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The healing begins with a joint HW/SW effort: bring iPhone touch ID back, and strip Liquid Glass down to the bare wood and fix it.

by euroderf 11mo ago

tobr 11mo ago
Liquid Glass I agree with. Not sure if the Touch ID comment is intended as a joke.
- gcr 11mo ago
  See there are users who like Liquid Glass, just as there are users who like TouchID. A lot of Apple’s best work turned out to be quite polarizing at the time. iOS 7’s design language was almost universally panned, but if it were “the wrong decision,” other phones wouldn’t have adopted similar design language. Material appeared just a year later in 2014. It wasn’t bad, it was just arbitrary. (“I like Liquid Glass! I like Liquid Glass!” I insist as i slowly shrink down into the size of a corn cob)
  - tobr 11mo ago
    On the topic of Alan Dye and the home button though, the swipe gesture interface they introduced when they removed the home button strikes me as one of few genuinely successful system-level Apple design innovations in recent years. That at least seems to have happened under his leadership. Can’t think of much else good to say about what I associate with design under him.
    - glhaynes 11mo ago
      It’s my understanding that Chan Karunamuni was largely responsible for leading the iPhone X home buttonless interface, which, I agree, is fantastic and probably the best bit of UI to come out of Apple in years. Also, the Dynamic Island, which is less impactful, but really good and clever! Anyway, he’s excited about Lemay, so I am too. https://9to5mac.com/2025/12/05/acclaimed-apple-designer-says-he-could-not-be-more-excited-for-new-design-era/ https://9to5mac.com/2025/12/05/acclaimed-apple-designer-says... Here’s a video with him discussing the iPhone X interface around its introduction in 2018 that I find fascinating https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2018/803/ https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2018/803/
- carlosjobim 11mo ago
  Cell phones from other brands have Touch ID and it works great. Apple has Touch ID on their iPads and it also works great. As it does on the MacBooks. As it does on the iPhone SE. It should be brought back.
  - ChrisMarshallNY 11mo ago
    I am not a fan, simply because of the screen real estate that needs to be sacrificed. Other phones tend to have it on the back, and I have heard there's good progress in having embedded thumbprint readers in the screen. I have, however, really come to like Face ID. [UPDATED TO ADD] I think that it's interesting that folks ding comments they disagree with. I upvoted all the responses to my comment, even though they may disagree with me, because they were made in good faith, and contribute to the discussion.
    - tannhaeuser 11mo ago
      Face ID is severely lacking compared to MS Hello, simple as. It's at best 50:50 hit/miss compared to Hello which logs me in always. Granted, that figure doesn't include false positives, but the difference is substantial and makes Apple's implementation look really lame, to the point I'd like to see it removed.
      - ChrisMarshallNY 11mo ago
        I haven't had that happen, so I think it works fairly well. Even with a mask. In fact, it works so well, for me, that I was worried that it was too generous, but it is actually very secure.
    - jeffbee 11mo ago
      My phone has the fingerprint reader under the display. It sacrifices no space.
    - losvedir 11mo ago
      "needs to be sacrificed"? You yourself give other options. * Some iPads have the finger print reader on the side of the device, on the power button. * Old Google Pixels had it on the back, conveniently able to be accessed with your index finger as you take the phone out of your pocket. * Current Google Pixels have it where you just touch the screen. My Google Pixel 10 has both an in-the-screen fingerprint reader, and a Face ID, and I use both. They're both useful in different situations.
- tobr 11mo ago
  TIL people have very strong feelings about bringing back Touch ID, to the point where a comment like the above is getting downvotes.
hyperjeff 11mo ago
+1 for the return of TouchID, but it’ll never happen. Having to orient the phone and stare into a bright screen all the time is sub optimal.
- phantasmish 11mo ago
  I want the home button back, TouchID or no. It's (I'm not joking) among the best applications of computer UI ever and it has not been obsoleted, they just abandoned it for worse options.
wrxd 11mo ago
I spoke with an Apple designer who told me that Lemay has been deeply involved in designing Liquid Glass. Don't get your hopes too high

