complex books, simple books, some people even drive cars with all sorts of levers and buttons and many dozen street signs to learn. They earn instruments and raise children, all sorts of complicated stuff, but they can't learn what a button does? How about we simplify English, remove 95% of the words, because some people never use them?

cronix 8y ago

We can't do that. Buttons, and headphone jacks, are so yesterday. /s

ggreer 8y ago

Apple has 3D touch, where if you press firmly on the screen, the phone makes a tactile "click" and triggers a different action than normal tap. Annoyingly, Apple mapped 3D touch to a totally new set of actions instead of replacing long press.

saagarjha 8y ago
Apple has slowly started merging the two, because it makes it easier for them to support devices with and without the feature.

Shank 8y ago

> I really wish mobile devices had one or two modifier buttons on the side. Look, I feel you in terms of lost functionality, but I don't when it comes to trying to explain how these systems work to my family. Android was notoriously bad because the back stack behaved totally sane to programmers, and insane to everyone else. When Android had a "menu" button on the bottom too, it was another source of confusion. "What does the menu button do?" Thinking back further, I know for a fact my mom didn't even know her phone had a trackball on it (hiya Android 2.x era), but she was mystified when I told her what it was and what it did. I'd rather someone fix the design problem of mapping taps to different things than add more buttons that are impossible to explain.

PavlovsCat 8y ago
> it was another source of confusion. "What does the menu button do? How is that impossible to explain? > I know for a fact my mom didn't even know her phone had a trackball on it (hiya Android 2.x era), but she was mystified when I told her what it was and what it did. And? You're just saying such things are impossible to explain for you, or impossible to explain to people you know. But consider how complex the world is. The alphabet has 26 letters, all of which are impossible to explain. We have complex books, simple books, some people even drive cars with all sorts of levers and buttons and many dozen street signs to learn. They earn instruments and raise children, all sorts of complicated stuff, but they can't learn what a button does? How about we simplify English, remove 95% of the words, because some people never use them?