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Apple announces the iPhone 16 with a faster processor and camera control button

25 points by fraXis 2y ago

segasaturn 2y ago
We had a dedicated camera button on Nokia Windows Phones back in the day, great feature and I miss it dearly every time I have to take a picture using my phone's touch screen.
- fraXis 2y ago
  I still miss the shake-to-open camera feature from my MotoX.
  - Grazester 2y ago
    The MotoX is the only phone I owned that felt revolutionary.
  - daedalus_j 2y ago
    The ThinkPhone has the shake gestures still. Boggles my mind why not every moto phone has them.
- jerlam 2y ago
  My Pixel had a power button double-tap for camera, but that wouldn't work for iPhones since that's reserved for Wallet. I never got the "karate chop" camera shortcut working for the Moto phone I had, and felt quite silly doing it at all.
  - Kirby64 2y ago
    Single press and swipe right on the iPhone seems intuitive enough to me. The issue I have with the current shortcuts (using buttons) for photos in every phone I've tested is that the pressing of the button is 'stiff' enough it involves jerking the camera slightly, leading to blurrier photos than using the screen tap. Also, obviously, volume button (which tends to be the shortcut key...) is on the wrong side of the phone, generally. Hopefully this special button is a lot less 'stiff' compared to the other buttons.
    - gorbypark 2y ago
      Most likely it is capacitive and doesn’t actually move and they are using the haptics engine to make it feel like a button. It works surprisingly well on the iPhone SE with Touch ID. You can’t even really tell that it’s not actually moving when you press it.
      - Kirby64 2y ago
        In the side shot cutaways you could see an actual physical micro switch. Their cutaway shots tend to be accurate, so it looks to be an actual physical switch.
        gorbypark 2y ago
        turns out it's both! seems like a physical microswitch for taking a photo with the button itself also being capacitive and they are using haptics for the "half press" feature (as well as touch sensitivity, slide between modes, etc).
        Kirby64 2y ago
        Well, but it’s not both. It has a physical travel, that was the question. Whether there’s additional functionality beyond that done by cap/force was pretty clearly a yes based on the keynote.
- WorldMaker 2y ago
  I was just missing that Nokia button the other day, especially as I was having a hard time finding a grip that didn't leave fingers in the way the iPhone cameras but still let me easily tap the picture button. That button on those Nokia's made it so easy to point and shoot with a simple grip, even sometimes one-handed. Glad to see Apple adding it this many years later.
fsflover 2y ago
Another discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41491896 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41491896
ChrisArchitect 2y ago
[dupe] Some more discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41491896 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41491896

25 points by fraXis 2y ago

We had a dedicated camera button on Nokia Windows Phones back in the day, great feature and I miss it dearly every time I have to take a picture using my phone's touch screen.

fraXis 2y ago
I still miss the shake-to-open camera feature from my MotoX.
- Grazester 2y ago
  The MotoX is the only phone I owned that felt revolutionary.
- daedalus_j 2y ago
  The ThinkPhone has the shake gestures still. Boggles my mind why not every moto phone has them.
jerlam 2y ago
My Pixel had a power button double-tap for camera, but that wouldn't work for iPhones since that's reserved for Wallet. I never got the "karate chop" camera shortcut working for the Moto phone I had, and felt quite silly doing it at all.
- Kirby64 2y ago
  Single press and swipe right on the iPhone seems intuitive enough to me. The issue I have with the current shortcuts (using buttons) for photos in every phone I've tested is that the pressing of the button is 'stiff' enough it involves jerking the camera slightly, leading to blurrier photos than using the screen tap. Also, obviously, volume button (which tends to be the shortcut key...) is on the wrong side of the phone, generally. Hopefully this special button is a lot less 'stiff' compared to the other buttons.
  - gorbypark 2y ago
    Most likely it is capacitive and doesn’t actually move and they are using the haptics engine to make it feel like a button. It works surprisingly well on the iPhone SE with Touch ID. You can’t even really tell that it’s not actually moving when you press it.
    - Kirby64 2y ago
      In the side shot cutaways you could see an actual physical micro switch. Their cutaway shots tend to be accurate, so it looks to be an actual physical switch.
      - gorbypark 2y ago
        turns out it's both! seems like a physical microswitch for taking a photo with the button itself also being capacitive and they are using haptics for the "half press" feature (as well as touch sensitivity, slide between modes, etc).
        Kirby64 2y ago
        Well, but it’s not both. It has a physical travel, that was the question. Whether there’s additional functionality beyond that done by cap/force was pretty clearly a yes based on the keynote.
WorldMaker 2y ago
I was just missing that Nokia button the other day, especially as I was having a hard time finding a grip that didn't leave fingers in the way the iPhone cameras but still let me easily tap the picture button. That button on those Nokia's made it so easy to point and shoot with a simple grip, even sometimes one-handed. Glad to see Apple adding it this many years later.

fsflover 2y ago

Another discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41491896 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41491896

ChrisArchitect 2y ago

[dupe] Some more discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41491896 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41491896