Concept image: Martin Hajek for Computer Bild
The idea of replacing the iPhone’s physical Home button with a pure touch one embedded in the display has been around for quite a while now, but a report from the variably reliable DigiTimes claims that Apple is already working on the technology.
Apple is internally developing touch and display driver integration (TDDI) single-chip solutions for its iPhones, according to sources in Taiwan’s IC design industry.
The TDDI single-chip solutions will also come with integrated fingerprint sensors, said the sources. The integrated design would fit into future iPhone designs – models with ultra-thin and ultra-narrow displays, and with a whole plane design eliminating the Home button.
While the report doesn’t specifically reference embedding the home button into the display itself, referring only to ‘a whole plane design,’ this would seem to be what the report hints at … The Apple Watch of course already has a Force Touch sensor – but not Touch ID – embedded into the display.
As ever, the sketchy source suggests caution. It’s a likely development at some stage, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to happen anytime soon.
Concept image via Computer Bild
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Physical home button is better than virtual one.
Why, because you’ve actually used one to know? Smh
because software crashes and freezes…
what does android do?
“what does android do?”
Crashes and Freezes
That is gorgeous. TAKE MY MONEY! ;)
Would love to see this in the iPhone 7
Please no… I hate virtual buttons in androids, it’s too easy to click them in the most improper moment.
Force Touch would solve that.
I would hope they would find a way to hide the speaker grill at the top. Dislike how it looks on this minimal designs.
The speaker is the easy part – put it into the top edge of the phone with some direction to help it direct sound forward.
Putting the light sensor and camera behind the display would be the next step.
The large chin-like bezel at the bottom is the least significant of the two real-estate issues. The biggest, IMO is the forehead where the ear-speaker and camera are placed – I’d like to see that area shrink away completely, with the camera and light sensor behind the display (ability to make the pixels completely transparent in that area required), plus the speaker move to the top of the phone. From a usability perspective this is the priority as well, as the bottom chin aids in palming the phone one-handed.
Aside from not being symmetrical I’m not sure how that would technically work. The display gives off light. Even if their were “transparent pixels” the light from the surrounding area would probably interfere.
Moving touch ID to screen makes sense. On screen UI for apple pay and unlocking would prompt user to place finger on screen which is more intuitive than telling them to touch a physical button off of the screen.
I think the home button functions should remain separate from the screen though. Global commands like Home, Siri, and reachability shouldn’t be someplace where they can interfere with onscreen interactions. I don’t see a point in placing them in designated bottom area like android does.
Have a look here: http://kaplag.tumblr.com/post/121846595967/what-an-iphone-could-look-like-if-touch-id-was
I think what they could do is remove the separate physical home button and use the whole bottom bezel and force touch to register home button actions. Like with iOS 7’s UI design, removing button borders means you can remove padding without making the design look too cramped. The top and bottom bezels are equal to the diameter of the current home button but without the padding so It should still be a comfortable amount of space to press on. I figure they could do something nice on the bottom edge with the smooth curved glass so you have a little lip to grip better. You can see how just that little bit makes a big difference in the overall size of the device. It would make the 6 about the height of the 5s. Imagine if a 4″ device got the same treatment. It’d be like a 4″ screen in the 4s’s height. Combine that with removing the headphone jack and you’d have a pretty slim and compact design without the screen space tradeoffs.
Force touch is really the key that was missing with all the previous rumors. Here it could be functionally the same as having the physical button. Double light taps for reachability. Press for home, and press and hold for Siri. Removing the physical button makes space internally for vibration and force touch sensors, as well as removing a physical part that breaks.
How do you plan on implementing force touch onto a plastic bezel? that doesn’t make sense unless you’d turn the bezel into a part of the digitizer, as far as I know. Until then I think I’m putting my money on the home button being a part of the screen/virtual. I think I’m okay with living no matter what with a physical button.
Yea, I’ll admit I’m doubting how possible it is now but the trackpads work with having pressure sensors in the 4 corners and capacitive glass surface. If the iphone had the sensors the same way the entire surface of the phone could feel force and then it’s just a matter of having capacitance sensors on the bottom bezel area. But if they go with the technology used for the apple watch that isn’t really as likely since they use force sensors embedded in the display.
