What a difference one night makes! Only hours after Apple released a beta version of iOS 4.3 for developers, a veritable flood of rumors and leaks have hit the blogosphere. One of the wildest is that the next iPad and iPhone will come sans home button, taking advantage of the new multitouch gestures in the software to replace its functionality.
BGR has an exclusive report with “some pretty wild information from one of our Apple sources” that reveals Apple may be removing the home button from the next iPad, and presumably the iPhone as well -- replacing its multitude of uses with multitouch gestures such as the ones introduced in the iOS 4.3 beta released to developers on Wednesday.
“Yes, we are told that Apple, at some point in time, will remove the home button from the iPad’s design,” BGR reports. “Instead of button taps, you will use new multitouch gestures to navigate to the home screen and also to launch the app switcher.
“That’s not all, however,” the BGR report continues. “In addition to the home button disappearing from the iPad, we’re told that this change will make its way over to the iPhone as well. Our source said Apple employees are already testing iPads and iPhones with no home buttons on the Apple campus, and it’s possible we will see this new change materialize with the next-generation iPad and iPhone devices set to launch this year.”
Based on various reports and video demonstrations of how the new four and five-finger gestures in iOS 4.3 work on the iPad, the move wouldn’t be completely surprising, especially considering that Apple CEO Steve Jobs was rumored to want exactly zero buttons on the original iPhone at first.
The new gestures appear to work well for quickly switching between apps, returning to the home screen and pulling up the dock -- but as noted by Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, the single home button has been the model of simplicity for first-time iOS users.
“How in the world would a normal person figure out or guess that they need to do a ‘five-finger pinch’ to get back to the home screen?,” Gruber muses.
The iPad 2 is widely expected to be unveiled in February or March, perhaps coinciding with the final release of iOS 4.3, so we’ll all know soon enough.
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(Image courtesy of BGR)
raytcw
January 18, 2011 at 12:51am
This is definitely a bad news though it's a rumor. as for me, i can't move my five fingers separately as for different gesture used on apple track pad, luckily i have the side on my litter finger for keyboard and also touching on iphone screen and having my side of thumb click on the mouse to operate the system. Computer do help us live better and more convenience, just as how a car is benefiting you. As the home button will be replaces by 4 or 5 fingers multi-touch sensor, it will be a major obstacle stopping disabled using the device. Personalty proposed:
Consider a better a Universal Access preferences setting, so, we choose the best way for us to use iOS and MacOS. For example, i may remain using only the side on my litter finger to write out a 'S' on the touchscreen in deliver the order that going to the home screen but not strictly do that with the 5 fingers zooming in action.In-other hand, the original photo n video shooting app came from the iOS didn't come with a timer feature, and that really brings difficulty to me, here is the reason:
1- i need to hold the phone (camera) with 2 of my hands.
2- i like the HDR feature in the original shooting app.
3- with the 2 hands holding, don't an extra one to click to shoot.
this is the reason i expect there are more consideration on the disabled users.
MJDONTPLAY
January 13, 2011 at 3:10pm
Five finger pinch to Home, sooo no one handed use anymore? How am I supposed to hold the Pad or Phone and still use all my fingers on the screen? Maybe there's some secret handle we don't know about yet...
raywes
January 13, 2011 at 11:50am
I'm a quadriplegic.
Great Apple, four finger swipes, five finger pinches,
from the disabled community that love touch screens as they are,
that really sucks.
