Apple to Remove Home Button?

A report from the notoriously un-trustworthy site, DigiTimes, states that Apple is working to eliminate the need for the home button on future versions of their mobile iDevices. As many of you know, Apple's home button is home to the TouchID sensor for easy unlocking, password input, and payment, and the primary means by which people close apps and switch between apps (with a double click).

There are a few pros associated with such an innovation. The inclusion of a TouchID sensor that encompasses more than a single small circle on the phone's face would make unlocking quite a bit more convenient. If you could simply tap the phone's screen anywhere, or even on the bottom 3rd, that would be a handy improvement. It would also reduce the size of the phone.

I don't think Apple does this unless it also shrinks the bezel at the top.

They have set themselves up otherwise to make this work with Force Touch.

What do you think? I'd take it. I think it's a natural progression of the tech, but I do doubt we'll see it in the 6s/6s+. Maybe the 7.

Exactly.

A number of Android devices, particularly Nexus devices, have ditched physical buttons in favour of on-screen buttons that can disappear when convenient to the user.

The latest version of Android's on-screen menu bar (Android Lollipop):

Unfortunately, the Asian market is still very much attached to physical/capacitive buttons, which is why the majority of Android devices for the Asian market retain these buttons.

The removal of a home button can also allow the device to become reversible, as seen with phones like the Alcatel One Touch Idol 3:

Even though I have a samsung galaxy device, I find myself using the back button instead of the home button.

@NVIDIATI: I think the point to take away from this thread isn't that it's not possible to remove almost every physical button, but that the entire touch screen on future iPhones will likely feature TouchID capabilities. That's really what makes it unique in this case.

That's not unique. Companies, such as Synaptics, announced the development of this technology over a year ago (link), and IDEX showed concepts of fingerprint sensors built into touch screens at MWC 2013.

In-glass Sensor Technology

As mobile OEMs are offering button-less user interface, new ways of front-side fingerprint sensor integration is required, in order to maintain device’s aesthetics.

IDEX is developing the ultimate solution for mobile fingerprint sensing, where the sensor becomes an seamless, integral part of the mobile device’s cover glass – the glass becomes the sensor.

The in-glass fingerprint sensor is based on IDEX’s patented off-chip principles and knowhow, separating the finger interface from the electronics, as well as unique concepts enabling sensing in virtually any material such as glass, polymer and silicon.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Ultimate solution for mobile fingerprint sensing
• Sensor becomes an integral part of cover glass
• Glass becomes sensor material

APPLICATIONS

• Mobility platforms (phone, tablets, laptops)
• Computer peripherals
• Peripherals for wired or wireless applications
• Security applications
• Embedded biometric systems
• Wearables

Credit IDEX

@NVIDIATI: Considering how long it's taking the rest of the mobile industry to catch Apple's TouchID , I'd be surprised if someone implements this tech too far ahead of Apple, and certainly be surprised if it matched Apple's implementation.

The truth of the matter, in my statement above, makes the title of the article you linked genuinely humorous, hehe. It will never cease to amaze me how much people will dismiss something readily available for something that isn't yet available–especially considering that this article is already a year and a half old.

Where is the tech? Are there non-Apple handsets with this tech in the wild or is it coming soon?

There are sensors on the market that are just as advanced, if not more advanced, than Apple's current TouchID sensor. The Huawei Ascend Mate 7, the Meizu MX4 Pro and the Galaxy S6/S6 Edge all house touch sensors. As for why we're not seeing the rest of the mainstream Android market move towards this? Ecosystem, Google added native support in Android M, so you'll see a lot more devices with fingerprint sensors in the near future.

There is no evidence to suggest that Apple has this technology "readily available". However, IDEX was showing off their in-glass technology at MWC 2015 (link).

Even Qualcomm revealed their new 3D fingerprint sensor (Snapdragon Sense ID) at MWC 2015 that can read through glass, metal and plastic. They claim this technology will be in devices in the second half of 2015 (link).

Getting back to my previous comment, no, the technology is not "unique".

@NVIDIATI: You're right, android is quite far behind Apple in regards to fingerprint scanners. I suppose overall the tech isn't unique, but nobody has actually implemented it yet, and whomever does it best will enjoy the pleasure of calling their technology unique.

The idea of a fingerprint scanner isn't unique. Apple's excellent execution certainly was.

That's a vague interpretation of my words.

In regards to fingerprint scanner technology, there are a number of Android devices on the market that are offering similar, if not better, fingerprint scanners.

In regards to fingerprint scanner software, while OEM's have had to develop their own software in the past, Android M brings OS level support which includes support for various types of hardware and open authentication API's for app developers.

In regards to the number of devices with fingerprint scanners, yes, there are not as many Android devices currently on the market with fingerprint scanners as there are Apple devices. 'Far behind' would be appropriate in this case.

So android m was released how many years after the 5s? And on how many devices will it be available? And on how many of those available devices exists a fingerprint scanner? And of those devices, which enjoy functional parity with TouchID and the software (and now hardware with the Apple Watch) ecosystem Apple has built around it?

Slim to slimmer to slimmest to inconsequential. Far behind on all counts relative to actual consumers.

@musicalmacHence my clarification on your original interpretation. I would hate for my words to be taken out of context.

Apple finally joining the 21st Century?

Hard to think of a better implementation of force touch on a larger display. could probably take it even farther on an iPad sized display.

There is a lot of potential for the tech, and I haven't had the chance to fully get a chance to try it out yet (only with the watch). It's on the new MacBook, any laptop update will include force touch on the trackpad, and it seems like a no-brainer to expand that experience across all their devices.