Regardless I’m pretty convinced that a software home would be terrible. It doesn’t make sense to make a button that always needs to be available apart of the display. You add a bunch of pixels for display and then waste them. It’s far more likely they just move the home button to the side now that they don’t need it to include touch ID functions. They have already established with the apple watch that it’s fine with the digital crown.
It remains to be seen how they are aiming to implement them but I’m not sure they’ll be able to get around the (size of the) bezel issue without implementing something either, like you said, on the side of the phone (or back), or as a sort of virtual button
Eliminating the home button will require some changes to basic functions like taking a screenshot and resetting the phone.
Could easily change these to power button and top volume button at the same time, which is able to be done one handed as well.
I don’t like virtual buttons, losing this last home button would be really annoying. Back in the days of the ipod, I loved being able to start/pause, skip song, restart the song with the buttons. It was great when I was driving, I didn’t have to look down at all, I could feel the button. I’ve had an android before and came back for the physical button. Sometimes it is just better to feel the button when you can’t look at the phone like in the car or in the middle of the night when I don’t have glasses on. Also, the fact that you can’t feel it makes you miss it, a few millimeters off and it does nothing or triggers the button next to it. A lot of frustration to do something simple like wake up your phone.
I don’t think it would be too big of an issue if it was just the whole bottom edge of the device and if there was a little bit of a lip using the curved glass. You could feel for the lip and just press. It likely wouldn’t an issue like android. There is only one button to worry about, and pressure sensitivity means it won’t just trigger on a light tap.
I don’t really like this bezel free design. Also I hope Apple makes good use for force touch because the idea software buttons like Android makes me cringe.
I love how the lcd in this mockup has nice rounded corners because having normal sharp edges so close to the smooth edges of the device would look bad. If they did this I imagine they would make the move to OLED. But would they vignette the corners like that? They don’t do it on the apple watch.
Good, my iPhone 6 plus home button already beginning to loose and doesn’t as solid when first bought 5 months back. Just integrate using force touch as pressing home and force touch with your Touch ID to unlock from sleep.
That would suck a lot compared to the current physical button. Not happening.
Nope. Force touch anywhere on the sleeping display gives taptic feedback, wakes the display, and scans fingerprint instantly unlocking. No better solution, period.
Apple is becoming Android so I’m pretty sure they’re going to make it happen.
The idea of the screen blending with the hardware is already present in iOS8 (and 7) with translucency : make the display cover the whole front of the device and keep some parts of the interface constantly under translucent elements. This way it would look as if there is an actual piece of frosted glass always on the same spot, for example on the top and bottom of the front face. It would look amazing.
I really don’t see the point in having the home button function tied into the display. Touch ID makes sense because it’s modal. It pops up when needed thus having a dedicated hardware button taking up space even when it’s not needed doesn’t make sense. The home button, on the other hand, performs global functions that could happen at any time and needs to always be onscreen.
What is the benefit of having extra screen space that is only used for a single button button? It would be a harder to feel for and also waste power since it should always be on. Maybe there is a bigger picture but right now I don’t see any pros.
What kind of content could could they actually put there?
You have no imagination. It could be the bottom of the screen force touch, taptic feedback lets you know where it is
Also, camera and speaker behind the screen, Apple is working on those too.
I love the idea of losing the top and bottom bezels for a bit more compact phone. Just a monolith slab of black screen. And the part about using your fingerprint on the screen to authorize stuff reminds me of the PADDs in Star Trek, so I’m in! =P
How would you see the button and message if the screen is powered down? If it’s printed on the surface as in Androids, the whole point of it is lost.
You currently don’t need the home button to unlock an iphone. The sleep/wake wakes the screen. Users without touch ID still need the screen on for slide to unlock.
It would be nice for it to be all one motion like the touch ID home button kinda is.
I imagine they could use force touch anywhere on the screen to wake it. If touch ID is built into the entire display it could capture your finger print from anywhere on the surface. No need for a specific target. Just pull your phone out, put pressure on the display and it’s unlocked.
If you build Force Touch into the entire display, what will keep it from unintentionally waking the phone when it’s in a pocket or bag?
hmm. I think they could work that out. Force touch also involves capacitance doesn’t it? So if it was just pressure through your pocket it wouldn’t do anything. They could use the poximity sensor to make that more reliable too.
Another alternative is rise to wake like the apple watch. Again, they could use a proximity check to reduce false wakes.
The sleep/wake button still functions same as ever. I just don’t think it’s as convenient as something that is one gesture like force touching or raising.