The healing begins with a joint HW/SW effort: bring iPhone touch ID back, and strip Liquid Glass down to the bare wood and fix it.

tobr 11mo ago

Liquid Glass I agree with. Not sure if the Touch ID comment is intended as a joke.

gcr 11mo ago
See there are users who like Liquid Glass, just as there are users who like TouchID. A lot of Apple’s best work turned out to be quite polarizing at the time. iOS 7’s design language was almost universally panned, but if it were “the wrong decision,” other phones wouldn’t have adopted similar design language. Material appeared just a year later in 2014. It wasn’t bad, it was just arbitrary. (“I like Liquid Glass! I like Liquid Glass!” I insist as i slowly shrink down into the size of a corn cob)
- tobr 11mo ago
  On the topic of Alan Dye and the home button though, the swipe gesture interface they introduced when they removed the home button strikes me as one of few genuinely successful system-level Apple design innovations in recent years. That at least seems to have happened under his leadership. Can’t think of much else good to say about what I associate with design under him.
  - glhaynes 11mo ago
    It’s my understanding that Chan Karunamuni was largely responsible for leading the iPhone X home buttonless interface, which, I agree, is fantastic and probably the best bit of UI to come out of Apple in years. Also, the Dynamic Island, which is less impactful, but really good and clever! Anyway, he’s excited about Lemay, so I am too. https://9to5mac.com/2025/12/05/acclaimed-apple-designer-says-he-could-not-be-more-excited-for-new-design-era/ https://9to5mac.com/2025/12/05/acclaimed-apple-designer-says... Here’s a video with him discussing the iPhone X interface around its introduction in 2018 that I find fascinating https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2018/803/ https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2018/803/
carlosjobim 11mo ago
Cell phones from other brands have Touch ID and it works great. Apple has Touch ID on their iPads and it also works great. As it does on the MacBooks. As it does on the iPhone SE. It should be brought back.
- ChrisMarshallNY 11mo ago
  I am not a fan, simply because of the screen real estate that needs to be sacrificed. Other phones tend to have it on the back, and I have heard there's good progress in having embedded thumbprint readers in the screen. I have, however, really come to like Face ID. [UPDATED TO ADD] I think that it's interesting that folks ding comments they disagree with. I upvoted all the responses to my comment, even though they may disagree with me, because they were made in good faith, and contribute to the discussion.
  - tannhaeuser 11mo ago
    Face ID is severely lacking compared to MS Hello, simple as. It's at best 50:50 hit/miss compared to Hello which logs me in always. Granted, that figure doesn't include false positives, but the difference is substantial and makes Apple's implementation look really lame, to the point I'd like to see it removed.
    - ChrisMarshallNY 11mo ago
      I haven't had that happen, so I think it works fairly well. Even with a mask. In fact, it works so well, for me, that I was worried that it was too generous, but it is actually very secure.
  - jeffbee 11mo ago
    My phone has the fingerprint reader under the display. It sacrifices no space.
  - losvedir 11mo ago
    "needs to be sacrificed"? You yourself give other options. * Some iPads have the finger print reader on the side of the device, on the power button. * Old Google Pixels had it on the back, conveniently able to be accessed with your index finger as you take the phone out of your pocket. * Current Google Pixels have it where you just touch the screen. My Google Pixel 10 has both an in-the-screen fingerprint reader, and a Face ID, and I use both. They're both useful in different situations.
tobr 11mo ago
TIL people have very strong feelings about bringing back Touch ID, to the point where a comment like the above is getting downvotes.

hyperjeff 11mo ago

+1 for the return of TouchID, but it’ll never happen. Having to orient the phone and stare into a bright screen all the time is sub optimal.

phantasmish 11mo ago
I want the home button back, TouchID or no. It's (I'm not joking) among the best applications of computer UI ever and it has not been obsoleted, they just abandoned it for worse options.

wrxd 11mo ago

I spoke with an Apple designer who told me that Lemay has been deeply involved in designing Liquid Glass. Don't get your hopes too high