Force touch anywhere on the sleeping black screen gives taptic and turns the display on, and instantly scans finger and unlocks.. How is that hard to imagine?
You are only addressing the unlocking function. That’s simple but explain how the rest of the os would function without a dedicated home button to globally access Home, Siri, and reachability, physical or otherwise.
I think Apple has a tech that allows simulations of physical buttons under the screen surface. But more generally, I agree with some of the posts above that software driven home button is not the best idea from psychological stand point for the user. Physical home button is a default bail-out. What if software locks up? Also, I agree with Greg, the idea of force touch anywhere as a home button is not obviously implemented when using a phone. If an app also supports force touch, then how the OS distinguishes that the specific function is requested or return to the home screen. Of course, Apple can introduce various swipe and press gestures, but those are confusing at best and introduce a learning curve. This is not unlike initial reaction the Apple Watch interface.
I think integrating the home button into the screen is a terrible, terrible idea. I personally like physical buttons. furthermore, Apple is renowned for their accessibility features for people with disabilities, some of those features include using a physical button. Getting rid of the physical home button, I feel, would be a loss to Apple’s accessibility features.
That’s what haptic feedback is for. You feel the virtual button because the glass is vibrating specifically at that area, in the future, so precise that it could be in a ring or full circle shape.
Ok, but what about people with touch sensory deprivation, who may have some difficulty feeling the vibrations of the haptic feedback?
Force Touch is not a Home Button replacement. I can see a lot of applications for it in iOS, but replacing the physical Home Button entirely is not one of them. Touch ID is big feature that is tied to the Home Button, and it does not benefit from losing its very tactile eyes-free accessibility.
Speaking of Accessibility, Apple actually cares about and develops great features for people with disabilities, and the Home Button goes a long way for people with vision issues.
I don’t really think Touch ID is tied to the home button in anyway other than sharing the same space. They were limited by the technology and that was their solution.
It would be simpler if you could press anywhere on the screen. I think it would be more intuitive if the modal Apple pay UI was actually were you touched and not a disassociated button off of the screen that requires a light finger press and not a button press – even though it’s on a button. I’m not saying how it is right now is really bad or too hard to use but it could be simpler. If it was “press anywhere” It wouldn’t really be harder for the visually impaired would it?
I agree that that home button functions shouldn’t be on screen but I think they could replace the physical button mechanism with force touching on the bottom bezel. As long as you could feel for it well enough, force touch could enable the same functionality of the current setup but with one less breakable part and in less space than a cut out button. I don’t think anyone read my post…
http://kaplag.tumblr.com/post/121846595967/what-an-iphone-could-look-like-if-touch-id-was
Just shaving off the 1/8″ padding on the top and bottom of the physical home button could result in an 1/2″ shorter iphone. Sure it’s not a crazy futuristic concept image, but it’s better than what it currently is and seems achievable with little downside.
wow what? I didn’t know tumbler links get processed and shown. Why didn’t it do that on my first post about this?
That makes no sense. You’ve just shrunken the lower bezel by a tiny fraction of an inch and replaced an ergonomically superior physical home button with an inferior soft button which is smaller. Besides, this design doesn’t rely in any way on Force Touch, since it could easily be implemented with a smaller physical home button.
Soft touch buttons remind me of Android phones. That’s not the feeling I want when buying or using an Apple product.
freediverx, Sure it’s not a big size difference but it’s also a reasonable technical achievement to pull off. Fractions of an inch from the top and the bottom add up. 1/2 inch is a pretty big difference. Thats like the height difference between the iphone 4s and iphone 5.
What makes this concept ergonomically inferior? The whole bottom edge could be the home button. The bottom bezel is the same height as the current home button so it would still be a comfortable amount of space. As long as there was a little bit of a tactile lip along the bottom edge, differentiating it from the top edge, it would be very easy to find and press, even with eyes closed.
This would use force touch, but not have active pixels. Think of it more like the trackpads. Soft touch buttons on android suck because they don’t have pressure sensitivity. You can’t lightly hold your finger over one without it triggering. But with force touch you can. Phone senses pressure along bottom edge, checks if touch is registered there and activates home.
I don’t think this could be done with a smaller physical button. That would actually feel smaller to press because it would need padding the visual padding just like the current button does. Plus you waste space with a physical mechanism when all the force touch stuff will be in the phone anyway.
I have a bunch of problems with the articles concept image. Things I just can’t work out. Maybe I’m just missing the pieces to see the bigger image but my idea seems like a reasonable compromise.
But whatever. This is all crazy speculation anyway. I’m fine with being wrong if they come up with a good solution. It’s just fun to think through the problems.
Greg, Who would you make the whole bottom bezel a button, that is not ergonomic in anyway, aren’t buttons suppose to be getting smaller? To make all of the bottom bezel a button seems, quite frankly, ugly, and completely not a move that Apple will take.
Tyler,
man this comment system sucks for having conversations… I can’t actually reply to you and the text field is up at top so I can’t see your comment.
Maybe my image isn’t clear. It’s basically the same concept they did with the trackpad. It used to be a separated button before they made it a hinged button where the whole bottom of the trackpad triggered the click. Now with force touch it doesn’t need to be a physical mechanism at all. The concept is just an area of the force touch surface that is dedicated to home. The home button is always the home button. You don’t need to waste energy lighting it up or drawing it on screen and since it’s the entire bottom, it’s easy to press without looking, vs putting a software button in the middle other software content.
I don’t understand how my concept is less ergonomic than the current implementation. Both require you to press on the bottom edge. Something Apple often does is gradually move users to new concepts or keep the core concepts the same but change the underlying technology. It’s why even with the force touch trackpad I could click with my thumb at the bottom just like I did on my separate button ibook from 10 years ago.
I’d also be for moving the home button to the side at this point. People really want a full edge to edge display and I can’t deny the appeal of that but I think having edge to edge but rendering a fake home button at the bottom is stupid. I only lean towards my concept because it would be most familiar to people.
You have zero imagination.
Something for future Macs too?
Would Apple want to shave off some of the chin of iPad, iPhone if they could incorporate the home button (and Touch ID)?
These 2 patents will be important. I like an icon showing up for Touch ID scans.
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2015/02/apple-introduces-an-alternative-touch-id-method-using-full-display-fingerprint-sensors.html
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2013/05/apple-invents-a-wild-new-display-that-could-conceal-a-camera-strobe-flash-andor-fingerprint-scanner-until-needed.html
The home button is the most used physical button on the phone, which also means it is more vulnerable to breaking or malfunctioning. So, replacing that with a virtual button seems like a good idea. Implementing it well is the big challenge.
I’ve owned every model iPhone and have never had a breakage or malfunction of the home button. I’m not saying it never happens, but it’s certainly not a common enough occurrence to justify its elimination.
The home button serves many purposes which would be degraded with a virtual replacement. For starters, what would keep you from accidentally unlocking the phone while simply holding it with your thumb on the screen? Where would you click to return to the home screen or double-click to access the app switcher? How would you quickly orient the phone in the dark without the physical outline of the button to guide your thumb?
What little imagination you have. Accidentally unlocking = force touch is the only way to unlock. So you have to press firmly anywhere on the sleeping display. Force touch the bottom of the display to return home, force touch twice for app switcher, force hold for Siri? God it’s simple… All with taptic feedback of course, and by the way, all far better since your thumb or hand wouldn’t have to travel back to the very bottom for many functions. You really need to quickly orient the phone in the dark by finding the physical home button? Um, it would actually be far faster to simply force touch anywhere on the display and see whether it’s upside down or not. Feeling for that button isn’t the best solution.
o0amoothies0o, the issue with just using force touch anywhere, aside from the lock screen, is that it can interfere with application functions. I’d want forcetouch to work like it does on the mac. Force touch for context functions on objects, accelerators, and for drawing pressure. I think they need a dedicated area either on screen or off to do this.
Look at what happens to system gestures when they interfere with apps. You get that frustrating pull tab for notification center and control center in maps, games, or when the keyboard is up.
I can think of three different solutions:
– dedicated onscreen home button once past the unlock screen. Like android, but better because it’s force touch.
– dedicated off screen force-touch area. I don’t think they need to waste power lighting pixels for the home button, just have it off screen like it always has but not physical.
– Move home button to the side. There is precedence for this now with the apple watch and I think the importance of the sleep/wake button is diminishing. People either have those wallet cases and think it works like an iPad or they forget to sleep it and it auto locks anyway.
The button with the most issues has been the sleep/awake button on top. It’s been the basis for recalls whereas the home button hasn’t.
Re: the concept image, what’s the point of having a virtual Touch ID home button that’s unnecessarily located in the same inconvenient location at the bottom of the display? If Apple eliminated a physical home button, hat affordance would likely appear near the center of the screen, where your thumb would naturally rest.
The main reason is so that the entire front portion of the iPhone can be used as a screen. If Apple has another method of invoking the home feature (drop to Springboard on a single press, etc.), then all those “pixels” can be recovered and used as display real estate. Think of it right now. The bottom of the iPhone now is basically a half inch of worthless white or black glass displaying nothing. Get rid of it and suddenly your screen is bigger. Why would the Home button have to be on screen all the time?
The entire phone can now either be smaller vertically or the same size iPhone can now have a lot more pixels.
I can think of a few ways to make a virtual home button appear. Maybe shake the phone or use some form of multi-swipe. I doubt Apple would add a hard button on the side. That would be very un-Apple-like.
“Why would the Home button have to be on screen all the time?”
because it’s gives actions to global functions that can happen at any time. Things that the user doesn’t often use shouldn’t be a physical button but can you really argue that the home button isn’t used often? Touch ID is a great example of something that doesn’t to always take up space It’s only used once when unlocking the device, then called up modally when a payment needs to happen which uses on screen space anyway to display the prompt. I’m all for that moving to the display.
“I can think of a few ways to make a virtual home button appear. Maybe shake the phone or use some form of multi-swipe. I doubt Apple would add a hard button on the side. That would be very un-Apple-like.”
Those two things seem like really bad ideas though. Shake to undo is already hidden and no one likes doing it but then to have that bring up, the most important functions of iOS?
On screen gestures don’t really work either. You can’t just keep adding mandatory system gestures. All of the one handed ones are already used except for swiping from right edge left. 3rd party apps use gestures and these things get annoying and in the way. Think how big of a pain it is to get to control center or notification center when using a game, now imagine if you were trying to leave the game, or leave the maps app, or leave a drawing app. I already had to turn off the home button for iPad because of Paper.
A side hardware button would be un-apple-like? I mean I like it on the front and all, but the digital crown would like a word with you. I think it’s more likely the dispose of the sleep/wake button then the home button. The apple watch shows we don’t need it. Sleep is just leave it unintended or cover the screen, and wake is home button or raise.
If Apple pulls this off, we can pretty much guarantee that the iPhone screen will be made out of sapphire. Gorilla Glass just isn’t adequate protection against scratches. The tiniest scratch in the region where the virtual home button would reside would break TouchID. There is a very good reason why the home button is covered by sapphire right now.
good point
I think you’re right and great point also. I think they use Sapphire for TouchID because it provides more accuracy in regards to reading prints. Sapphire on the entire display though — they need to figure out how to make it drop proof (maybe they already did, I don’t remember the earlier articles about Apple developing this tech). Sapphire is very scratch resistant but not very drop resistant; certainly nowhere near the strength of Gorilla Glass.
Don’t know if they’re going to do it, don’t know how they’re going to do it–but I hope they do it.
It’s gorgeous!
I think it would give Apple more room inside for larger batteries and any other redesign options to include more features.
It’ll allow for the 5.5″ iPhone to be a smaller phone which would be great. I’m 100% for this.
I just want to point out that displays don’t have a nice smooth corner radius like that concept image has. This edge to edge + no bezel design isn’t really possible unless they make more angular phones or start cutting custom led shapes.
http://images.apple.com/v/watch/e/built-in-apps/images/photos_screen_large.jpg
The apple watch appears to be edge to edge but really it has thicker bezels than what we are used to on the sides of the iphone. Maybe that’s why the report said “future iPhone designs – models with ultra-thin and ultra-narrow displays” though I don’t really get what ultra-thin means. Narrow could mean it needs to have more bezel on the side to equal the padding around the edges out so it fits in the corner radius. This still might not look bad if they drop the white front glass and go with OLED. But as long as there are smooth corners, there will be bezels.
Kick ass…
Unless they want to put webOS on the iPhone, then there is no reason for a digital button
DigiTimes does not have a great track record; however, if this is true, it will be the “ultimate” iPhone — TouchID + Force Touch into the display with no physical home button would be a KICK ASS engineering accomplishment.
As long as it’s not like Android’s virtual button. Omg so annoying.